Contribution of Palm Grove Ecosystem Services in the Establishment and Sustainability of Rural Settlements Threatened by Spatial and Social Transformations in Adrar Province, Algeria

Ecosystem functions and services provided by soils depend on land use and management. The objective of this article is to review and synthesize relevant information on the impacts of no-till (NT) management of croplands on ecosystem functions and services. Sustainable management of soil through NT involves: (i) replacing what is removed, (ii) restoring what has been degraded, and (iii) minimizing on-site and off-site effects. Despite its merits, NT is adopted on merely ∼9% of the 1.5 billion ha of global arable land area. Soil's ecosystem services depend on the natural capital (soil organic matter and clay contents, soil depth and water retention capacity) and its management. Soil management in various agro-ecosystems to enhance food production has some trade-offs/disservices (i.e., decline in biodiversity, accelerated erosion and non-point source pollution), which must be minimized by further developing agricultural complexity to mimic natural ecosystems. However, adoption of NT accentuates many ecosystem services: carbon sequestration, biodiversity, elemental cycling, and resilience to natural and anthropogenic perturbations, all of which can affect food security. Links exist among diverse ecosystem services, such that managing one can adversely impact others. For example, increasing agronomic production can reduce biodiversity and deplete soil organic carbon (SOC), harvesting crop residues for cellulosic ethanol can reduce SOC, etc. Undervaluing ecosystem services can jeopardize finite soil resources and aggravate disservices. Adoption of recommended management practices can be promoted through payments for ecosystem services by a market-based approach so that risks of disservices and negative costs can be reduced either through direct economic incentives or as performance payments.

Humans have changed the climate, lands and seas, forests and coasts, in ways that may destabilize earth’s key systems. In response to these declines, ecosystem services are fast becoming the new paradigm and framework that policy-makers, environmental organisations, funding bodies, and researchers use to understand and govern ecosystems for people's wellbeing. However, ecosystem services frameworks face several limitations wrought by their founding disciplines, including a tendency to focus on aggregate wellbeing and thus obscuring issues of access and justice. This thesis aims to expand ecosystem services approaches by drawing on progress in the social sciences. I draw on theory in political ecology, anthropology, and environmental justice to extend how ecosystem services approaches capture diverse priorities for ecosystem services, illuminate issues of access and legitimacy, and understand local notions of justice. I use mixed-methods case studies in developing coastal communities in Papua New Guinea. Specifically, I combine quantitative and qualitative methods (including in-depth interviews, socio-economic surveys, participant observation) to investigate; i) how people ascribe importance to ecosystem services, ii) how customary institutions shape access to ecosystem services and retain or lose legitimacy and; iii) local notions of justice around the use and governance of ecosystem services. I find that people tend to ascribe the most importance to ecosystem services that directly support their livelihoods and material needs. People also express concern about extractive ecosystem services, like fuelwood, that they perceive as destructive. In addition, I found that a range of access mechanisms shape access across ecosystem services value chains. Furthermore, the ways that customary institutions shape access have remained strong for some (i.e. through restricting the reef areas open to women for fishing) and have faded in legitimacy for others (i.e. young men). I also found that social cohesion, with strong relationships between leaders and community members and high participation in community events and decision-making, supported the legitimacy of customary adaptive reef management. Finally, I found similarities in notions of distributive justice across communities; many were concerned about the costs of destructive or over-intensive fishing methods. However, in one place, local concerns about people's needs stopped leaders banning destructive practices. I also found that although people held similar ideals about decision-making, actual practices manifested very differently in each place. Finally, I found that notions of recognitional justice were often expressed as respect and good conduct in the community. Drawing on these findings, I argue that ecosystem services approaches would be enhanced by incorporating a relational definition of power, alongside its current emphasis on 'power over'. Secondly, 'need' is an important avenue of research because it shapes how people value ecosystem services, and also conceptualize justice. Thirdly, throughout my thesis, gender and normative positions around ecosystem services governance emerged as cross-cutting themes that shaped people's interactions with their ecosystems. I thus suggest that a more in-depth engagement with how moral principles manifest empirically is a crucial avenue for future research in ecosystem services.

The grasshopper communities of central Saharan ecosystems (Adrar region, Algeria) were studied at two scales: the first scale considered different biotopes in 23 localities. Random sampling with different traps from February 2016 to February 2019 made it possible to capture two families comprising 20 species, of which 13 are recorded for the first time in the region. The second scale concerned the desert oases. Monthly sampling from March 2017 to November 2018 captured 11 species belonging to two families and four different subfamilies. A comparative study of the grasshopper community in three palm groves with two types of habitat (cultivated and uncultivated) indicated homogeneity in fauna diversity, although their composition was very different. Phenological analysis of species in three oasis habitats revealed the presence of three groups of species: (1) a group of hygrophilic species with a reproduction period concentrated in summer, (2) xerophilic species only present during the spring and autumn, (3) a group of mesophilic species remaining present almost throughout the year and moving between the two types of habitats. Despite three years of field work with several trips and in different biotopes, we believe that the list of species presented here is not exhaustive, but only an updated list, and we consider the new data as an important resource for various future studies, especially genetic studies.

عصر لآخر، فالرابط بين الأدب و المجتمع ليس رابطا موضوعيا فقط بل هو بنيوي أيضا وقد يكون من الصعب طرح القضايا المتعلقة بالأدب وتلقيه ومعالجتها في غياب النظرة الاجتماعية ، ومن هنا سعت الورقة البحثية الراهنة إلى فهم التداخل بين الأدب والمجتمع وتأثير كل منهما على الآخر، وذلك باستخدام نظرية "بيير بورديو" ، من خلال دراسة ميدانية على النادي الأدبي بقصر ثقافة الأنفوشي في الإسكندرية، هدفت الدراسة الى تقديم رؤية سوسيولوجية حول كيفية تأثير الأدب على المجتمع وكيف يعبر عن التحولات الاجتماعية.جاءت إشكالية الدراسة وأهميتها لفهم العلاقة المتداخلة بين الأدب والمجتمع ، فتمثلت أهدافها في محاولة الكشف عن تأثير الأدب على المجتمع وكيف يعبر عن التحولات الاجتماعية وكيف يترك المجتمع بصماته على الأدب ومخرجاته، سلطت الدراسة الراهنة الضوء على دور الأندية الأدبية في المجتمع وتعزيز الأنشطة الثقافية والأدبية في سعي لسد الفجوة المتعلقة بندرة الدراسات التي تتناول المؤسسات الأدبية ودورها في تشكيل الحياة الاجتماعية ، تضمنت الدراسة تساؤلات حول أنواع الأنشطة الأدبية المقدمة في النادي، وتأثير الخلفيات الاجتماعية للأعضاء على تفاعلهم مع الأنشطة، ودور التنوع الثقافي في النادي، وكيفية تعزيز الأعضاء لمعرفتهم وثقافتهم من خلال الأنشطة، وتأثير النادي على التوزيع الاجتماعي للأذواق الثقافية، وانعكاس أنشطة النادي على التحولات الاجتماعية والاقتصادية.تم استعراض مجموعة من الدراسات التي تناولت هذه العلاقة بطرق متنوعة، لتسليط الضوء على التوجهات المنهجية والنظرية لكل دراسة وموقع الدراسة الراهنة منها ، اعتمدت الدراسة على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، مستخدمة أدوات مثل الملاحظة بالمشاركة، المقابلات الشخصية، والمصادر الثانوية، تم تحليل البيانات باستخدام منهجية البحث النوعي للتحليل الكيفي وفق تفسير نظرية "بيير بورديو" بما في ذلك مفاهيم الحقل الاجتماعي، رأس المال الثقافي، الرأسمال الرمزي، والهابتوس، استعرضت الدراسة التطور التاريخي لعلم اجتماع الأدب عبر المراحل التاريخية المختلفة بما في ذلك المحاكاة، نظرية التعبير، ونظرية الخلق وصولًا للمنهجيات الحديثة لتفسير الظاهرة الأدبية وعلاقتها بالمجتمع ، تم اختيار نادي الأدب في قصر ثقافة الأنفوشي بالإسكندرية كموقع للدراسة الميدانية، وشملت إجراءات جمع البيانات حضور الفعاليات الأدبية، وتحليل اللائحة التنفيذية للنادي، والمقابلات الشخصية مع الأعضاء النشطين.حاولت هذه الدراسة الكشف عن الأهمية الكبرى لعلاقة الأدب بالمجتمع وابرز الدور الحيوي للأندية الأدبية في تعزيز التفاعل الاجتماعي والثقافي، أظهرت نتائج الدراسة أن الأندية الأدبية تلعب دورًا مهمًا في تعزيز التفاعل الاجتماعي والثقافي ، وأن الأدب يسهم في تنمية المعرفة الثقافية للأعضاء وتحسين مكانتهم الاجتماعية، أكدت الدراسة على الدور الحيوي للأندية الأدبية في تعزيز التفاعل الاجتماعي والثقافي، وأهمية الأدب في المجتمع، تقدم الدراسة رؤى جديدة حول العلاقة بين الأدب والمجتمع، مما يسهم في تعزيز البحث الأكاديمي في هذا المجال.الكلمات المفتاحية:الأدب – المجتمع – بيير بورديو – علم اجتماع الأدب

The benefits that individuals receive from ecosystems are referred to as ecosystem services (ES). Biodiversity is important in this context since it supports the majority of ecological functions. This review aims to include in the body of knowledge about ecosystem function and services, as well as their relationship to biodiversity. Natural resource stocks and natural ecosystems are essential to the earth's life-support system's operation, and they are priceless to humanity since they contribute to human well-being and welfare. However, because to deforestation and forest degradation, humans has been decreasing these services over the last few decades. The value of ecosystem services is reduced by the loss of species caused by deforestation and forest degradation and lowers our quality of life. Ecosystem processes and services can benefit from biodiversity in a variety of ways. Biodiversity can function as a regulator of important ecological processes, a final ecosystem service, or a good in and of itself. Ecosystems' control, habitat, production, and information functions are all supported by these responsibilities. These functions, in turn, are essential for ecosystems to function properly and deliver services to humans. Biodiversity is woven into ecosystems in a variety of ways. Functional diversity, on the other hand, appears to be the most important component in sustaining ecological integrity and, as a result, providing ecosystem services.

Cities around the world are becoming more and more urbanized. The expected increase in the number of urban residents has a striking influence on their quality of life (QOL), thus it is imperative to understand the spectrumscontributing to it. Urban life depends largely on the goods and services that come from nature. These are what are known as ecosystem services (ES), which refer to the benefits from ecosystems that human populations directly enjoy, consume, or use to yield QOL. The links between ES and QOL are very complex and diverse, but it is important to explicitly recognize them to aid policy makers to make informed decisions. There are a number of studies done to measure the contribution of ES to QOL, however, how ES contribute specifically to urban QOL at basin-wide scale is not well explored yet. The aim of this paper is thus to review the existing methods used to identify the link between ES and QOL, and to propose a new framework that may be useful in recognizing the link between ES and urban QOL. The paper is divided into three parts: 1) ES that contribute to urban QOL were identified, 2) methods commonly used were reviewed, and 3) a new framework was proposed. Some of the commonly used methods in measuring the contribution of ES to QOL (objective and subjective) are: use of indicators, economic valuation techniques and use of surveys. The proposed method aimed to capture the total contribution of ES to urban QOL by integrating the three methods namely: ecological valuation, economic valuation and social valuation. The framework is not yet validated, thus pilot studies should be done to check its applicability and reliability.

Local perceptions of ecosystem services and human-induced degradation of lake Ziway in the Rift Valley region of Ethiopia

The study here presented concerns the possibility of making use of the natural environmental potential, expressed through ecosystem services, in the establishment of foundations for and the direction of development of the rural-urban areas. The purpose of the study is to show the potentialities of using ecosystem services in governance, directed towards the economic and social development of the rural-urban regions, with consideration of improvement in quality of human life and preservation of the most valuable resources of nature as well as landscape qualities. Ecosystem services, being the nature-provided good, play an increasingly important role in the shaping of social and economic policies within the peri-urban areas, and thereby also their direct influence on the standard of living of the inhabitants increases. The scope of analysis that is presented in the report encompasses the problems of using the potential of the environment in the development of regions on the basis of modelling of reality with due account of the level of social awareness in the context of pro-ecological behaviour patterns. Assumption was adopted that even small differences in the initial parameters or a disturbance of the trajectory of regional development may have an essential impact on the ultimate effect, that is - on the role played by ecosystem services in this process.

This opening chapter sets the scene for subsequent more detailed analysis of many of the issues raised here. We start by discussing in Section 1 the tension in the current era between humanity’s simultaneously standing at “the peak of possibilities” while also, possibly, facing an abyss due to growing inequalities, political conflict and the ever-present danger of climate catastrophe. We turn in Sections 2 and 3 to the main social and spatial transformations that have characterised the last twenty five years. Again we see advances and regressions, above all uneven and fragile development. These sections set the scene for a consideration of three specific challenges: the tension between capitalism and democracy (Section 4); that between production and reproduction with an emphasis on gender relations (Section 5); and that between demographic change and sustainability (Section 6). We then conclude with a sober appraisal of the prospects for the emergence of viable agents for social transformation (Section 7) before making some general remarks on the challenges and possibilities for social progress (Section 8). The underlying hypothesis for social progress is that development is, and always has been, contradictory. Poverty amongst plenty, individual advancement versus collective regression and repression intertwined with liberty. If the industrial era emerged through what Karl Polanyi called a “great transformation” are we headed towards, or do we need a ‘new’ great transformation? We posit a general need for the market to be re-embedded in society if social progress is not to be halted or even reversed. In terms of the political order we find that the recent transformations of democracy and capitalism have had hugely ambiguous features. It is not wrong to say that the planet is currently both more democratic and more affluent than it was three decades ago. But the ways in which such progress has come about endangers not only future progress, it even puts past progress at risk. In political terms, the increasing diffusion of democracy means that more people across the globe have a say on the collective matters that concern them. But under current circumstances, their participation may not be able to reach the kind of decisions that one would understand as collective self-determination. In economic terms, material affluence is being created in unprecedented forms and volume. But, first, this affluence is so unevenly generated and distributed that poverty and hardship do not disappear and are even reproduced in new and possibly more enduring forms. And second, the continuing production of this material affluence may/will endanger the inhabitability of the planet, or large parts of it, even in the short- or medium-term. We have seen our task as one of offering a complex assessment of the current situation that has not been over-determined by our own political preferences. The positive and negative components of the picture we offer are constitutive of the ambivalent nature of the social progress. We are acutely aware that the world looks very different according to our standpoint geographically, socially and by our social and cultural identity. So we have not posed a false unity in terms of outlook. We consider it useful to pose the key questions as clearly as possible from a collective perspective that includes many diverse disciplinary and subject stand-points. We also seek to avoid an analysis determined by either a depressed Weltanschauung that sees only catastrophe ahead given recent political developments or what some have called a Polanyian Pollyanna tendency that is emotionally committed to positive social transformation regardless of the evidence. Quite simply, neither pessimism nor optimism are adequate diagnostic tools. This is particularly the case when we turn to the possible agents of the ‘new’ social transformation we advocate. While we show the decline of 20th-century agents of social change we also try to bring to life the new potential actors for redistribution, social justice and recognition.

Introduction to Journal of Nursing and Human Sciences

The Assessment of Ecosystem Services in Urban Areas

Natural capital and quality of life: a model for evaluating the sustainability of alternative regional development paths

As the largest freshwater lake in northern China, Lake Baiyangdian provides a diversity of ecosystem services: it guarantees water flow to a number of beneficiaries and is an important component of sustainable regional development. However, the flows of sustainable ecosystem services from Lake Baiyangdian mainly depend on upstream hydrological and nutrient retention functions. For sustainable land management, it is important to explore the implications of upstream land-use changes by humans on the ecosystem services supplied by Lake Baiyangdian. In this study, ecological assets and hydrological time series were analysed, and the InVEST model was used to investigate the implications of land management on the delivery of ecosystem services. The results showed that significant changes in ecological assets occurred in the Baiyangdian river basin during the period 1980–2007, characterised particularly by an increase in forested area and a decline in wetland area. A significant decline in the ecological status of the Baiyangdian river basin, expressed as an abrupt change in stream flow time series 1970–2011, was also noted. Water yield and surface run-off functions were mainly influenced by precipitation, but changes in land-cover patterns exacerbate the impacts of these two factors. Nutrient retention was influenced more by altered land cover than by precipitation. Due to data gaps, it was not possible to link upstream ecosystem functions to the ecosystem services contributed by Lake Baiyangdian. It will be necessary to establish a long-term ecological monitoring programme in order to gather the data needed to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnections between ecosystem function and services. The ultimate aim of such a programme must be to incorporate ecosystem services into ecosystem management and policy-making.

Implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has resulted in the restoration of >2 million ha of wetland and grassland habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). Restoration of habitats through these programs provides diverse ecosystem services to society, but few investigators have evaluated the environmental benefits achieved by these programs. We describe changes in wetland processes, functions, and ecosystem services that occur when wetlands and adjacent uplands on agricultural lands are restored through Farm Bill conservation programs. At the scale of wetland catchments, projects have had positive impacts on water storage, reduction in sedimentation and nutrient loading, plant biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat. However, lack of information on the geographic location of restored catchments relative to landscape‐level factors (e.g., watershed, proximity to rivers and lakes) limits interpretation of ecosystem services that operate at multiple scales such as floodwater retention, water quality improvement, and wildlife habitat suitability. Considerable opportunity exists for the USDA to incorporate important landscape factors to better target conservation practices and programs to optimize diverse ecosystem services. Restoration of hydrologic processes within wetlands (e.g., hydroperiod, water level dynamics) also requires a better understanding of the influence of conservation cover composition and structure, and management practices that occur in uplands surrounding wetlands. Although conservation programs have enhanced delivery of ecosystem services in the PPR, the use of programs to provide long‐term critical ecosystem services is uncertain because when contracts (especially CRP) expire, economic incentives may favor conversion of land to crop production, rather than reenrollment. As demands for agricultural products (food, fiber, biofuel) increase, Farm Bill conservation programs will become increasingly important to ensure provisioning of ecosystem services to society, especially in agriculturally dominated landscapes. Thus, continued development and support for conservation programs legislated through the Farm Bill will require a more comprehensive understanding of wetland ecological services to better evaluate program achievements relative to conservation goals.

IntroductionEvidence is mounting that traditional knowledge can play a critical role in shaping the biodiversity conservation strategies and maintaining ecosystem services. This study was conducted with Adi community of Arunachal Pradesh (Ar P) state in the Eastern Indian Himalayas to understand as how local systems of forest classification governs conservation tradition and influences subsistence livelihoods. Twenty Adi villages were sampled from East Siang district of Ar P. A total of 197 men and 204 women (total of 401) Adi respondents were selected for this study. A combination of methodologies including in-depth interview, transect walks, focus group discussion, participant observation and informal interactions were combined for data collection.ResultsLocal forests are classified into 10 different categories based on indicators such as topography, cultural significance, use typology, ownership rights and plant diversity indicators. Local people assign different values (economic, cultural and ecological) to different forest types. Overall, morang followed by regpi and homegardens are perceived to be more valuable to the local needs than other forests with relative ranking of a particular forest reflecting its sustainability. Adis access several diverse services from these community-managed forests. Compared to men (3–35%), the role of women was assessed to be much higher (65 to 100%) in conserving forest biodiversity. Woman-led practices, instrumental in sustainable forest management, included deliberate manipulations of micro-habitats, sustainable harvesting strategies and species domestication. Men were mostly involved in ownership and decision-making roles and in devising social norms to ensure sustainability. Adi celebrate a number of cultural events to sustain biodiversity. Forest-based livelihoods are intrinsically connected to forest resource conservation and are governed by community approaches. Most of the community members gather plants, hunt wild animals and access other ecosystem services from these forests to sustain their livelihoods. Community-owned forests are collectively managed by an indigenous institution ‘Kebang’. Conflicts relating to forest land use and resource management are resolved by the customary chief ‘Gaon Burha’ and his associates using traditional norms.ConclusionsAdi’s system of forest classification, based on ecological, socio-cultural and livelihood indicators, is a location-specific yet comprehensive in nature. Study suggests that integrating the local indicators applied in classifying and strategies applied in managing the local forests can provide valuable insights to the policy makers for the sustainable conservation of forest resources.