Application Of Ecological Engineering Research Articles

Spatial Heterogeneity and the Increasing Trend of Vegetation and Their Driving Mechanisms in the Mountainous Area of Haihe River Basin

In addition to serving as North China’s water supply and ecological barrier, the mountainous area of the Haihe River basin (MHRB) is a crucial location for the application of ecological engineering. Vegetation is an important component in the ecological conservation and eco-hydrological progress of the MHRB. A better understanding of regional vegetation growth can be achieved by a thorough investigation of vegetation indicators. In this research, the leaf area index (LAI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) were chosen as vegetation indicators. The characteristics and driving forces of the spatiotemporal variations of LAI and GPP in the MHRB were explored through Sen’s slope, the Mann–Kendall test, the optimal parameter-based geographical detector model, and correlation analysis. From 2001 to 2018, the annual LAI and GPP increased significantly on the regional scale. The areas with significantly increased vegetation accounted for more than 81% of the MHRB. Land use was the most influential element for the spatial heterogeneity of LAI and GPP, and the humidity index was the most crucial one among climate indicators. Non-linear enhancement or bivariate enhancement was discovered between any two factors, and the strongest interaction was from land use and humidity index. The lowest vegetation cover was found in dry regions with annual precipitation below 407 mm and the humidity index under 0.41; while in both forests and large undulating mountains, higher LAI and GPP were observed. About 87% of the significantly increased vegetation was found in areas with unaltered land use. The increase in vegetation in the MHRB from 2001 to 2018 was promoted by the increased precipitation and humidity index and the reduced vapor pressure deficit. The sensitivity of GPP to climate change was stronger than that of LAI. These findings can serve as a theoretical guide for the application of ecological engineering and ecological preservation in the MHRB.

Application of ecological engineering in landfill remediation

Ecological engineering is a new branch of engineering based on ecology that emerged in the 1960s from the growing need for more sustainable biological solutions to environmental problems. It is based on the design of natural ecosystems for the benefit of both nature and human society, and its techniques can be applied to a range of environmental problems, from the restoration of degraded ecosystems to the removal of pollutants. One of the major environmental problems worldwide is waste disposal in the form of landfills, with its various negative impacts on the environment, living beings and human health. Conventional landfill closure and remediation techniques have proven to be economically and energetically challenging and are not sufficiently effective in reducing leachate formation and removing pollutants. For this reason, this article presents several ecological engineering techniques that can be used in landfill remediation. Phytocapping is an alternative to conventional cover systems that uses plants to control and limit water infiltration into waste, leachate formation, stabilize landfills, control erosion, and reduce methane emissions. Phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly technology for soil remediation through natural processes, in two forms: phytoextraction and phytostabilization. Phytoextraction uses plants to extract and remove pollutants from waste and soil, while phytostabilization is used to immobilize pollutants in the root zone. Constructed wetlands, designed and constructed according to the principles of natural wetland ecosystems, can be used to clean leachate. Natural attenuation uses natural biological processes to mitigate pollution without taking specific action. All of these techniques are based on viable natural solutions that can reduce remediation costs and further maintenance of the landfill. Although they are increasingly being considered in developed countries, there are few examples of their application in landfill remediation in Croatia.

Information sharing promotes bacterial diversity in oligotrophic environment with low-dose X-ray radiation based on modeling and simulation of agent-based model

It remains unclear why bacterial diversity was formed and maintained in oligotrophic environment (OE) with low-dose X-ray radiation (LDXR) due to violation of the competitive exclusion principle in ecology. Based on microbial ecology, bioinformatics, cybernetics, experimental phenomena and data, a new hypothesis was proposed to elucidate information sharing mechanisms driving bacterial community succession with high diversity in OE with LDXR. According to hypothesis, a valid agent-based model (ABM) of cellular automation (CA) was developed to quantitatively describe the hypothesis, and the agent-based simulation sufficiently proved that as the bacterial individuals conduct cooperation to indiscriminately share information of substrate positions with each other in OE with LDXR, it can effectively increase the survival probabilities of all bacterial species, alleviate interspecific competition, and prevent any bacterial species from being dominant, which is beneficial to the coexistence of most species and promotes bacterial diversity during community succession. The results of agent-based simulation are highly similar to the observed phenomena and data in the experiments, therefore sufficiently confirm the proposed hypothesis.This study could not only lay the theoretical foundation for understanding of the crucial role information sharing plays in formation and maintenance of bacterial diversity but also offer effective guidance for bacterial prevention and control as well as other ecological engineering applications.

Keanekaragaman Serangga Hama Pada Budidaya Padi Dengan dan Tanpa Rekayasa Ekologi

This research was carried out on rice fields belonging to farmer in Pudak Village, Kumpeh Ulu District, Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi Province. The insects found were identified at the Plant Pest Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Jambi University. This study aimed to examine the effect of the application of ecological engineering in rice cultivation on the diversity of rice plant insects. This research was carried out by comparing ecologically engineered rice cultivation techniques with conventional rice cultivation techniques usually used by farmers. There were two experimental plots each for ecological engineering and conventional cultivation techniques with an area of each plot of + 0.65 ha. There were five sample plots measuring 25 m2 which were placed diagonally in each experimental plot. Sesame (Sesamum indicum) and Tagetes sp. used as flowering plants. The variables observed were the species of insects that have the potential to become pests and the percentage of dominant pest attacks. The species and populations of pests as well as the percentage of infected plants were analyzed descriptively. Based on research results, the species of insects that have the potential to become pests were found to be more numerous in conventional rice cultivation (16 species) than in ecological engineering (14 species). The population and attacks of Cnaphalocrosis medinalis were higher in conventional rice cultivation than ecologically engineered rice cultivation, however, the population and attacks of Leptocorixa oratorius were higher in ecologically engineered rice cultivation than conventional rice cultivation.

Study on application of ecological engineering of soil and water conservation in soil and water loss control

Study on application of ecological engineering of soil and water conservation in soil and water loss control

Dispersion in a vegetated flow of solute from a continuous source with bed absorption

Predicting the dispersion process of environmental transport in wetland flows is significant to some ecological engineering applications. By extending a previous study (Guo and Chen, 2022), an analytical solution of the steady-state concentration field for solute transport from a continuous release source in a submerged vegetated flow with the effect of bed absorption is presented in this work. Results illustrate that adopting different orthogonal basis functions does not affect the result but affects the convergence rate of the solution near the release source. Under the bed absorption, concentration approaches zero at the far field. Concentration is affected by different bed absorption rates when the absorption rates are small, while it is hardly affected by different absorption rates when the bed absorption rates are large. When the release position is above the bed wall, different bed absorption rates do not affect the near field concentration where the vertical dispersion of solute has not arrived at the bed wall. Under the same bed absorption rate, concentration decays more quickly along the downstream distance when the release position is near the bed wall, but the release positions almost do not affect the downstream distance where the concentration tends to zero.

Study of the Effects of Ten-Year Microclimate Regulation Based on Different Vegetation Type Combinations in a City Riparian Zone

Ecological engineering construction is the main method for urban riparian landscape restoration. Continuous ecological environmental monitoring can reflect the effects of engineering construction and can provide a scientific basis for the improvement of engineering technology. However, the evaluation of riparian ecological engineering mainly focuses on the water environmental function and biodiversity conservation function after the construction period. Studies on the long-term evaluation of regional microclimate regulation and human settlement improvement are limited. In this paper, an ecological restoration project along the Yitong River in northern China was selected as the research object. Temperature, relative humidity and wind speed under different vegetation type combinations were monitored in the riparian ecological engineering construction during the first, second, third and tenth years. The temperature–humidity index (THI) was selected to evaluate human comfort and the improvement effect of microclimate was assessed for different vegetation type combinations. The results showed that vegetation type combinations can play a good role in regulating the microclimate and human comfort. The riparian ecological restoration project achieved a stable function for microclimate regulation in the third year. There was no significant regulation difference between tree–shrub–herb and tree–herb combinations. To realize the optimization of ecological benefits, economic benefits and social benefits, the tree–herb combination can be appropriately increased, and the tree–shrub–herb can be reduced in the application of ecological engineering. Microclimate regulation is an important achievement in engineering construction effects and can be regarded as one of the indices to evaluate the effect of ecological restoration.

Rethinking swimming performance tests for bottom-dwelling fish: the case of European glass eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Systematic experiments on European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in their juvenile, early life stage (glass eel), were conducted to provide new insights on the fish swimming performance and propose a framework of analysis to design swimming-performance experiments for bottom-dwelling fish. In particular, we coupled experimental and computational fluid dynamics techniques to: (i) accommodate glass eel burst-and-coast swimming mode and estimate the active swimming time (tac), not considering coast and drift periods, (ii) estimate near-bottom velocities (Ub) experienced by the fish, rather than using bulk averages (U), (iii) investigate water temperature (T) influence on swimming ability, and (iv) identify a functional relation between Ub, tac and T. Results showed that burst-and-coast swimming mode was increasingly adopted by glass eel, especially when U was higher than 0.3 ms-1. Using U rather than Ub led to an overestimation of the fish swimming performance from 18 to 32%, on average. Under the range of temperatures analyzed (from 8 to 18 °C), tac was strongly influenced and positively related to T. As a final result, we propose a general formula to link near-bottom velocity, water temperature and active swimming time which can be useful in ecological engineering applications and reads as {rm{U}}_{rm{b}}=0.174cdot left({{rm{t}}_{rm{ac}}}^{-0.36}cdot {rm{T}}^{0.77}right).

Ecological engineering approaches in coral reef restoration

AbstractThe combined accelerated footprint of climate change and enhanced anthropogenic pressures and the poor outcomes of many traditional management activities raise the needs for active reef restoration tactics (targeting coral mariculture/transplantation), backed by ecological engineering approaches. These approaches include, among others, the use of ecosystem engineer species, which, through modifications in their physical or biological properties, they create new habitats characterized by novel biodiversity (through either autogeny or allogeny engineering acts). Only a small number of studies on coral reef restoration have discussed/mentioned “ecological engineering” or “coral reef engineering”. Examining reef restoration publications (2016–2019; 145 publications) reveals only 39 (26.9%) dealing with ecological engineering aspects, with 10 classes of “applications” (26 publications) and 4 classes of “properties” (n = 13). Ecological engineering “applications” incorporate all aspects of reef restoration, while the ecological engineering “properties” deal with assisted genetics, coral chimerism, aqua-culturing reef-dwelling organisms, and the consideration of life history parameters of maricultured/transplanted key species. Yet, many ecological engineering applications focus on particular coral species, addressing their specific community issues, while only few address the needs of the entire ecosystem/landscape restoration. It is concluded that rather than trying to return ecosystems to historic states, ecological engineering should shift towards creating novel ecosystems not existed before.

The solution to the problems of gas treatment in alumina production with application of ecological engineering

In this paper, the analysis of the modern situation of the environment in the process of sintering alumina production is carried out. The data on the technology of preparation of sinter and the situation of environmental equipment are given. Ecological assessment of implemented technological decisions in the sintering department and alumina plant was carried out. There is substantiation for the introduction of additional stages of gases at furnace sintering with the direction of the waste gases of the furnace for the carbonization of aluminate solution. The technical decision in the direction of the gases in the wet treatment in a scrubber-electrofilters and their subsequent use in the alumina production was developed and implemented in the framework of the implementation of ecological engineering in gas treatment of furnaces sintering.

Characterization of Di-n-Butyl Phthalate Phytoremediation by Garden Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) through Kinetics and Proteome Analysis

Di-n-dutyl phthalate (DBP), an endocrine disruptor, is one of the most widely used phthalate esters (PAEs) in the world. It can be accumulated in seafood or agricultural products and represents a substantial risk to human health via the food chain. Thus, finding a plant which can remediate DBP but have no effects on growth is the main topic of the development of DBP phytoremediation. This study used garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia), which has a significant DBP absorption capability, as a test plant to measure phytoremediation kinetics and proteome changes after being exposed to DBP. The results show that DBP accumulated in different parts of the garden lettuce but the physiological status and morphology showed no significant changes following DBP phytoremediation. The optimal condition for the DBP phytoremediation of garden lettuce is one critical micelle concentration (CMC) of non-ionic surfactant Tween 80 and the half-life (t1/2, days), which calculated by first-order kinetics, was 2.686 days for 5 mg L−1 of DBP. This result indicated that the addition of 1 CMC of Tween 80 could enhance the efficiency of DBP phytoremediation. In addition, the results of biotoxicity showed that the median effective concentration (EC50) of DBP for Chlorella vulgaris is 4.9 mg L−1. In this case, the overall toxicity markedly decreased following phytoremediation. In the end, the result of proteome analysis showed six protein spots, revealing significant alterations. According to the information of these proteomes, DBP potentially causes osmotic and oxidative stress in garden lettuce. In addition, since DBP had no significant effects on the morphology and physiological status of garden lettuce, garden lettuce can be recommended for use in the plant anti-DBP toxicity test, and also as the candidate plant for DBP phytoremediation. We hope these findings could provide valuable information for DBP-contaminated water treatment in ecological engineering applications or constructed wetlands.

Green and brown infrastructures support a landscape-level implementation of ecological engineering

The green infrastructure (GI) is a network of natural and semi-natural areas with environmental features that is designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. The concept has roots in the former hierarchical system of ecological networks. There are several examples of GIs, but details of their implementation at a landscape level are often missing or they have been used non-systematically. Here, we demonstrate opportunities for landscape-level implementation of GIs based on spatial analysis through the application of ecological engineering or other measures. Using maps and expert evaluations of different land-use types, we created a methodology for national-scale determination of Estonia’s GI. Based on spatially explicit datasets (e.g., land cover, soils, topography, roads), we determined the proportions of greenness and brownness (primarily anthropogenic) landscape indices. Areas with the highest greenness values served as the GI’s core areas, whereas areas with the greatest anthropogenic composition represented the brown infrastructure. Identification and classification of hotspots where the two infrastructures are in conflict (e.g., construction, mining areas, roads, settlements, airports, power lines, wind turbines) revealed locations where ecological engineering and other measures are needed to mitigate or eliminate the conflict. Developing spatially explicit models of the conflicts between the infrastructures represents a new approach in landscape planning and environmental management that links coarse-scale landscape planning and regional landscape plans with more detailed local landscape plans that support the design of site-specific ecological engineering and other measures. We demonstrate that the implementation of GIs is inseparably connected with ecological engineering and landscape-scale planning.

Application of ecological engineering within the framework for strategic sustainable development for design of appropriate soil bioremediation technologies in marginalized regions

This study explores a systematic strategy to design appropriate bioremediation projects for marginalized regions that have the potential to contribute to sustainable development in that region. Ecological Engineering (EE) is of particular value for the development of appropriate bioremediation technology for such regions but a stricter planning tool than provided by EE itself, is also needed when the goal of the project goes beyond remediation targets. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) applies basic principles for sustainability and includes a stepwise strategic planning mechanism for their application. The inclusion of EE within the FSSD may steer soil bioremediation projects in rural areas in developing countries and sparsely populated regions in industrialized countries towards sustainability. The utility of the approach was tested on two cases of soil pollution in marginalized regions: the Chinandega region in Nicaragua (pesticide polluted agricultural soil) and a former filling station (diesel polluted residual area) in Gäddede, northern Sweden. The study demonstrates how the inclusion of the EE key concepts within the FSSD may increase the utility of EE for strategic sustainable development within the region. No difficulties in terms of conflicting suggestions were found in the proposed integrated approach; the two tools were found to contribute on different aspects to provide support to project management and decision making.

Mountain Roads Design Using Ecological Engineering Methods and Traditional Engineering Methods Comparison Study

This study shows that the traditional engineering method of mountain road construction has not only caused local ecological disturbance directly, but also through each of the stages of the preparation, such as material gathering, construction, continual maintenance, and the diminishing of recycling potential, whereas ecological engineering method, with safety as its main priority, could offer a better ecological condition for construction projects. Through studying the local environmental features and using the proper construction method, the most suitable, corresponding engineering method ought to be adopted. This research uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with surveys completed by field experts. This research contains three dimensions: Road Characteristics, Roadside Characteristics, Biological Characteristics. Additionally, actual samples of practical application of ecological engineering would also be discussed to further prove the result and the accuracy of the AHP. Research shows that in the overall planning of a mountain road construction project, ecological engineering method serves to be the better approach.

The Comparison between Ecological Engineering Method and Conventional Engineering Method for the Mountain Area Roadway Design

This study shows that the traditional engineering method of mountain road construction has not only caused local ecological disturbance directly, but also through each of the stages of the preparation, such as material gathering, construction, continual maintenance, and the diminishing of recycling potential, whereas ecological engineering method, with safety as its main priority, could offer a better ecological condition for construction projects. Through studying the local environmental features and using the proper construction method, the most suitable, corresponding engineering method ought to be adopted. This research uses Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with surveys completed by field experts. This research contains three dimensions: Road Characteristics, Roadside Characteristics, Biological Characteristics. Additionally, actual samples of practical application of ecological engineering would also be discussed to further prove the result and the accuracy of the AHP. Research shows that in the overall planning of a mountain road construction project, ecological engineering method serves to be the better approach.

Ecological perspectives in restoring mine waste management areas

Ecological Engineering (EE) in mining waste restoration aims to apply knowledge of natural biological systems known to be present on rocks or minerals, and in sediments to practically and beneficially achieve human and industrial objectives in a natural self-sustaining way. Omitting or discarding ecological processes in the engineering of the mine waste management areas severely prolongs the longevity of current mining practices, when chemical treatment must be provided for hundreds of years. The potential biological controls on contaminant generation and the biological strategies available to reverse sulphide oxidation in mine wastes provide pathways toward less expensive, more energy-efficient and ecologically more acceptable strategies for mine waste management. The application of EE to mining has been demonstrated in several field projects and numerous publications, where the relevant bio-mineralization processes have been well-documented. Unfortunately, the EE approach has not been widely accepted, not because of its lack of a scientific foundation or successful implementation, but due to the challenge of effectively communicating the importance of ecosystem function and the associated geochemical and biological processes to the engineering fraternity. The mining industry needs to adapt to the values and aims of contemporary environmental engineering, to develop systems, structures, methods, tools and infrastructures to protect human and environmental health. The progress made in our EE projects has been brought about through the enhancement of ecosystem function. We will here briefly describe the transformation of an acid mine drainage dump into a productive, biologically-active polishing lake.

Benefits of ecological engineering practices

With the intention to further promote the field of ecological engineering and the solutions it provides, a workshop on “Benefits of Ecological Engineering Practices” was held 3 Dec 2009. It was conducted by the International Ecological Engineering Society in Paris at the conference “Ecological Engineering: from Concepts to Application” organized by the Ecological Engineering Applications Group GAIE. This paper presents the results of the workshop related to three key questions: (1) what are the benefits of ecological engineering practices to human and ecosystem well-being, (2) which concepts are used or useful to identify, reference, and measure the benefits of ecological engineering practices, and (3) how and to whom shall benefits of ecological engineering practices be promoted. While benefits of ecological engineering practices are diverse, general conclusions can be derived to facilitate communication. Identifying benefits requires valuation frameworks reaching beyond the scope of ecology and engineering. A distinction between human and ecosystem well-being in this regard may not be easy or useful, but instead humans embedded in ecosystems should be addressed as a whole. The concepts of resource efficiency, ecosystem services, ecosystem health, and multifunctional land use could serve as suitable references to frame ecological engineering benefits, as well as referring to international political goals such as biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation and poverty reduction. Sector and application specific criteria of good practice could be worked out. Regional, area specific reference systems for sustainable development could provide comparative advantages for ecologically engineered solutions. Besides people with high decision making power and people with high motivation for change are good target groups to be addressed.

The characterization of willow ( Salix L.) varieties for use in ecological engineering applications: Co-ordination of structure, function and autecology

The rapid development of innovative and highly specialized ecotechnologies targeting site-specific problems and pollutants requires precisely tailored designs. The proper selection of remedial plant genotypes that possess the correct structure and function to effectively address a specific problem is a vital step in the design of ecological engineering applications because numerous essential traits must be evaluated to maximize the effectiveness of each installation. Knowledge about the biology of willow species from decades of research as a perennial biomass crop has recently been applied to resolving an array of environmental and ecological problems. Here, essential characteristics of Salix varieties that are pertinent to ecological engineering are described and related to particular ecotechnologies. We identified thirty-six agronomical, physiological, and ecological attributes of willow that provide a framework for species selection and assist in the identification of site-specific functional types of willows for land reclamation, phytoremediation, bioengineering, and agroforestry.

Housing development as an application of ecological engineering on streamside

The work presented in this paper demonstrates housing development as an application of ecological engineering on streamside. The study site consists of terrestrial, riverbank and aquatic zones, on which their correlation and effects were investigated. Interdisciplinary methods involving ecology, hydrology, environment and landscape were applied to achieve maximum benefits for humans and nature. A technical scheme for housing development was established and organized as a hierarchy structure, i.e. determination of problems, establishment of goals, designation of functions, production of plan, and development of designs. The designs and implementation of housing and land consisted of riverbank restoration, vegetation replanting, rainwater purification and landscape protection. Ecological benefit was to be the core of the housing project with consideration of social and economic benefits.

Modeling the influence of a young mussel bed on fine sediment dynamics on an intertidal flat in the Wadden Sea

Mussel beds are known to affect fine sediment dynamics and morphology on mudflat scale, a clear example of ecosystem engineering. Current research into possible ecological engineering applications of mussel beds makes quantitative modeling desirable. In this study a process-based model of the interaction between a young mussel bed and fine sediment was set up for use in the hydrodynamic and morphological model Delft3D-FLOW. The model encompasses the hydraulic roughness of the mussel bed, active capture of suspended sediment by filter feeding and changed bed properties due to biodeposited matter. The mussel bed implementation in Delft3D-FLOW was applied in a test case: a Wadden Sea intertidal mudflat model. It was concluded that a combination of active deposition via filtration and slow down of the flow due to increased roughness leads to high net deposition in the mussel bed. In addition, the ability of young mussels to quickly climb on top of deposited material results in rapid trapping of large amounts of fine sediment. In the wake of the mussel bed, deposition is also high because of reduced flow velocities. The effects of different existing mussel bed patterns were also evaluated. Patchiness and specifically striped patterns cause mussel beds to experience less sedimentation than uniformly covered beds of the same size and may therefore be favorable to mussels.