State Of Natural Resources Research Articles

Modelling livelihoods and household resilience to droughts using Bayesian networks

Over the last four decades, the Indian government has been investing heavily in watershed development (WSD) programmes that are intended to improve the livelihoods of rural agrarian communities and maintain or improve natural resource condition. Given the massive investment in WSD in India, and the recent shift from micro-scale programmes (<500 ha) to meso-scale (~5000 ha) clusters, robust methodological frameworks are needed to measure and analyse impacts of interventions across landscapes as well as between and within communities. In this paper, the sustainable livelihoods framework is implemented using Bayesian networks (BNs) to develop models of drought resilience and household livelihoods. Analysis of the natural capital component model provides little evidence that watershed development has influenced household resilience to drought and indicators of natural capital, beyond an increased area of irrigation due to greater access to groundwater. BNs have proved a valuable tool for implementing the sustainable livelihoods framework in a retrospective evaluation of implemented WSD programmes. Many of the challenges of evaluating watershed interventions using BNs are the same as for other analytical approaches. These are reliance on retrospective studies, identification and measurement of relevant indicators and isolating intervention impacts from contemporaneous events. The establishment of core biophysical and socio-economic indicators measured through longitudinal household surveys and monitoring programmes will be critical to the success of BNs as an evaluation tool for meso-scale WSD.

Factors of Serbian spa tourism and its sustainability with reference to Gamzigrad spa

Spas are whales rich in medicinal water, mud, air or other properties that help in the healing process. By analyzing the factors of Serbian spa tourism, it can be determined their integrity and importance for the development of certain types of tourism, as well as the importance of these factors for the strengthening of the region in which the spas are located. Can Serbia rely on its own capabilities and resources? The answer to this question should be sought in the successful management of the country, its regions and the state of natural resources, in the establishment of proper national strategy for sustainable development. Given that Serbia has a considerable sources of renewable energy, among which occupies an important place and hydro energy, and that they are not utilized enough, both at the national and regional levels, the paper will try to give an overview of the factors of spa tourism with emphasis on Gamzigrad spa.

Analisa Kepemimpinan Bupati Kuantan Singingi dalam Meningkatkan Pembangunan Periode 2006-2015

Kemajuan pembangunan Kuantan Singingi Kabupaten menjadi daerah mampu bersaing seperti saat ini, tidak terlepas dari sosok peran H. Sukarmis sebagai pemegang tahta Pemerintah selama kurang lebih 2 periode masa jabatan sebagai Bupati Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi. Pengakuan pemerintah baik dari pemerintah provinsi atau pusat untuk Kuantan Singingi Pemerintah Kabupaten bawah kepemimpinan H. Sukarmis terbukti dengan pemberian berbagai penghargaan.Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif yang berusaha untuk memberikan gambaran terhadap situasi yang terjadi, dikenal dengan penelitian deskriptif. Penelitian deskriptif adalah penelitian sistematis yang memberikan gambaran tentang fakta atau karakteristik populasi tertentu yang faktual dan cermat. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Kantor Bupati Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi. Dalam penelitian ini informan bagi penulis adalah seorang pengamat politik, tokoh masyarakat, kepala Badan Pusat Statistik, kepala staf Kantor BAPPEDA Kabupaten Bupati Kuantan Singingi.Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Bapak H. Sukarmis adalah sosok Buapati Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi 2006-2015 yang memiliki kepemimpinan yang baik, yang memiliki visi sosial yang baik, kemampuan berpikir abstrak, dan memiliki keseimbangan emosi. Faktor yang membantu keberhasilan kepemimpinan Bupati H. Sukarmis mendukung adalah geografis Kuantan Singingi di jalur lintas dan kondisi sumber daya alam masih tersedia dan dikombinasikan dengan pengembangan infrastruktur yang memadai sehingga mampu meningkatkan ekonomi masyarakat.

Definitions and determination of crop yield, yield gaps, and of rates of change

Given the importance of crop yield and yield progress, this review endeavours to clearly define the different representations of yield, discuss their measurement, and elucidate some controlling factors in yield change. For a field, farm, district or region, average farm or actual yield (FY) is central, but potential (and water-limited potential) yield (PY, PYw) is also an important yardstick. PY is defined here as the measured yield of the best cultivar, grown with optimal agronomy and without manageable biotic and abiotic stresses, under natural resource and cropping system conditions representative of the target area. Economic yield, governed by considerations of profit and risk, and record and theoretical yield, complete the picture. Yield gap is defined as the difference between PY and FY under the same environment. Across most crop-region combinations in the last 2 to 3 decades, FY progress has been associated with both PY progress and yield gap closing, and a simple model, based on linear regression against time, is proposed for understanding this. PY advance is the result of plant breeding and new agronomy (and their interaction, usually positive), while yield gap closing arises with the adoption by farmers of known innovations faster than new ones are invented. Unravelling the true technological component in apparent progress in PY, and especially in FY, is not necessarily simple, and confounding factors are listed and discussed.

Present Scenario of Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources in Bangladesh: A Compact Analysis

This research deliberately searches the present scenario of renewable and non-renewable resources in Bangladesh and also focuses on their effective management. Therefore, the research is unique in terms of focusing the present scenario of natural resources and the research highlights the present conditions of natural resources. Most of the study and research on NRs focus on superficial problems, poverty, gender, and scientific measure of resource degradation. This research gives special attention to find the present scenario and to find the actors who are responsible for NRs management. There are considerable opportunities of Bangladesh to boost the economic growth through renewable and nonrenewable resource. With the help of these resources Bangladesh can generate electricity and can meet the required demand in the future. Therefore, the Government and the Private sector should work hand to hand to emphasize more renewable energy sources to produce electricity to solve our power crisis problem. Renewable energy sources discussed above can help Bangladesh to produce more power in order to reduce Load-shedding problem. Time has come to look forward and work with these renewable energy fields to produce electricity rather than depending wholly on conventional method. In addition, we observed that Bangladesh has a huge amount of natural Gas and other mineral resources. Proper and corruption free management can be able to solve the problem of energy crisis.

Using ecological indicators and a decision support system for integrated ecological assessment at two national park units in the mid-Atlantic region, USA.

We implemented an integrated ecological assessment using a GIS-based decision support system model for Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (UPDE) and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA)—national park units with the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Our assessment examined a variety of aquatic and terrestrial indicators of ecosystem components that reflect the parks’ conservation purpose and reference condition. Our assessment compared these indicators to ecological thresholds to determine the condition of park watersheds. Selected indicators included chemical and physical measures of water quality, biologic indicators of water quality, and landscape condition measures. For the chemical and physical measures of water quality, we used a water quality index and each of its nine components to assess the condition of water quality in each watershed. For biologic measures of water quality, we used the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera aquatic macroinvertebrate index and, secondarily, the Hilsenhoff aquatic macroinvertebrate index. Finally, for the landscape condition measures of our model, we used percent forest and percent impervious surface. Based on our overall assessment, UPDE and DEWA watersheds had an ecological assessment score of 0.433 on a −1 to 1 fuzzy logic scale. This score indicates that, in general, the natural resource condition within watersheds at these parks is healthy or ecologically unimpaired; however, we had only partial data for many of our indicators. Our model is iterative and new data may be incorporated as they become available. These natural parks are located within a rapidly urbanizing landscape—we recommend that natural resource managers remain vigilant to surrounding land uses that may adversely affect natural resources within the parks.

Penganekaragaman dan Penyeragaman dalam Aktivitas Nelayan Pulau Sembilan: Sebuah Penjelasan Prosesual dan Kontekstual

This article describes and explains the complexity of dynamic process of sea fishery in Pulau Sembilan since the ancient up to now. With the application of the concepts such as diverging, homogenizing, continuity, and temporal, it has been found that the complexity of dynamic process of the fishing economy has oscillated between divergence and homogeneity. The divergence refers to different kinds of fishing activities based on various fish species by different traditional catch techniques, on the other hand, homogeneity refers to the concentration of fishermen activities on one or more similar kinds of fishing activities such as catching life fish (kerapu, sunu, napoleon) and life lobster as top commodities in the period of 1990s. When the populations of the main fish species were decreased as negative impact of overexploitation since the beginning of the 2000s, there were many fishermen returning again to different kinds of fishing activities. It means that the diverging process began its era. The process of diverging and homogenizing of fishery involve cognitive systems as guide for fishermen decision making. These processes indicate persistent and temporal functions of traditional and new fishing techniques of Pulau Sembilan fishing communities. By processual and contextual explanation, it was clear that diverging and homogenizing of fishery is a continuum of its dynamic process. The processes are influenced by internal and external socio-cultural factors and the change of sea physical environment and natural resource conditions. From this explanation known that new practice of using potassium cyanide contributes significantly to the serious degradation of large part of coral reef zones in and outside of Pulau Sembilan water. Key words: Coral reef resource use, diverging and homogenizing, continuity and temporal functions.

Visual Image of the Continent in Russian Textbooks on Geography (1825-2013)

The research objective is the identification of dynamics and a ratio between figurative and rational ways of representation of a visual material in the example of didactic illustrations in the Russian textbooks on geography (1825-2013). As an example, the concept “image of Australia” as not adjoining to Russia, the far country-continent is used. A map as a visual representation of a territory is important for understanding the symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as regions, economic structures, activity of the population and the condition of natural resources. Authors of textbooks, using schemes and numerous charts, expand limits of the symbolical image of information.

Research on Regional Comprehensive Production Capacity of Hog Industry in China with the Constraints of Resources and Environment

This paper designed a systematic evaluation methodology to study the regional comprehensive production capacity of hog industry in China. A three-layer evaluation index system of comprehensive production capacity of hog industry was established. The index system included 26 indicators and mainly covered seven respects, namely natural resource condition, feed supply capacity, current status of hog production, costs and returns of hog production, agricultural foundation, support capability of animal science and technology, and ecological environment condition. Then based on the index system, applied entropy weight method, grey relational analysis and principal component analysis, the comprehensive production capacity of hog industry of 31 provinces and municipalities in China in 2000, 2005 and 2010 was evaluated respectively. The consistency of these three methods was examined by Mann-Kendall test. A combined evaluation was conducted and reasons led to the great variation in ranking for some provinces and municipalities during the period of 2000-2010 were analyzed. Applied hierarchical clustering method, 31 provinces and municipalities were divided into four groups and the regions which were appropriate for hog farming and which were not were figured out.

Application of Natural Resource Condition Assessments to Two Small National Parks

ABSTRACT: Using a scorecard approach, we assessed the condition of natural resources within the major habitats in Mount Rushmore National Memorial (MORU), South Dakota, and Niobrara National Scenic River (NIOB), Nebraska, as part of a “pilot” effort to determine a National Park Service (NPS) system-wide approach to Natural Resource Condition Assessments (NRCA). Both parks are considered small — MORU because of size (517 ha) and NIOB because the NPS does not own land within the boundary of the park. Small parks often contain resources that are not well-known because they lack research, monitoring, and staff expertise. However, we found adequate information to assess the condition, and sometimes trend, of 12 of 15 biodiversity and process indicators at MORU and 17 of 22 at NIOB, although most of the data we used to establish reference conditions came from sources outside of the parks. We believe forested habitats at MORU and NIOB are in poor condition and deteriorating primarily due to the suppression of fi...

Assessing national park resource condition along an urban–rural gradient in and around Washington, DC, USA

Managing parks within an urban and urbanizing landscape context is the new normal for the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The NPS Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program is tasked with collecting data on the natural resource condition of all 270 parks in the NPS system deemed to have significant natural resources. Synthesizing this large amount of diverse data into comprehensive assessments of ecosystem integrity has proven to be a daunting task. We provide an analysis of NPS I&M data for ten national parks located along an urban–rural gradient from Washington, DC to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Mid-Atlantic, USA. Twelve representative metrics of ecosystem condition were selected and combined into single park scores using four separate approaches for data aggregation. The different analysis methods were compared based on criteria including the ability to differentiate among parks, sensitivity to uncertainty in assessment points, ability to use varied data sources, and information content for management. The results support the use of relatively simple methods such as distance-based aggregation scoring for long-term assessment of lands in this mixed-used landscape. Land use change within 5-km buffers adjacent to the parks was significantly correlated with overall scores and was a strong predictor of water quality measures. Urban parks generally scored slightly lower than parks located in more rural settings. However, the distance-based method penalized the urban parks less than other scoring approaches for several small problems, and urban parks scored fairly well by this recommended method. Trends in regional land use change should be carefully monitored, but at present, most of the parks along this urban–rural gradient are successfully fulfilling their mission of sustaining natural resources at a high level of ecological integrity.

Human dimensions indicators of coastal ecosystem services: A hierarchical perspective

Coastal resource management revolves around defining the dynamic between people and the marine and coastal resources they use and depend upon for a large range of goods and services. The process of defining that dynamic is iterative and must account not only for changing natural resource conditions but also for changing social conditions. Decision-making therefore happens within a context of a social system that includes differing levels of capacity, commitment, economics, political mandates and pressures, and cultural and traditional frameworks. The aim of this paper is to introduce a hierarchical approach in which the large number of variables needed to measure the complex, numerous and abstract social concepts used to evaluate the delivery of ecosystem services can be aggregated into smaller sets of indicators, which can ultimately be aggregated into a single report card. These variables and indicators can identify and describe non-economic human dimensions societal benefits derived as ecosystem services that are readily collected, that can identify changes over time, and are appropriate to specific coastal regions. The identified indicators would capture changes in the delivery of overall ecosystem services impacted by, or that will impact, changes in particular sets of environmental characteristics that are valued by society at large.

Деградаційні процеси та їхній вплив на екологічний стан земельних ресурсів України

On the basis of the generalized pilot studies, scientific references, share and instructive materials the current state of the degraded lands, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics is given, influence of degradation processes on an ecological condition of natural resources is revealed. It was found that the quality of land resources significantly affect meteorological phenomena and dangerous exogenous geological processes (landslides, karst, subsidence of soil, erosion etc.) that are common to more than half of the territory of Ukraine. Key words: degradation, dehumification, erosion, pollution, marshiness, acidity,

Яремчанська модель курортно-рекреаційного освоєння карпат в Австро-Угорський та Польський періоди

Natural-resource conditions, historical and geographical features of the territorial organization of Yaremchanska TRS in the late nineteenth - early twentieth century are considered. The features of the formation of health and recreational specialization settlements within the investigated TRS are described. The process of consolidation of the Hutsul villages after railway was built in polycentric territorial recreational alpine climate system and spa type is highlighted. Keywords: territorial recreation system, historical and geographical features, health and recreational specialization, natural resource conditions, tourists, turists, Holiday villas, houses, stages of TRS.

The importance of spatial nested data in understanding the relationship between visitor use and landscape impacts

As managers and researchers of protected natural areas continue to seek balance in promoting visitor use but limiting negative experiential and natural resource impacts, the integration of social and physical spatial data may play a critical role in understanding how visitors and the community interface with the landscape within these protected areas. These spatial considerations are important for inventorying, monitoring, and managing the conditions of natural resources within parks. Specifically related to the visitor impacts of natural resources in parks are the use and condition of multiple-use trails. Technology such as GPS and GIS may allow for a unique assessment of the relationship between factors that influence this resource. This paper focuses on how visitor use distribution (measured through GPS tracking), activity type, and trail design influence the impacts to trail conditions. This paper also addresses statistical concerns related to spatial dependency. Results suggest that failure to account for spatial dependency can lead to erroneous Type I findings. Additionally, activity type (specifically horseback riders) and trail design were found to best predict trail impacts when controlling for spatial dependency.

The effects of foreign exchange and monetary policies in Russia

This paper examines the effects of Russian foreign exchange and monetary policies under conditions of abundant natural resources during the period 1999–2011 using structural VAR models. The results suggest that monetary policy shocks, which are identified as money supply disturbances, have a persistent effect on real output, and more than half of the volatility in real output can be explained by changes in the money supply. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that stock prices are a more significant transmission channel of monetary policy than bank loans.

The Role of Religion in Community-based Natural Resource Management

While community-based resource management (CBRM) systems frequently include religious beliefs, little has been done to explore and document the role that religion may play in traditional CBRM. To address this gap, in this paper we present the results of a meta-analysis of the role that religion plays in CBRM. We find that several important governance functions are implemented as religious practices and through beliefs in the supernatural. We also find that religious governance can positively affect natural resource conditions. We conclude that such belief systems should be accounted for as new policy interventions are implemented.

An evaluation of flooding risks associated with giant reed (Arundo donax)

The presence of vegetation in a channel may influence water movement in the channel and the surrounding land in several ways. One hypothesis is that increased abundance of the invasive plant Arundo donax in a watercourse contributes to increased flooding risk. To test this hypothesis, we determined Manning's coefficient for A. donax and subsequently used it in the HEC-RAS model to estimate the impact that A. donax has on flooding risks at three sites within two moderately sized northern California rivers. The mean value for Manning's coefficient for A. donax was 0.066, and it varied from 0.019 to 0.121 (n = 37). Model simulations showed that A. donax within a stream channel had a direct effect on flooded area, causing increases up to 10% above baseline conditions, which represent cross sections with no A. donax present. Storm size also affected A. donax's impact on the size of the flooded area. Using the maximum value for Manning's n for A. donax in the simulations resulted in an increase in the flooded area from 10% to 19% compared to simulations in which there was no A. donax present. Impacts of A. donax on other stream systems could differ, but they can be estimated using the value for Manning's n for A. donax provided in this study. This information can be used in conjunction with natural resource conditions, such as soil type, to prioritize areas for A. donax management.

Together we can do more – environmental consciousness in the South African dam construction sector (1945-1980)

For several thousand years societies have diverted and dammed up rivers to meet their increasing water needs. The Industrial Revolution ushered in the modern era of water resource development, which has led to the construction of an estimated 50 000 large dams worldwide.Rising concerns over the state of natural resources following the Second World War resulted in the emergence of public anti-dam lobby groups who used protest and advocacy to place pressure on authorities to cease dam construction activities and improve environmental legislation. While these actions proved successful in many countries this approach has led to conflict between environmental groups and dam authorities.South Africa is highly dependent on dams for stable and regular water supply. The country’s 320 largest dams together store some 66% of the country’s mean annual runoff. In contrast with the global environmental movement, institutionalisation of the environment occurred within the water engineering sector not as a result of outside pressures but due to rising concerns from water engineers themselves.In the absence of strong adversarial environmental non-governmental organisations, improved management of the impact of large dams grew out of early cooperation between department officials and aquatic scientists, especially around the sustainable management of water resources in KwaZulu-Natal, as this article illustrates. This trend towards negotiation and collaboration led to the country’s main developer of large dams, the Department of Water Affairs, instituting voluntary environmental policies from 1980.Keywords: History, dams, rivers, history, environmental movement, environmental consciousness, water, aquatic science, engineering, cooperation

Moderate resolution satellite data for mapping salt marshes

Biophysical characteristics of salt marshes are primary indicators of their photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen content, and physiological status. These include the four main characteristics of canopy chlorophyll content: green leaf area index (ratio of green foliage area to ground area), green vegetation fraction (percent green canopy cover), green biomass (which also act as proxies for estimating net primary productivity —NPP), and carbon sequestration potential. Monitoring these characteristics through remotely sensed data can help infer the overall condition and productivity of these valuable natural resources on a larger scale. This would allow effective management strategies in high priority areas. Our research aims to enhance the marsh monitoring practices by including biophysical characteristics (the true early indicators of marsh health status) derived accurately from information such as NASA’s moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250m and 500m data. Our objectives were to calibrate and test a suite of MODISbased vegetation indices (VIs) and develop prototype weekly composites of the salt marsh biophysical characteristics for the entire US Gulf Coast from 2000 to 2010. We then planned to perform a time-series analysis to study the overall trend of salt marsh productivity during the last decade. These VIs (normal difference, wide dynamic range, enhanced, soil-adjusted, etc.) have been widely used and tested for monitoring terrestrial vegetation, but not for salt marsh ecosystems. Our VI calibration and tuning came from establishing relationships between MODIS 250m or 500m data and field data in order to predict the four marsh biophysical characteristics mentioned above. We used atmospherically corrected MODIS 8-day surface reflectance products (250m and 500m), and in situ measurements of biophysical data from 182 locations covering four states (LA, MS, AL, FL). Preliminary analysis revealed that the accuracy of the MODIS-based salt marsh VI calibration depends primarily on three factors: the accuracy of the field data collection, the Figure 1. (a) The dual-headed OceanOptics sensor mounted on a 5m (16ft) high frame. (b, c) Instantaneous field of view (spatial resolution) of the sensor (diameter: 2.2m). (d) In situ sensor calibration.