Theroux, SusannaMazor, Raphael D.Beck, Marcus W.Ode, Peter R....
106421.1-106421.17页
查看更多>>摘要：Predictive biological indices have transformed the bioassessment landscape by allowing universal indices to be applicable across diverse environments. The successful development of a predictive benthic macroinvertebrate index for California wadeable streams helped to demonstrate the power of these tools in complex geographic settings. However, previous efforts to develop predictive algal indices for California were limited by poor performance and were ultimately unsuccessful. For this study, we leveraged a robust statewide dataset to develop two different types of predictive algal indices for California wadeable streams: an index of observed-to-expected taxa (O/E) to measure taxonomic completeness and a multimetric index (MMI) to evaluate ecological structure. We developed multiple versions of each index, including one for diatoms, one for soft-bodied algae, and a hybrid index using both assemblages. We evaluated index performance using a series of screening criteria for precision, accuracy, responsiveness, and regional bias. We found that final index performance varied among all assemblages: the best performing O/E index was a diatom-only index, whereas the predictive diatom and hybrid MMIs out-performed all other indices with excellent responsiveness and precision. We found that in comparison to benthic macroinvertebrates, algal communities were characterized by high beta diversity across reference sites and low average species richness per site, resulting in disparate algal populations that were challenging to model with predictive approaches, particularly for soft-bodied algae assemblages. While all O/E indices were considered to have weak performance, the predictive diatom and hybrid MMIs are accurate, responsive, and precise indices that will provide a powerful assessment of biological condition for statewide applications.
Kaklauskas, A.Dias, W. P. S.Binkyte-Veliene, A.Abraham, A....
106562.1-106562.33页
查看更多>>摘要：Various research prove that happy nations are prosperous in numerous areas containing GDP, productivity, social support and inclusion, health, lower corruption and environmental sustainability. The analysis in this multicriteria study covers the environmental sustainability, success and happiness trends in Asian nations during a 25-year time span. Strong and average correlations amongst the success, happiness and environmental sustainability, of Asian nations, in one regard, and, in another regard, the macroeconomics, well-being and human development, values-based, quality of life and environmental indicators were established across numerous statistical databases. Six multiple regression models of success and happiness in Asian nations were compiled with the assistance of IBM SPSS Statistics. The linear regression model of success in 40 Asian nations illustrates how nine independent variables explain 90.7 percent of the significances of results. The 19-Asian nation, multiple regression happiness model show how 16 independent variables account for 99.5% of the Happiness index weight dispersion.
查看更多>>摘要：The deep sea is the largest biome on Earth but the least explored. Our knowledge of it comes from scattered sources spanning different spatial and temporal scales. Implementation of marine policies like the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and support for Blue Growth in the deep sea are therefore hindered by lack of data. Integrated assessments of environmental status require tools to work with different and disaggregated datasets (e.g. density of deep-sea habitat-forming species, body-size distribution of commercial fishes, intensity of bottom trawling) across spatial and temporal scales. A feasibility study was conducted as part of the four-year ATLAS project to assess the effectiveness of the open-access Nested Environmental status Assessment Tool (NEAT) to assess deep-sea environmental status. We worked at nine selected study areas in the North Atlantic focusing on five MSFD descriptors (D1-Biodiversity, D3-Commercial fish and shellfish, D4-Food webs, D6-Seafloor integrity, D10-Marine litter). The objectives of the present study were to i) explore and propose indicators that could be used in the assessment of deep-sea environmental status, ii) evaluate the performance of NEAT in the deep sea, and iii) identify challenges and opportunities for the assessment of deepsea status. Based on data availability, data quality and expert judgement, in total 24 indicators (one for D1, one for D3, seven for D4, 13 for D6, two for D10) were used in the assessment of the nine study areas, their habitats and ecosystem components. NEAT analyses revealed differences among the study areas for their environmental status ranging from "poor" to "high". Overall, the NEAT results were in moderate to complete agreement with expert judgement, previous assessments, scientific literature on human-pressure gradients and expected management outcomes. We suggest that the assessment of deep-sea environmental status should take place at habitat and ecosystem level (rather than at species level) and at relatively large spatial scales, in comparison to shallow-water areas. Limited knowledge across space (e.g. distribution of habitat-forming species) and the scarcity of long-term data sets limit our knowledge about natural variability and human impacts in the deep sea preventing a more systematic assessment of habitat and ecosystem components in the deep sea. However, stronger crosssectoral collaborations, the use of novel technologies and open data-sharing platforms will be critical for establishing environmental baseline indicator values in the deep sea that will contribute to the science base supporting the implementation of marine policies and stimulating Blue Growth.
查看更多>>摘要：Arid grassland ecosystems undergo degradation because of increasing environmental and human pressures. Degraded grasslands show vegetation cover reduction and soil-patch development, leading to grassland fragmentation and changes in spatial heterogeneity. Understanding grassland degradation that involves soil-patch development remains a challenge over large areas with limited accessibility such as the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We hypothesized that vegetation cover, its spatial heterogeneity and changes thereof over time retrieved from satellite data can indicate grassland development and degradation levels. To test the hypothesis, we studied these indicators from 2000 to 2016 and related them to previously described degradation levels on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) in 2004. We further use these indicators to map the new grassland development and degradation levels in 2016.We found that lower vegetation cover does not always indicate a more severe degradation; instead, higher spatial heterogeneity is a better correlate of degradation. Combined temporal changes in grassland cover and its spatial heterogeneity are related to the literature-defined degradation levels. We found that grassland areas on the eastern QTP have moved into new degradation stages from 2000 to 2016 using changes in grassland cover and its spatial heterogeneity as indicators. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a proxy for grassland cover declined over time in the literature-defined degraded areas but increased in the desert areas from 2000 to 2016. Spatial heterogeneity generally increased across different degradation levels from 2000 to 2016; however, this increase was less pronounced in severely degraded and slightly deserted areas. Our newly defined degradation levels in 2016 included degradation, desertification, and improving levels. Across our study area, 63% of all areas were classified as degraded and 2% were at risk of desertification. The remaining areas (35%) classified as improving and re-growing occurred in higher-elevation or previously severely degraded grassland. Our study demonstrates that a combination of changes in grassland cover and in its spatial heterogeneity can indicate grassland degradation levels and serve as an early-warning signal for desertification threats.
Leveau, Lucas M.Isla, Federico I.Isabel Bellocq, M.
106703.1-106703.11页
查看更多>>摘要：Biodiversity mapping in urban areas is imperative for their conservation. Remote sensors produce environmental information, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), an indicator of vegetation cover in urban areas. NDVI can be used to predict the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic bird diversity in urban areas. Moreover, a predictive model constructed in one city can be used to predict the bird diversity in other cities. The objectives of this study were: 1) to construct and evaluate predictive models between NDVI and taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds in Mar del Plata city, Argentina; and 2) to extrapolate these models to two other cities in the region: Balcarce and Miramar. Generalized additive models were applied to relate bird diversity variations to NDVI. In Mar del Plata, the taxonomic and functional diversity increased with increasing NDVI values, and the predictive models explained 64-81% of the taxonomic and functional diversity variation. The models correctly predicted taxonomic and functional diversity values in additional transects not included in the models, although they had a low predictive power of phylogenetic diversity. The models constructed in Mar del Plata adequately predicted the spatial variation of species diversity (Shannon index) in Balcarce and Miramar, the spatial variation of species richness in Balcarce, and the variation of functional diversity in Miramar. Our analysis revealed that a predictive model of bird diversity based on NDVI patterns created in one city can also depict the expected species diversity in other cities, being a time-saving and cost-effective method to create a tool for urban biodiversity conservation.
Mitchell, Simon L.Bicknell, Jake E.Edwards, David P.Deere, Nicolas J....
106717.1-106717.10页
查看更多>>摘要：Approaches to characterise and monitor biodiversity based on the sound signals of ecosystems have become popular in landscape ecology and biodiversity conservation. However, to date, validation studies of how well acoustic indices reflect observed biodiversity patterns have often relied on low levels of either spatial or temporal replication, while focussing on habitats with similar underlying anthropological and geophysical sound characteristics. For acoustic indices to be broadly applicable to biodiversity monitoring, their capacity to measure the ecological facets of soundscapes must be robust to these potential sources of bias. Using two contrasting recording approaches, we examined the efficacy of four commonly used acoustic indices to reflect patterns of observed bird species richness across a tropical forest degradation gradient in Northeast Borneo. The gradient comprised intact and logged forests, riparian forests, remnants, and oil palm plantations, thus providing a highly variable anthrophonic and geophonic soundscape. We compared the degree to which acoustic indices derived from automated versus point count recording methods detected variation in inter-habitat species richness, as well as their capacity to capture changes in species diversity as a consequence of forest degradation quantified by high-resolution LiDAR derived forest canopy heights. We found Acoustic Diversity Index was associated with forest canopy height as measured by both automated recorders and recordings from point counts, whereas the association between canopy height and Acoustic Complexity Index was only detected using point count recordings. For both types of recordings, Acoustic Complexity Index exhibited the strongest relationship with observed bird richness in old growth and logged forest, whereas Acoustic Diversity was not linked, suggesting avian richness does not drive its association with canopy height. No acoustic indices were associated with observed bird richness in oil palm riparian areas. Our findings underscore the potential utility of soundscape approaches to characterise biodiversity patterns in degraded tropical landscapes, and may be used as a proxy for human inventories of bird communities. However, we also show that for acoustic indices to be effective on landscape-wide studies of environmental gradients, adequate spatial replication is required, and care must be taken to control for non-target elements of soundscapes in different habitats.
查看更多>>摘要：Nutrients are a fundamental determinant of broad scale patterns in the benthic algal community of stream ecosystems. Excessive inputs of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus into upland streams may result in significant impacts on benthic algal communities. In upland streams, diatoms are the most abundant and diverse taxonomic group in benthic algal communities. In this study, benthic algal biomass and diatom community responses to in sins nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment were investigated by conducing an in-stream nutrient diffusing substrate experiment at high and low ambient nutrient concentration sites. Nitrogen was found to be the primary limiting nutrient across all sites, regardless of the ambient nutrient concentrations. In general, enrichment relieved nutrient limitation, promoting the dominance of a smaller suite of eutrophic species in the community. This was particularly evident in the low ambient nutrient sites where oligotrophic species initially dominated the community. This study identified diatom species with competitive advantage under nutrient enriched conditions and further the understanding of diatom species competition for multiple nutrients. Five diatom nutrient trait groups differentiate nutrient generalists and specialists and identifies potential indicator species based on their responses to specific enrichment treatments.
查看更多>>摘要：African cities rely predominantly on the informal city for their growth, and much of the infrastructure remains within the boundaries of original colonial settlements or cannot keep up with unplanned expansion. Informality is dominant in public transport systems, water and food provision, energy generation and waste removal. Thus, analysing the flows of energy, water, food and waste is a difficult task as they are hard to track and quantify. However, finding ways to assess these flows is an important step to empower urban planners with relevant knowledge about how their cities function. This paper thus explores how urban metabolism can contribute to the assessment of the informal city to monitor progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 11 indicators. We achieved this through a critical literature review and the use of a case study based on the authors' urban metabolism projects conducted in the African context. The results of the literature review show that urban metabolism research has transitioned from the first wave, namely intradisciplinary, to the second wave, integrated. Due to the call for inclusive urban metabolism assessments, a a third wave is emerging, co-designing with communities, and it promotes situated urban metabolism assessments that engage with local contexts. The case study projects demonstrate the potential to advance informal city metabolism assessments to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 11 indicators, in the third wave of urban metabolism research.
查看更多>>摘要：Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages have been of major importance in the biomonitoring of rivers for many decades. To more closely fit with new regulatory purposes, standardized methods of macroinvertebrate field sampling have changed over time both in terms of sampling effort and criteria of habitat type sampling priority (e.g. according to a decreasing gradient of "bottom surface coverage" versus "substratum favorability"). Such methodological heterogeneity has rendered the exploitation of biomonitoring data far more complex because they are indeed not fully comparable over time and may induce bias in long term series studies. In this context, we assessed the influence of variation in field sampling strategy on (i) the taxonomical characterization of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages (297 taxon abundances, taxonomic richness and diversity, EPT-related metrics), (ii) the response of sensitivity descriptors (ASPT, SPEAR), (iii) the bio-ecological trait description of assemblages and (iv) the resulting ecological diagnostic of river reaches, based on 10,074 sampling events across France. Six sampling strategies were compared, corresponding to three levels of sampling effort (4, 8 and 12 individual samples) and different criteria for substratum selection; e.g. marginal (= < 5% coverage at reach scale) vs. dominant; hosting capacity (= substratum favorability) vs. bottom coverage. A strong influence of the sampling strategy was observed on the characterization of the macroinvertebrate assemblages. Marginal substrata revealed a unique picture of the community at the reach scale and presented a higher taxonomic diversity and richness than dominant ones, as well as a higher number of sensitive EPT and SPEAR taxa. Both strategies based on dominant substratum sampling provided similar pictures of the taxonomical and bio-ecological characteristics of macroinvertebrate assemblages. The high hosting capacity of the most frequent marginal substrata has been identified as an important driver of the observed responses. When using a tool calculating the probability that sampled macroinvertebrate assemblages were impaired by several pressures related to water quality degradation, hydromorphological alteration or land-use, differences in sampling strategy affected the probability estimation. As a main trend, the results were especially reliable when they were obtained from an 8-sample strategy, even more if they included the information provided by the marginal substrata. If sampling effort definitely matters for environmental diagnostic, substratum selection criteria play also a crucial role on (i) the description of local assemblages and (ii) the reliability of calculated impairment risks, due to the strong relationship between stenotopic taxa and specific habitat conditions.
NETL
NSTL
Elsevier