Ecological Hotspots Research Articles

Random forest classifications for landuse mapping to assess rapid flood damage using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data

Devastating flood events in northeast Bangladesh are almost a regular phenomenon and last for an abnormally long time for a variety of reasons, including the mountainous topography and the abundance of extreme rainfall events upstream of this region, the complex interaction of the existing river network and haors (wetlands with shallow depressions) in this region. Apart from the monsoon floods, this region frequently experiences flooding during the pre-monsoon (Mar–May) season, known as flash floods, which are considered one of the worst hazards. For conducting the recovery processes after any flood event, accurate damage assessment needs to be done as much as it is possible, which may ensure proper planning and decision-making. Hence, this study proposed a methodology to combine Optical and Radar Sentinel products for flood monitoring and damage assessment. The major advantage of using two different Sentinel products combinedly was while Sentinel-2 could be used for land cover mapping, Sentinel-1 could be used for flood inundation mapping during monsoon periods due to its cloud-penetrating radar imaging property. Gowainghat, an upazila of Sylhet district in Bangladesh, was selected as the case study area, which is prone to monsoons and flash floods almost every year. This area is also one of the most ecological hotspots in Bangladesh, dominated by different haors and beels. Being a dominant waterbody region, it is also necessary to classify the land covers distinctly. A random forest classifier has been introduced in this study to better represent flood extent in this region by ensuring better accuracy of the land cover classification. The results from this study revealed that better results were obtained during land cover mapping when the random forest classifier was applied (90% accuracy) compared to the maximum likelihood classification (74% accuracy). Moreover, the flood damage was evaluated for different land classes providing 89.06% overall accuracies when compared with current land cover. It has been found that about 23.98% of the total agricultural land went underwater during the last monsoon flood, while 72.41% was affected during the last flash flood. The study assisted in determining the losses related to floods and focused on the importance of water management for the target locality.

Rapid phytoplankton response to wind forcing influences productivity in upwelling bays

AbstractBays are often ecological hotspots within highly‐productive eastern boundary upwelling systems. Though the physics of such bays are well understood, there is no consensus about the factors underlying their high productivity. Three weeks of high‐temporal‐resolution observations in two long, narrow bays (Rías Baixas, NW‐Iberia), showed that during an upwelling pulse, deep, nutrient‐rich isopycnals rose into the euphotic zone inside the rías in a few hours. The response of the isopycnals to changes in wind forcing is approximately three times faster inside the rías than the Ekman spin‐up time, triggering rapid nutrient uptake and subsequent formation of a subsurface chlorophyll and production maximum. The tight coupling and rapid response of phytoplankton growth to wind forcing could explain the higher productivity of the rías, and also be at play in other upwelling bays with similar morphologies and orientations. Resolving short‐term variability of physical–biological coupling is crucial to discern the future evolution of upwelling bays.

Satellite-Based Ocean Color and Thermal Signatures Defining Habitat Hotspots and the Movement Pattern for Commercial Skipjack Tuna in Indonesia Fisheries Management Area 713, Western Tropical Pacific

Understanding the mechanisms that determine the critical habitat of commercial species is one of the significant challenges in marine science, particularly for species that inhabit the vast ocean worldwide. Previous investigations primarily focused on determining skipjack habitats without considering the feasible size for sustainable fisheries. To define habitat hotspots and movement patterns for decently sized skipjack tuna (≥50 cm) in Indonesia Fisheries Management Area (IFMA) 713, Indonesia, we examined the remote sensing of synoptic sea surface temperature (SST) and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) measurements with catch data from 2007 to 2016. A new skipjack tuna habitat model was developed based on the link between the key satellite-based environmental data and the best tuna fishery performance using a combination of generalized additive models (GAMs) and kernel density estimates. The findings reveal that feasible skipjack catch sizes were found in approximately 27% of total fishing grounds and were significantly captured in areas with a Chl-a of 0.15–0.28 mg m−3 and an SST of 29.5–31.0 °C, corresponding with an elevated skipjack habitat index (SHI). The habitat hotspots for the commercial skipjack were particularly produced by favorable Chl-a and SST, in association with Chl-a front and anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies, especially in October, which coincided with the highest skipjack catch per unit effort (CPUE). Skipjack distributions were mostly found within 10 km of favorable feeding habitats. They used the hotspot area as an indicator of their dynamics and movement pattern in the environment. The observed CPUEs cross-validated the predicted SHI values, suggesting that the model provided a reliable proxy for defining the potential habitats and the spatial movement of mature skipjack schools. Our findings have global significance for locating ecological hotspots, monitoring sustainable skipjack fisheries, and tracking skipjack migration, especially within the western tropical Pacific.

Environmental forcing by submarine canyons: Evidence between two closely situated cold-water coral mounds (Porcupine Bank Canyon and Western Porcupine Bank, NE Atlantic)

Within the Porcupine Bank Canyon (NE Atlantic), cold-water coral (CWC) mounds are mostly found clustered along the canyon lip, with individual disconnected mounds occurring nearby on the western Porcupine Bank. Remotely operated vehicle-mounted vibrocoring was utilized to acquire cores from both of these sites. This study is the first to employ this novel method when aiming to precisely sample two closely situated areas. Radiometric ages constrain the records from the early to mid-Holocene (9.1 to 5.6 ka BP). The cores were then subjected to 3D segmented computer tomography to capture mound formation stages. The cores were then further examined using stable isotopes and benthic foraminiferal assemblages, to constrain the paleoenvironmental variation that influenced CWC mound formation of each site. In total, mound aggradation rate in the Porcupine Bank Canyon and western Porcupine Bank was comparable to other Holocene CWC mounds situated off western Ireland. Results derived from multiproxy analysis, show that regional climatic shifts define the environmental conditions that allow positive coral mound formation. In addition, the aggradation rate of coral mounds is higher adjacent to the Porcupine Bank Canyon than on the western Porcupine Bank. Benthic foraminifera assemblages and planktic foraminiferal δ13C reveal that higher quality organic matter is more readily available closer to the canyon lip. As such, we hypothesize that coral mound formation in the region is likely controlled by an interplay between enhanced shelf currents and the existence of the Eastern North Atlantic Water-Mediterranean Outflow Water-Transition Zone. The geomorphology of the canyon promotes upwelling of these water masses that are enriched in particles, including food and sediment supply. The higher availability of these particles support the development and succession of ecological hotspots along the canyon lip and adjacent areas of the seafloor. These observations provide a glimpse into the role that submarine canyons play in influencing macro and micro benthic fauna distributions and highlights the importance of their conservation.

Anticyclonic eddies aggregate pelagic predators in a subtropical gyre.

Ocean eddies are coherent, rotating features that can modulate pelagic ecosystems across many trophic levels. These mesoscale features, which are ubiquitous at mid-latitudes1, may increase productivity of nutrient-poor regions2,3, accumulate prey4 and modulate habitat conditions in the water column5. However, in nutrient-poor subtropical gyres-the largest marine biome-the role of eddies in modulating behaviour throughout the pelagic predator community remains unknown despite predictions for these gyres to expand6 and pelagic predators to become increasingly important for food security7. Using a large-scale fishery dataset in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, we show a pervasive pattern of increased pelagic predator catch inside anticyclonic eddies relative to cyclones and non-eddy areas. Our results indicate that increased mesopelagic prey abundance in anticyclone cores4,8 may be attracting diverse predators, forming ecological hotspots where these predators aggregate and exhibit increased abundance. In this energetically quiescent gyre, we expect that isolated mesoscale features (and the habitat conditions in them) exhibit primacy over peripheral submesoscale dynamics in structuring the foraging opportunities of pelagic predators. Our finding that eddies influence coupling of epi- to mesopelagic communities corroborates the growing evidence that deep scattering layer organisms are vital prey for a suite of commercially important predator species9 and, thus, provide valuable ecosystem services.

Impact of climatic changes and anthropogenic activities on ecosystem net primary productivity in India during 2001–2019

Climate change and anthropogenic activities have altered the terrestrial ecosystem dynamics around the globe. Due to the complex ecosystem-atmosphere interactions at different scales, these impacts are difficult to quantify and are poorly understood, especially in developing countries with limited ground-based observations. This study analyzed the impact of climatic changes and anthropogenic activities on ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) in India using remote sensing-based observations, correlation analysis, and Residual Trend analysis (RESTREND). Using different climate variables such as precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation, along with Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) and NPP maps, we first classified the ecosystems (ES) into two categories: natural ecosystems – influenced only by climate change (ESc), covering about 19.7% of the area, and human-influenced ecosystems – influenced by both climate change and anthropogenic activities (ESc+a), covering about 80.3% of the area. RESTREND analysis was performed on both ESc and ESc+a to analyze the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to changes in NPP. The correlation analysis between NPP and climate variables suggested that precipitation was the dominant control of NPP in about 72% area, whereas temperature and solar radiation controlled NPP in Himalayan and forest-dominated regions, respectively. The human-influenced ecosystems (ESc+a) experienced an increasing trend in NPP, whereas natural ecosystems (ESc) experienced a decreasing trend, particularly in forest-dominated regions. Overall, NPP increased in the country during the study duration. The contributions of climatic changes and anthropogenic activities varied spatially and temporally. In general, climatic factors enhanced the NPP, whereas human activities contributed to a slight decline in NPP. These findings improve our understanding of how ecosystems in India are influenced by climate change and anthropogenic activities in recent decades. The results from this study will aid in identifying ecological hotspots and key drivers for better ecosystem management strategies.

Secondary succession and parent material drive soil bacterial community composition in terraced abandoned olive groves from a Mediterranean hyper-humid mountainous area

Mediterranean humid mountains are ecological hotspots with high water availability that may accelerate their recovery after farmland abandonment, a widespread phenomenon in marginal areas of the European Mediterranean Region. This land use change led to secondary succession processes triggering changes in soil properties and soil microorganisms. This is the first study in assessing the environmental influence of both ecological succession and parent material over soil properties and soil bacterial communities in these habitats. To examine the effects of secondary succession and elucidate the role of parent material in soil bacterial communities, six soil plots were sampled from the combination of abandoned and rainfed olive groves, terraced or non-terraced, and over four parent materials in Lluc Valley, a Mediterranean hyper-humid mountainous area on the island of Mallorca, Spain. Soil bacterial diversity and taxonomic composition at phylum and family level in each field were analyzed by rRNA 16 S amplicon sequencing. In addition, a series of soil physicochemical and microbiological properties, together with enzyme activities were assessed. Results showed that secondary succession and parent material significantly affected soil physicochemical and microbiological properties, soil enzyme activities and soil bacterial communities’ diversity and taxonomic composition. Secondary succession following farmland abandonment triggered higher total organic carbon (TOC), microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), basal soil respiration (REB), alkaline phosphatase activity (Php) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA), thus enhancing soil quality. In contrast, parent material significantly shaped pH, specific surface area (SSA), TOC, Cmic, REB and soil enzyme activities, playing a key role in land use effects modulation. According to the distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA), SSA, TOC, REB, Cmic, urease activity (Ur) and Php were the soil properties that contributed to significant changes in bacterial communities’ composition at the family level. This study evidenced that farmland abandonment led to improve soil quality in Mediterranean humid mountains, with positive feedbacks provided by parent material.

The difference of water footprint and availability as a physical metric for sustainable water use and management

AbstractThis paper presents a physical metric that is defined as ‘difference of water footprint and availability in a given region’ during either normal or dry periods, based on blue and green water concepts. Proposed metric quickly highlights water‐stressed regions and directly provides volume of water surplus/deficit in the region of interest. Evaluated green water surplus/deficit for agricultural areas can be applied to assess optimum irrigation water requirement while blue water surplus/deficit can be used to assess potential growth of agricultural‐based economy and sustainable water use and allocation within a watershed. We assessed surplus/deficit volumes of blue and green waters for three watersheds of Karaj, Latian and Mamlu dams located in Tehran and Alborz Provinces of Iran. Blue and green water resources are quantified using well‐calibrated hydrologic model of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool during the period 1995–2013. Results denote that minimum and maximum water deficit occur during wet and dry seasons, respectively. Study area does not experience green water deficit during normal periods, but a few regions encounter green water deficit during droughts. Annual blue water metrics show that one (Subbasin 7) and three subbasins (Subbasins 5–7) are ecological hotspots during normal and dry periods, respectively. Results also indicate that farmers should reduce applied irrigation water from 4.86 to 3.165 (−35%) and 3.4 (−30%) m3/s during normal and dry periods, respectively, while cultivated area (agricultural production) in Karaj, Latian and Mamlu watersheds can, respectively, be increased by 31 ( kg), 52 ( kg) and 31.4 km2 ( kg) during droughts.

基于文献计量分析的中国乡村生态学研究综述

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于文献计量分析的中国乡村生态学研究综述 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202112283698 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 浙江省哲学社会科学规划交叉学科重点支持课题项目（22JCXK07Z） Research progress and prospects of rural ecology in China based on bibliometric and visualization analysis Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:我国已全面建成了小康社会，新发展阶段对乡村生态环境保护治理提出更高要求，乡村生态振兴既要提升生态环境质量，又要促进农民农村共同富裕的实现。在时代发展需求中，乡村生态学的研究成果不断丰富，概念内涵不断扩展，有必要对过去20年中国乡村生态学研究进行梳理和总结，为美丽乡村建设、自然资源保护、乡村可持续发展提供理论依据。对中国乡村生态学研究进行文献计量和可视化分析，通过绘制可视化知识图谱，梳理了20年以来中国乡村生态学研究的发展脉络，提出人类感知与社会需求的层级递进是推动乡村生态学研究发展的一个主要驱动力；针对乡村生态热点，提出4个方面的研究趋势，即乡村生态环境精细化治理与预警、乡村建设中的生态环境政策和制度、乡村景观规划与乡村生态文化建设和农村生产生活消费绿色化发展与可持续性；最后，围绕需求层级理论和乡村生态系统服务，构建了乡村生态学学科边界框架，强调在多学科交叉的基础上，针对乡村生态研究的多层次多尺度的特征，重点开展乡村生态系统中社会、经济、生态多要素对乡村生态系统的综合作用及其之间相互影响关系的研究。 Abstract:China has completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The new stage of development puts forward higher requirements for rural ecological and environmental protection and governance, and rural ecological revitalization should not only improve the quality of the ecological environment, but also promote the common prosperity of farmers and rural areas. In the needs of the development of the times, the research results of rural ecology are constantly rich and the concept connotation is constantly expanding. It is necessary to sort out and summarize the research of Chinese rural ecology in the past 20 years to provide a theoretical basis for the construction of beautiful countryside, the protection of natural resources and the sustainable rural development. This paper presented a bibliometric and visual analysis of rural ecology studies in China. By mapping the visual knowledge map, combing out the development of rural ecology research in China over the past 20 years, the rural ecology study was divided into three stages:the first phase was in 2001-2006, rural ecological research favored the structure, process and function of farmland or rural ecosystem, and the targeted rural ecological tourism; the second phase was in 2006-2013, the rural ecological research tended to be comprehensive, it was reflected in the village planning, sustainable development and ecological civilization; the third phase was in 2013-2020, rural ecology paid attention to rural landscape construction, beautiful rural construction and rural revitalization, this stage was not only a period of comprehensive and systematic study of rural ecology, also was a stage of rural ecological construction growth from quantity to the improvement of rural ecological quality. We emphasized that the increasing demand for the rural ecological-living environment drove the continuous development of rural ecology, and proposed that human perception and social needs were the main driving forces to promote the development of rural ecological research. Aiming at the rural ecological hot spots, we introduced the research trends in four aspects, including the fine management and early warning of the rural ecological environment, the ecological environment policies and systems in the rural construction, the rural landscape planning and the rural ecological culture construction, and the green development and sustainability of the rural production and living consumption. Finally, focusing on the demand hierarchy theory and rural ecosystem services, the research constructed the basic framework of rural ecology research of "demand-ecosystem service-well-being" and "element-settlement-landscape" mode, and emphasized that on the basis of interdisciplinary research and according to the multi-level and multi-scale characteristics of rural ecology research, the further research should be focused on the social, economic study on the comprehensive effect of ecological multi factors on rural ecosystem and their interactions. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Distribution and functional groups of soil aggregate-associated organic carbon along a marsh degradation gradient on the Zoige Plateau, China

Alpine marsh wetlands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are ecological hotspots for global carbon (C) cycling in Central Asia; however, the soil C sinks are increasingly limited by marsh degradation. To assess the physical mechanisms by which changes in the soil C sequestration occur, the distribution and functional groups of soil organic C (SOC) in aggregates along a marsh degradation gradient on the Zoige Plateau in China were investigated using soil samples collected from differently degraded marshes. Our results showed that, beyond the state of light degradation, the large aggregate content decreased significantly by 31.1–55.2%, while the micro-aggregate content increased significantly by 23.1–93.1%. The SOC content in the aggregates decreased significantly by 39.1–84.8% and the dominant aggregate size for SOC preservation decreased to small or micro-aggregate. Marsh degradation also decreased the relative ratio of aliphatic-C while increasing that of alcohol and phenolic-C, and polysaccharide-C. Index I (relative decomposition of SOC in aggregates) was 73.5–429.0% higher for degraded marshes than for relatively pristine marsh (RPM), while Index Ⅱ (relative recalcitrance of SOC in aggregates) was 13.8–79.5% lower in comparison. Therefore, we concluded that marsh degradation probably reduces the organic C sequestration capacity of soil by increasing the decomposition of SOC in aggregates after both the dominant aggregate size for SOC preservation and aggregate stability decreased. This result represents the physical mechanism by which the decrease in SOC content occurs in response to marsh degradation in alpine regions.

Life cycle assessment of sewage sludge pyrolysis: environmental impacts of biochar as carbon sequestrator and nutrient recycler

The pyrolysis of sewage sludge is an alternative method to recycle the contained nutrients, such as phosphorus, by material use of the resulting biochar. However, the ecological effects of pyrolysis are not easy to evaluate. Therefore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to determine the environmental impact of sewage sludge pyrolysis and to compare it with the common method of sewage sludge incineration. In order to identify the most sustainable applications of the resulting biochar, four different scenarios were analyzed. The modeled life cycles include dewatering, drying and pyrolysis of digested sewage sludge and utilization paths of the by-products as well as various applications of the produced biochar and associated transports. The life cycle impact assessment was carried out using the ReCiPe midpoint method. The best scenario in terms of global warming potential (GWP) was the use of biochar in horticulture with net emissions of 2 g CO2 eq./kg sewage sludge. This scenario of biochar utilization can achieve savings of 78% of CO2 eq. emissions compared to the benchmark process of sewage sludge mono-incineration. In addition, no ecological hotspots in critical categories such as eutrophication or ecotoxicity were identified for the material use of biochar compared to the benchmark. Pyrolysis of digested sewage sludge with appropriate biochar utilization can therefore be an environmentally friendly option for both sequestering carbon and closing the nutrient cycle.

How to assess events’ environmental impacts: a uniform life cycle approach

Green practices are becoming the rule in events and tourism, and many event organizers are rebuilding their operations around sustainability management systems. In this process, assessing events’ environmental impacts is crucial to define improvement strategies. Recently, researchers have proposed several quantitative methods to conduct the environmental assessment of an event, but some issues prevented their uniformity and generalizability, including the lack of a wide scope of assessment, of multi-event testing and multi-actor perspective. This paper identifies life cycle assessment (LCA) as the most comprehensive methodology and builds a uniform approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of any event. It is based on an innovative model that maps the event life cycle to identify its ecological hotspots in a way that increases transparency, comparability among different events, and accountability of different stakeholders. To generate it, the LCA was conducted in different event case studies within a multi-actor perspective. This was enabled by the collaboration with the municipality of a large European city, leveraging its involvement in many events with multiple roles in their supply network.

성경 번역가를 위한 생태 지침서에 관하여

서구 세계가 자신의 성경 번역 언어들을 대폭 수정하기에는 생태 위기가 매우 급박하다. 하지만 많은 ‘생태 위험 지역’에서 최초의 성경 번역이 진행중이다. 이전에 필자는 오늘날 생태 위기를 고려하여 ‘철저히 친환경적인’ 소수 언어 성경들에 관해 논증했다. 그런 번역 성경들은 지구를 돌보는 것이 ‘정상적인 그리스도교 생활’의 한 부분임을 증명하기 위해, 독자들의 일차 상황과 현 세계에서 지구에 영향을 미치는 본문들을 독자들이 이해하도록 어휘와 본문병행 자료를 신중하게 선별하는 작업을 포함할 것이다. 본 논문은 요한계시록의 구절들을 검토하여, 번역가가 이런 관점들에서 그 구절들을 이해하도록 돕고, 적절한 번역어들 및 난외주가 도움이 될 만한 위치를 제안한다. 이 논문의 목적은 ‘성경 번역을 위한 생태적 지침’을 위해 하나의 모델을 제시하는 것이다.

Aboriginal heritage as ecological proxy in south-eastern Australia: a Barapa wetland village

ABSTRACT Aboriginal archaeology has a central role to play among the myriad government agencies and professional disciplines involved in land and water management of the Murray River Basin in south-eastern Australia. In this study, we examine managed water flows against the archaeological record which provides secure evidence of how people lived at the Murray River floodplain wetlands before European colonisation. Seasonal residential patterns and economic activities of large populations have been reconstructed using archaeological, environmental, and hydrological information. The result is a picture of people living in large groupings – villages and hamlets – around water bodies that we suggest are ecological ‘hot spots’ within the forest. In identifying the preferred locations of village sites, we present the case for modification of environmental water delivery from large area forest flooding to targeted smaller water bodies that form ecological hot spots throughout the river floodplain landscape. Traditional Aboriginal land use in the form of the distribution of Aboriginal sites can act as an environmental proxy to inform heritage, land and water management policy and practices that seek to restore the health of the Murray River.

Assessment of water security under climate change for the large watershed of Dorudzan Dam in southern Iran

‘Blue water’ is the portion of freshwater flowing through rivers and the subsurface (groundwater) that is available for human consumption. ‘Green water’ is the portion stored in the unsaturated soil and vegetation canopy that is available only indirectly. Security of blue and green water resources is assessed over the Dorudzan Dam watershed in southern Iran. Precipitation and temperature data from 22 models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 are transiently downscaled at five climatic stations under three Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used to simulate and quantify blue and green water components over the region at the present time and under climate-change conditions. Climate-change study indicates that precipitation decreases (13–17%) and temperature increases (1.7–3. 3 °C) under the three RCPs, leading to substantial dam-inflow reduction. Evapotranspiration will increase while soil-water content will decrease, further intensifying green-water scarcity and vulnerability. Water use from the Kor River is sustainable at present, but future climate change will raise some ecological hotspots. Groundwater exploitation is currently unsustainable in all aquifers of the study area and climate change will further decrease the available groundwater, leading to intensification of the water crisis. Assessment of inter-annual security under climate change indicates that maximum scarcities of green water and surface blue water occur during spring and summer, and subsurface blue water (groundwater) maxima occur throughout the year. Thus, climate change threatens the future security of water resources in this arid watershed, requiring different management strategies for sustainability.

Indonesian aquaculture futures—identifying interventions for reducing environmental impacts

Indonesia is the world’s second largest producer and third largest consumer of seafood. Fish is therefore essential to the nation, both financially and nutritionally. Overfishing and the effects of climate change will, however, limit future landings of capture fisheries, so any increases in future seafood production will need to come from aquaculture. The ecological effects of aquaculture are dependent upon the choice of species, management, and where it is sited. In the present study we use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate how possible interventions and innovations can mitigate environmental impacts related to the aquaculture sector’s growth. The mitigation potential of six interventions were also quantified, namely (1) FCR reductions for whiteleg shrimp, carp, and tilapia; (2) sustainable intensification of milkfish and Asian tiger shrimp polyculture; (3) shifting groupers from whole fish diets to pellets; (4) favoring freshwater finfish over shrimp; (5) renewable electricity; and (6) reduced food waste and improved byproduct utilization. If all six interventions are implemented, we demonstrate that global warming, acidification, eutrophication, land occupation, freshwater use, and fossil energy use could be reduced by between 28% and 49% per unit of fish. The addition of many innovations that could not be quantified in the present study, including innovative feed ingredients, suggest that production could double within the current environmental footprint. This does not, however, satisfy the expected 3.25-fold increase under a business-as-usual scenario, neither does it satisfy the government’s growth targets. We therefore also explore possible geographical areas across Indonesia where aquaculture expansions and ecological hotspots may conflict. Conclusively, we advocate more conservative production targets and investment in more sustainable farming practices. To accelerate the implementation of these improvements, it will be central to identify the most cost-effective aquaculture interventions.

Towards an Ecological Handbook for Bible Translators

The urgency of the ecological crisis has come too late for the West to change significantly the language of its Bible translations. Yet in many “ecological hotspots,” first Bible translations are being made. Previously I argued for minority-language Bibles that are “green to the core,” taking account of the contemporary ecological crisis. These would involve a careful choice of vocabulary and paratextual materials to help the audience understand texts that impact the earth in their first context and in the contemporary world, in an effort to demonstrate that care of the earth is part of the “normal Christian life.” This paper examines passages from Revelation to help frame them in these terms for the translator and suggest relevant translation choices and places where notes might prove helpful. The aim is to provide a model for an “Ecological Guide to Translating the Bible.”

A Bird's Eye View: Hesperornithiforms as Environmental Indicators in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway

Seabirds are considered indicators of ecological hotspots in modern ecosystems because their biogeographic distribution is correlated with physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic factors. Pursuit diving seabirds – those that actively pursue prey underwater – are generally more limited in distribution and more closely tied to oceanographic factors, as diving ability is often gained at the expense of flight capabilities. Today, wing propelled pursuit diving seabirds are restricted to colder waters; foot propelled divers have a broader latitudinal distribution, but do not forage far from shore in marine environments. In comparison, Late Cretaceous Northern Hemisphere seas were host to foot propelled pursuit diving seabirds called hesperornithiforms. Their Western Interior Seaway fossil record, in particular, reflects the broad latitudinal distribution of modern foot propelled divers, but with occurrences of offshore foraging more typical of modern wing propelled divers. The presence of hesperornithiforms in such a wide variety of environments (Boreal, Tethyan, coastal, nearshore, and offshore) suggests different ecological and oceanographic conditions affected biogeographic patterns of Late Cretaceous divers. The purpose of this study is to explore Late Cretaceous hesperornithiform paleobiogeography in light of what is known about how biotic and environmental factors affect modern pursuit diving seabirds to better understand WIS paleoecology.The Late Cretaceous was characterized by greenhouse climate, high sea levels, and epicontinental seas that provided marine paleoenvironments with no modern analogs. Two notable ecological differences between the Late Cretaceous and today are the presence of marine reptiles (and absence of marine mammals) as apex predators and the lack of acanthomorph fish diversity. Spatio-temporal overlap among hesperornithiforms, marine reptiles, and large predatory fishes implies different competition and predator-prey relationships among marine carnivores than today. Differences in swimming capabilities between marine reptiles and marine mammals may partially account for the presence of hesperornithiforms in warm, offshore waters. Additionally, environmental factors relating to the unique paleoceanography of the WIS would have also influenced hesperornithiform populations. Ample shoreline, abundant shallow water habitats, and high primary production made epicontinental seas hotspots for pursuit diving seabirds, despite warmer temperatures. Together, ecosystem structure and the unique oceanographic factors characterizing epicontinental seas both contribute to differences in seabird biogeography between the Late Cretaceous and today.

Confluences function as ecological hotspots: geomorphic and regional drivers can help identify patterns of fish distribution within a seascape

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 629:133-148 (2019) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13088 Confluences function as ecological hotspots: geomorphic and regional drivers can help identify patterns of fish distribution within a seascape Ryland Taylor1,*, Martha Mather2, Joseph Smith3, Kayla Gerber4 1Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA 2US Geological Survey, Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA 3National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Fish Ecology Division, Hammond, OR 97121, USA 4Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, Bowling Green, KY 42104, USA *Corresponding author: rylandbtksu@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Quantifying heterogeneity in animal distributions through space and time is a precursor to addressing many important research and management issues. Obtaining these distributional data is especially difficult for mobile organisms that use broader geographic extents. Here, we asked if the merger between 2 research directions—(1) quantifying spatial linkages between fish and geomorphic features (e.g. confluences) and (2) analyzing larger-scale, multi-metric organismal patterns—can provide a broader geographic context for ecological issues that depend on understanding dynamic fish distribution. To address these objectives, we collected data from 59 tagged striped bass Morone saxatilis that were detected by a 26 acoustic receiver array deployed within Plum Island Estuary, MA, USA. We examined these telemetry data using generalized linear mixed models and chi-squared, cluster, and network analyses. Geomorphic site types informed the estuary-wide distribution of striped bass in that tagged fish spent the most time at confluence junctions; however, they did not spend the same amount of time at all junctions. Relative to integrating multiple metrics, number of tagged fish, residence time, and number of movements were not the same across all receivers. When all 3 metrics were considered together, 4 distinct clusters of distributional patterns emerged. Network analyses connected geomorphology and multi-metric seascape patterns. Confluence junctions in the Rowley and Middle regions were the most connected (high centrality) and most used sites (high residence time). Although confluence junctions function as ecological hotspots, researchers and managers will benefit from interpreting geomorphology within a larger geographic context. KEY WORDS: Striped bass · Geomorphic · Distribution · Confluence · Region Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Taylor R, Mather M, Smith J, Gerber K (2019) Confluences function as ecological hotspots: geomorphic and regional drivers can help identify patterns of fish distribution within a seascape. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 629:133-148. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13088 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 629. Online publication date: October 24, 2019 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2019 Inter-Research.

Fungal Diversity in Intertidal Mudflats and Abandoned Solar Salterns as a Source for Biological Resources.

Intertidal zones are unique environments that are known to be ecological hot spots. In this study, sediments were collected from mudflats and decommissioned salterns on three islands in the Yellow Sea of South Korea. The diversity analysis targeted both isolates and unculturable fungi via Illumina sequencing, and the natural recovery of the abandoned salterns was assessed. The phylogeny and bioactivities of the fungal isolates were investigated. The community analysis showed that the abandoned saltern in Yongyudo has not recovered to a mudflat, while the other salterns have almost recovered. The results suggested that a period of more than 35 years may be required to return abandoned salterns to mudflats via natural restoration. Gigasporales sp. and Umbelopsis sp. were selected as the indicators of mudflats. Among the 53 isolates, 18 appeared to be candidate novel species, and 28 exhibited bioactivity. Phoma sp., Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Penicillium sp. and Pseudeurotium bakeri, and Aspergillus urmiensis showed antioxidant, tyrosinase inhibition, antifungal, and quorum-sensing inhibition activities, respectively, which has not been reported previously. This study provides reliable fungal diversity information for mudflats and abandoned salterns and shows that they are highly valuable for bioprospecting not only for novel microorganisms but also for novel bioactive compounds.