Fragile Environment Research Articles

The Wave of the Future: Cognizance of the Environmental Insubstantiality in the Face of Human Intrusion in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, and The Year of The Flood

A fragile environment is prone to dangers caused by mankind, it is undeniably perplexing to know the upsurge in population that leads to the dearth and privation of resources. Under supplied resources intensify the need in man and incite him to discover alternatives to sustain his livelihood. Sustainability aims to bring steadiness in both anthropoids and nature. Barry Commoner in Closing Circle states the interdependency of lives with the ecosystem. All the networks in the web of life are vital, when one of the connections is disturbed the entire web of life is prone to threat leading to catastrophe which leads to annihilation and death. Harmony could be anticipated when both coexist together and are limited in their terrains without bewildering the existence of the other. Unfortunately, that is not the possibility in today’s world, the whole ecosystem is becoming unusual by the deeds of men who strive to support their survival. Human’s interventions have altered the whole functionality of nature and have created a faux inhabitation, forcing humans to believe that the sceptre has passed from nature to mechanization.A fragile environment is prone to dangers caused by mankind, it is undeniably perplexing to know the upsurge in population that leads to the dearth and privation of resources. Under supplied resources intensify the need in man and incite him to discover alternatives to sustain his livelihood. Sustainability aims to bring steadiness in both anthropoids and nature. Barry Commoner in Closing Circle states the interdependency of lives with the ecosystem. All the networks in the web of life are vital, when one of the connections is disturbed the entire web of life is prone to threat leading to catastrophe which leads to annihilation and death. Harmony could be anticipated when both coexist together and are limited in their terrains without bewildering the existence of the other. Unfortunately, that is not the possibility in today’s world, the whole ecosystem is becoming unusual by the deeds of men who strive to support their survival. Human’s interventions have altered the whole functionality of nature and have created a faux inhabitation, forcing humans to believe that the sceptre has passed from nature to mechanization.

Factors Influencing Students' Integration Into English Classrooms in Ecologically Fragile Environments

The internet and informatization have brought a great impact on English classrooms in ecologically fragile areas, bringing convenience to the teaching of some colleges and universities, but also negatively affecting some colleges and universities in ecologically fragile areas that still use traditional lecture-style classroom teaching methods. The entire classroom is an ecological environment, and it is necessary to control the appropriate density (the number of students) and the teaching methods of teachers. How to accurately evaluate whether students in ecologically fragile areas integrate into English classrooms? The authors use the linear regression method in the teaching evaluation model and the density-based outlier detection method to clean the abnormal data. Such independence attributes, a correlation analysis method proposed, which judges dependencies and attributes according to the confidence of the rules, and then combines the correlation coefficients between attributes to determine the feature items with strong correlation.

The Impact of Civilians Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) on Post-Conflict Security in South Sudan

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the significance of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) interventions in post-conflict rehabilitation, specifically focusing on their role in ensuring sustainable peace and security sector reforms in South Sudan.
 Methodology: This study employed a comprehensive approach to evaluate the impact of DDR programs in South Sudan. It involved a critical review of academic literature, reports, mitigation programs, and credible news sources from reputable organizations to assess the effectiveness of DDR initiatives in promoting long-term peace and stability.
 Findings: The findings underscored the crucial function of DDR programs in post-conflict security within South Sudan. They highlighted the positive effects of DDR interventions in fostering reconciliation, curbing arms proliferation, and facilitating the successful reintegration of former combatants into society.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study will contribute to both theoretical understanding and practical implementation by emphasizing the indispensable role of consistent international support for DDR initiatives in fragile post-conflict environments like South Sudan. It recommended continued investment in DDR programs to sustain peace-building efforts and enhance security sector reforms in the region.

Automatic and Efficient Detection of Loess Landslides Based on Deep Learning

Frequent landslide disasters on the Loess Plateau in northwestern China have had a serious impact on the lives and production of the people in the region due to the fragile ecological environment and severe soil erosion. The effective monitoring and management of landslide hazards is hindered by the wide range of landslide features and scales in remotely sensed imagery, coupled with the shortage of local information and technology. To address this issue, we constructed a loess landslide dataset of 11,010 images and established a landslide detection network model. Coordinate Attention (CA) is integrated into the backbone with the aid of the YOLO model to capture precise location information and remote spatial interaction data from landslide images. Furthermore, the neck includes the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM), which prompts the model to prioritize focusing on legitimate landslide objectives while also filtering out background noise to extract valid feature information. To efficiently extract classification and location details from landslide images, we introduce the lightweight Decoupled Head. This enhances detection accuracy for landslide objectives without excessively increasing model parameters. Furthermore, the utilization of the SIoU loss function improves angle perception for landslide detection algorithms and reduces the deviation between the predicted box and the ground truth box. The improved model achieves landslide object detection at multiple scales with a mAP of 92.28%, an improvement of 4.01% compared to the unimproved model.

Potential impacts of coal mining activities on nitrate sources and transport in a karst river basin in southwest China.

Typical sources of nitrate pollution in the fragile ecological environment of karst areas, such as agricultural production activities and domestic sewage, have long attracted serious concern. However, coal development can play an equally significant role in releasing the nitrogen fixed in coal into surface watersheds in the form of nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia, consequently threatening the water quality of surface water systems in mining areas. In this study, a typical karst surface watershed system affected by coal mining activities was selected for an in-depth investigation with the aim of realistically assessing the potential contribution of coal mining to nitrogen pollution. The results reveal increasingly concerning nitrate pollution from August 2020 to November 2021 in the Huatan River watershed under the influence of anthropogenic activities, especially mining development and agricultural production. Given that the nitrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of nitrate do not support the presence of denitrification, the variation in the NO3-/Cl- ratio and the relatively stable Cl- concentration may be a reflection of nitrification. Although the leaching of atmospheric precipitation on the strata in the basin promoted the release of nitrogen associated with coal mining, the higher rate of nitrogen cycling in the oligotrophic mine water environment limited the contribution of coal mining to nitrogen pollution in the surface watershed. Specifically, the contribution of coal mining activities to nitrogen pollution in surface karst river is mainly NH4+-N, which contributes 10% or less to the nitrate input to the waters of the Huatan River. The findings thus highlight the necessity of further uncovering the geochemical cycling process of nitrogen during the transport of mine water in the coal mining environment.

Land Use/Cover-Related Ecosystem Service Value in Fragile Ecological Environments: A Case Study in Hexi Region, China

The monetary value assigned to ecosystems and their essential goods and services is known as ecosystem service value (ESV). Fragile ecological environments, susceptible to climate change and human disturbances, require significant ecological protection. This protection is vital not only for stabilizing socio-economic conditions but also for fostering a positive feedback loop within natural systems. Looking ahead, identifying priority conservation areas and regions of particular concern in fragile environments based on ESV changes is a proactive approach. Until now, current studies on ESV in fragile ecological environments have been insufficient, falling short of adequately serving the purpose of ecological protection in such areas. The Hexi region (HXR), situated in the interlaced area of the Qilian Mountains and the Alxa Plateau in northwest China, possesses a fragile ecological environment. Due to the intricate interactions between humans and the environment, it stands out as a crucial area for studying ecosystem services in fragile habitats. Hence, this study aims to systematically analyze the ESV in the HXR over the past 30 years. Here, the values of 11 ecosystem service categories in HXR during 1990–2020 were calculated, clarifying their spatiotemporal difference and dynamic changes based on land use/cover (LULC) products for years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, using an improved equivalent factors method. The findings revealed that the unit standard equivalent factor is 1.51 × 105 CNY·km−2·a−1, and the total ESV value has grown from CNY 182.50 to 185.48 billion from 1990 to 2020. Hydrologic regulation, climate regulation, and soil conservation service values are the principal single ESV categories across HXR. Over the past three decades, ESV changes in HXR have been primarily driven by water area, grassland, and wetland, with the sensitivity of ESV to LULC generally increasing (0.15~9.10%). Natural forcing and anthropogenic perturbations have combined to cause changes in LULC in HXR, influencing ESV fluctuations. Future ecosystem protection activities in HXR should prioritize the maintenance of grasslands, water regions, and wetlands to ensure the preservation of ESV. This study clarifies the impacts of LULC change on ESV in fragile natural environments and highlights the significance of focusing on ESV changes for the health promotion of natural-social systems. The findings provide a foundation for constructing a sustainable development model that is in harmony with both people and the environment.

Dissipativity-based control for networked control systems under bilateral Round-Robin protocols and denial-of-service attacks

A dissipativity-based control strategy adopting bilateral Round-Robin (RR) protocols for networked control systems (NCSs) suffering from denial-of-service (DoS) attacks is investigated in this work. To save limited network resources in multi-packet transmission scenarios, RR protocols are adopted for coordinating the node access on bilateral (i.e., sensor-to-controller and controller-to-actuator) channels. Subsequently, the NCSs integrating considerations of bilateral RR protocols and DoS attacks are further described as the switched time-delay model. The sufficient stability condition and controller design criterion are derived by using Lyapunov theory to ensure the closed-loop exponential mean-square stability and (Q,S,R) dissipative performance under fragile network environment. Furthermore, to maximize the tolerable system delay and reduce the conservativeness of proposed results effectively, an optimization algorithm is also proposed. Finally, the superiority and feasibility of the proposed methods are verified through two practical examples.

Soil gravel content and plant species configuration control vegetation restoration in Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

AbstractSoil gravel content strongly affects ecological restoration; however, the response and mechanism of plant traits to soil gravel content under the sensitive and fragile natural environment of Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau remains unclear. Herein, soils with three gravel content (10%, 30%, 50%) in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau were selected, and three plant species (one native plants of Elymus dahuricus (Ed), and two introduced ones of Festuca elata (Fe) and Medicago sativa (Ms)) were used in seven planting patterns with different proportions (Fe, Ed, Ms, Fe + Ed (1:1), Fe + Ms (2:1), Ed + Ms (2:1), Fe + Ed + Ms (2:2:1)). Plant traits, phytochemical properties and soil stoichiometric characteristics were measured to explore the interactive effects of soil gravels and plant species on vegetation restoration. Average plant height, coverage, shoot biomass, and total biomass were most affected by plant species (F = 277–611, p < 0.01), followed by gravel content (F = 90–195, p < 0.01) and their interaction (F = 5–51, p < 0.05); root biomass was most affected by gravel content (F = 130, p < 0.01). Among plant species, shoot and root biomass, total biomass overall decreased in the order of Fe + Ed + Ms>Fe>Fe + Ms>Fe + Ed>Ms>Ms + Ed>Ed. Plant total biomass, shoot biomass, root biomass and shoot/root ratio among different soils overall decreased in the order of low> high> medium gravel contents. All plant species were restricted by soil nitrogen except for Ed and Ed + Ms (N:P > 14). In addition, increasing the gravel content in the soil will increase the soil bulk density and reduce the total soil porosity. The total soil porosity is significantly positively correlated with the average plant height, coverage, aboveground biomass, and total biomass of plants (r = 0.78–0.91, p < 0.05). The total nitrogen content, total phosphorus (TP) content, and N: P in rhizosphere soil were significantly positively correlated with the average plant height, coverage, aboveground biomass, root biomass, and total biomass of plants (r = 0.70–0.97, p < 0.05), but soil N was significantly positively correlated with aboveground biomass and total biomass (r = 0.69, 0.71, p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference in soil TP content between them. The gravel content directly affects plant growth by changing bulk density and total porosity, but the combined effect of soil nutrients and plants affects plant growth. Therefore, optimizing the configuration of soil properties (mainly nitrogen and compactness) and plant species (isecologic niche plants) is an effective strategy for ecological restoration in the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau.

Quantum Menace in Physics Education

This paper discusses the introduction of quantum ideas in general physics and education. Considering the fragile environment of physics education, the paper suggests three possible ways to help teaching and learning of quantum physics, (1) quantum metrics (2) simple experiments demonstrating quantum quantities (3) fractal and quantum analogies between worlds. From this perspective, this paper is also meant to be a test indicator of quantum popularity in physics and education.

Spatiotemporal patterns and evolutionary trends of eco-environmental quality in arid regions of Northwest China.

The arid regions of northwest China suffer from water shortages, low land quality, and a fragile ecological environment, while social and economic development has increased the ecological and environmental load. The spatiotemporal pattern and evolutionary trend of ecological environmental quality were investigated by constructing a remote sensing-based ecological environmental index (EQI) evaluation model incorporating four indicators: drought index (DI), soil erosion index (SEI), greenness index (GI), and carbon exchange index (CEI). The study found that between 2001 and 2020, the DI, the SEI, and the CEI in the northwest arid region exhibited a downward trend with reduction rates of - 3e-05, -0.0006, and -0.0018, respectively. However, the GI demonstrated an upward trend, with a growth rate of 0.002. The average EQI in 2020 was 0.315, indicating a fair grade, with only 11.56% falling above the medium level. A general increasing trend was observed throughout the study period in EQI, with an incremental rate of 0.0002. Areas with future improvements in EQI accounted for 57.547% and were principally located in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, and the northern and southern portions of Xinjiang. Notably, land use was significantly correlated with EQI (p < 0.01), with a hierarchy of effects that ran: forest land (0.678) > cultivated land (0.422) > grassland (0.382) > wasteland (0.138). The highly robust findings presented here offer innovative methods for ecological and environmental monitoring in the arid region of the northwest, with potential implications at an international scale.

Evaluation and optimization of ecological spatial resilience of Yanhe River Basin based on complex network theory

The loess hilly and gully areas have broken terrain, vertical and horizontal ravines and fragile ecological environments. Improving the resilience of the regional ecological space is conducive to improving the quality of the local ecological environment. With the ecological space of the Yanhe River Basin selected as the research object, this paper constructs a research framework of "network identification topology-resilience evaluation-spatial optimization" and uses morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) to identify ecological spatial networks. Based on circuit theory, the ecological pinch point is identified, the ecological spatial network is optimized, and scenario simulation is performed. Through complex network theory and related indicators, the ecological spatial resilience of the basin is evaluated, and the hierarchical optimization strategy of the ecological space is confirmed. According to the ecological function of the source area and the results of the resilience evaluation, the boundaries of the protected control area, guidance development area, remediation area, and maintenance and improvement area of the basin are delineated. The importance of ecological source and corridor protection is classified, and corresponding protection strategies are proposed. The research results can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the territorial spatial planning and ecological space construction of the Yanhe River Basin and provide a reference for the ecological restoration, resource development and environmental governance of the Yanhe River Basin.

Microplastics in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau lakes, China

As an emerging environmental pollutant, microplastics (MPs) have received widespread attention. Recently, studies examining microplastic pollution in plateau lakes have been increasing, but few have examined the distributions, sources, and fates of MPs in different plateau areas. In this work, the abundances and characteristics of MPs in surface waters and sediments in lakes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (YGP) were systematically investigated. The abundances of MPs in the lakes of the QTP ranges within 0.05–1.8 n/L in surface waters and 10–2643.7 n/kg in sediments. In the lakes of the YGP, the abundances of MPs ranged within 1.3–10.1 n/L in surface waters and 171.7–4260 n/kg in sediments. The dominant shape, color, and size class of MPs were fiber, transparent, and 0–0.5 mm in plateau lakes, respectively. MPs were mainly composed of polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate polymers. The different sources of MPs in the QTP and YGP lakes were mainly due to differences in human activities. The primary sources of microplastic pollution in the lakes of the QTP were tourism and atmospheric transport, while sewage discharge, agriculture, and fishing activities were the main sources of MPs in urban lakes of the YGP. Although the level of microplastic pollution in plateau lakes was relatively low, the sources should be identified and monitored so that the effects and extent of microplastic pollution in these fragile environments can be fully understood. This study provides a valuable dataset and theoretical basis for subsequent research on microplastic pollution in plateau lakes.

Geochemical characteristics of shale gas hydraulic fracturing flowback/produced water in Zheng’an block, northern Guizhou Province, China

Guizhou Province of China is rich in shale gas resources. In recent years, important progress has been made in the exploration and development of shale gas in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng Formation-Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Zheng'an block in northern Guizhou, adjacent to Sichuan Basin. Due to the complex geological conditions and fragile ecological environment in the shale gas distribution area, serious environmental pollution risks may exist in shale gas exploitation. Therefore, this paper conducted element, hydrogen and oxygen isotope analyses for shale gas fracturing flowback/produced water of Well AY7-4 in Zheng'an block. The results showed that the contents of K, Na, Ca, Mg and NH4+ in the flowback/produced water of Well AY7-4 were very high, with an average of 118 mg/L, 7616 mg/L, 266 mg/L, 47 mg/L and 76 mg/L, respectively. The content of Na, Ca and Mg is similar to that of shale gas flowback/produced water in Weiyuan, but lower than that in Changning and Fuling. NH4+ content was similar to that in Changning, but much higher than that in Weiyuan. The average Cl content was 11605 mg/L, which was similar to that in Weiyuan, but lower than that in Changning and Fuling. The average Br content is 48 mg/L, slightly lower than that of Weiyuan, and about half of that of Changning and Fuling. Correspondingly, the Br/Cl value of Well AY7-4 is the lowest, reflecting its relatively low Br content. The average content of Li, B and Sr is 17 mg/L, 10 mg/L and 45 mg/L, respectively, which is similar to that of the Weiyuan, Changning and Fuling shale gas fields. The distribution model of Li and Sr is similar to that of Cl, Br and Na, but the B content and B/Cl value of Well AY7-4 are the lowest. The linear relationship between Br and Cl contents and between δD and δ18O of flowback/produced water of Well AY7-4, freshwater used for hydraulic fracturing and hydraulic fracturing injected fluid indicates that flowback/produced water of Well AY7-4 is mainly the mixed product between low salinity injected fracturing fluid and high salinity brine retained in shale formation. The hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions gradually become heavier over time, indicating that the proportion of high salt end formation brine in flowback/produced water is increasing. The contents of Cl, Br, Na and NH4+ in the flowback/produced water of Well AY7-4 are far higher than the allowable discharge value, which is a potential environmental pollution risk and cannot be discharged directly.

Migration, belonging, and the sustainability of atoll islands through a changing climate.

Climate change might catalyze and exacerbate the trend of outmigration from low-lying atoll islands. There is speculation that migration away from atolls may not stop until such islands are abandoned. Yet migration creates both opportunities and risks for the sustainability of atoll communities. There is a trade-off between reduced demographic pressure on increasingly fragile atoll island environments and the financial and human resources necessary to adapt to climate change that can result from migration. Here we propose and analyze belonging as the centripetal force that makes migration a process that enhances the sustainability of atoll populations. We examine the relationship between migration, belonging, and the sustainability of populations on atoll islands based on data collected in three atoll islands in the Pacific: the island state of Niue; Namdrik Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and Budibudi atoll (Laughlan Islands) in Papua New Guinea. In each case, belonging binds the people who live in and migrate from these places into a collective commitment to their continuity, yet it does so to different degrees according to the economic opportunities available to migrants and the infrastructure that enables extended communities to remain connected.

Analysis of surface water area dynamics and driving forces in the Bosten Lake basin based on GEE and SEM for the period 2000 to 2021.

As an inland dryland lake basin, the rivers and lakes within the Lake Bosten basin provide scarce but valuable water resources for a fragile environment and play a vital role in the development and sustainability of the local societies. Based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, combined with the geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology, we used the index WI2019 to extract and analyze the water body area changes of the Bosten Lake basin from 2000 to 2021 when the threshold value is -0.25 and the slope mask is 8°. The driving factors of water body area changes were also analyzed using the partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The result shows that in the last 20 years, the area of water bodies in the Bosten Lake basin generally fluctuated during the dry, wet, and permanent seasons, with a decreasing trend from 2000 to 2015 and an increasing trend between 2015 and 2019 followed by a steadily decreasing trend afterward. The main driver of the change in wet season water bodies in the Bosten Lake basin is the climatic factors, with anthropogenic factors having a greater influence on the water body area of dry season and permanent season than that of wet season. Our study achieved an accurate and convenient extraction of water body area and drivers, providing up-to-date information to fully understand the spatial and temporal variation of surface water body area and its drivers in the basin, which can be used to effectively manage water resources.

The rising human footprint in the Tibetan Plateau threatens the effectiveness of ecological restoration on vegetation growth

Ecological restoration projects in the Tibetan Plateau aimed to reverse ecosystem degradation and safeguard the fragile alpine ecological environment. However, it is still being determined if the vegetation restoration is successful on a large scale or reaches the expected magnitude, restricting our ability to adapt practices to maximise the benefit. With multiple vegetation indices (VIs: NDVI, LAI, and GPP) from satellite observations and random forest machine-learning models, we performed an attribution study on vegetation growth trends caused by climate change and human activities. Then, we further explored the relationship between vegetation growth and ecological projects and human footprint without the influence of climate. The results showed that climatic change was a relatively strong driver of vegetation growth. The positive contributions of ecological restoration occurred only in half of the plateau due to the increased human footprint. Vegetation enhancement resulting from ecological restoration occurred in 13.1%–23.1% of the plateau. Among these values, ecological restoration counteracted the negative climate effects in 4.7%–8.3% of the plateau (about half of the negative climate effect area). In forest and grassland protection areas, the ecological restoration was more successful. The study provides a better understanding of the role of ecological projects in vegetation restoration and potential threats to its effectiveness. This is essential to improve future restoration projects.

Urban challenges in the Middle East and North Africa

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has one of the world?s most rapidly expanding populations. Urban areas are the primary locus of this growth, as urban share of total population grew from 48% in 1985 to close to 60% in 2017, and it is expected to exceed 70 % by 2027. Against this very high rate of urbanization and the provision of adequate infrastructure and public services for the increase in the rates of urban, the key urban challenge the accumulation of population in urban areas and lack of services and the increasing pressure on the fragile environment from urbanization. Another major challenge in MENA is the very high percentage of informal housing, reaching 20-40% in some parts of the region creating social pressures and linking to economic opportunity for lower income groups. As well as the problems of unemployment. Finally, there is also need to develop the capacity to manage natural disasters protection of the environment.

Health in Crisis: A Paradox of Access for Syrian Refugees and Lebanese Hosts

Background: This study examines the health security of both Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees in Lebanon. It also assesses the readiness and resilience of the healthcare system in response to the multi-layered crisis that began in late 2019. Methods: A qualitative case study design was employed, utilizing 2 unstructured interviews with health experts/hospital staff, semi-structured interviews with 20 Lebanese participants and a document review. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The study found that Syrian refugees have access to health services under terms, conditions and restrictions including out-of-pocket (OOP) payment. In contrast, Lebanese citizens find traditional health guarantor systems largely ineffective, leading to high OOP costs for most healthcare services, with few exceptions. This study reveals a paradox in healthcare access within Lebanon’s fragile environment. Syrian refugees have greater access to health services, with minimal out-of-pocket (OOP) costs to a certain extent, compared to Lebanese citizens themselves who remain entrenched in inadequate health support services and poor public administration. Conclusion: To address this, targeted interventions and policies are crucial for policymakers and stakeholders, including the private and public sectors, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the international community. Reforms are needed, spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), other relevant ministries, and government payers, to refinance the traditional guarantor system and restore Lebanese citizens’ health security. Additionally, unifying health coverage across all government payers is vital.

Research on remote sensing ecological livability index based on Google Earth Engine: a case study from Urumqi-Changji-Shihezi urban cluster.

The U-Chang-Shi (Urumqi-Changji-Shihezi) urban cluster, located at the heart of Xinjiang, boasts abundant natural resources. Over the past two decades, rapid urbanization, industrialization, and climate change have significantly threatened the region's ecological livability. To comprehensively, scientifically, and objectively assess the ecological livability of this area, this study leverages the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and multi-source remote sensing data to develop a comprehensive evaluation metric: the Remote Sensing Ecological Livability Index (RSELI). This aims to examine the changes in the ecological livability of the U-Chang-Shi urban cluster from 2000 to 2020. The findings show that despite some annual improvements, the overall trend in ecological livability is declining, indicating that the swift pace of urbanization and industrialization has placed considerable pressure on the region's ecological environment. Land use changes, driven by urban expansion and the growth in agricultural and industrial lands, have progressively encroached upon existing green spaces and water bodies, further deteriorating the ecological environment. Additionally, the region's topographical features have influenced its ecological livability; large terrain fluctuations have made soil erosion and geological disasters common. Despite the central plains' vast rivers providing ample water resources, over exploitation and ill-conceived hydrological constructions have led to escalating water scarcity. The area near the Gurbantunggut Desert in the north, with its extremely fragile ecological environment, has long been unsuitable for habitation. This study provides a crucial scientific basis for the future development of the U-Chang-Shi urban cluster and hopes to offer theoretical support and practical guidance for the sustainable development and ecological improvement of the region.

Insects associated to ephemeral pools in Huentelauquén (29ºS Coquimbo Region, Chile).

In northern central Chile, ephemeral pools constitute shallow isolated water bodies with a favourable habitat for fauna adapted to seasonal changes. Based on the limited knowledge about the fauna-particularly insects-associated to these ecosystems, the objective of this study was to characterize the richness, composition, structure and similarity of the insect communities associated with ephemeral pools in Huentelauquén (29º S, Coquimbo Region, Chile). By using pitfall traps, 10,762 individuals were captured, represented by 7 orders, 27 families, and 51 species. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were the best represented orders, with Neuroptera, Orthoptera and Plecoptera being poorly represented groups. The non-parametric estimators evaluated showed wealth values above those observed for all the studied pools, and their accumulation curves suggest the existence of an incomplete species inventory in the studied community. Additionally, the hierarchical and ordering analysis showed groupings of pools located in the northwest and southeast of Huentelauquén. Preliminarily we found a negative correlation between the area of the pools and the richness (species) and abundance of insects. Additional studies (on other arthropod groups and other seasons of the year) could provide a better understanding of the local processes of extinction and colonization of the species inhabiting these fragile coastal environments.