Heavy Human Activities Research Articles

Detection of 10 commonly used pharmaceuticals in reef-building stony corals from shallow (5–12 m) and deep (30–40 m) sites in the Red Sea

Although pharmaceutically-active compounds (PhACs) are increasingly being found to be present in marine environments, their presence in coral reefs, already under threat from various stressors, has remains unexplored. This study focused on PhAC presence in two stony-coral genera, collected from different depths and sites in the Red Sea. The findings reveal the presence of ten different PhACs, with elevated concentrations detected in corals from shallow sites and in areas with heavy human activity. Notably, all samples contained at least one PhAC, with the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole being the most prevalent compound, detected in 93% of the samples, at concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 2080 ng/g dry weight (dw) tissue, with an average concentration of 106 ng/g dw. These findings underscore the urgent need for conservation initiatives aimed at protecting coral-reef ecosystems from the escalating threat of anthropogenic contamination, including such potential risks as the development of antibiotic resistance in marine organisms and the disruption of critical spawning synchrony among coral populations.

Anthropogenic impacts on the water chemistry of a transboundary river system in Southeast Asia

The Red River originating from Yunnan province, China is the second largest river in Vietnam in terms of length and discharge. Combination of water chemistry monitoring data of 4 years (2018–2022) from different sub-basins of the Red River (the Da, Lo, Thao, Tra Ly, and Day) with historical datasets indicates a decline in pH from 8.1 in 2000 to 7.7 in 2021, greater CO2 concentrations and a shift from waters naturally dominated by carbonate weathering to waters dominated by evaporite weathering. Such changes were most apparent in the delta area where heavy human activities have increased influxes of most dissolved chemicals, except SiO2. Evaporite weathering is particularly enhanced by mining and deforestation occurring in upstream regions of both China and Vietnam. Pyrite oxidation, alongside silicate weathering, is enhanced along the Red River Fault Zone but reduced in tributaries with a higher proportion of hydropower reservoirs. Longer water residence times in these large reservoirs (total volume > 2.7x1010 m3) located in the Da and Lo sub-basins have also increased primary productivity, leading to higher evasion/uptake of CO2 and SiO2, lower total dissolved solids (TDS), and higher pH. The total physical and chemical denudation rates of upstream mountain tributaries ranged between 0.107 ± 0.108 and 0.139 ± 0.137 mm yr−1, mainly due to reservoir implementation and instream aquatic biogeochemistry changes. Our findings demonstrate that anthropogenic activities are profound factors impacting the water chemistry of the Red River system.

Diatom Voucher Flora and Comparison of Collection and Taxonomic Methods for Biodiversity Hotspot Upper Three Runs Creek

Incorporating diatoms species and their autecology from reference stream conditions is essential for improving the accuracy of North American diatom bioassessments. This study documents a voucher flora and physicochemical conditions of Upper Three Runs Creek (UTRC), a tributary to the Savannah River that has been protected from heavy human activity for the last 50 years. The algae of UTRC and its watershed have been monitored continuously during this time by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia to detect potential impacts from the Savannah River Site and Plant Vogtle. Standard protocols were used to sample and denote substrate types and preferences and to estimate relative abundances of diatom species. Data from artificial substrates (diatometers) were compared to composite samples. Phenotypic plasticity of taxa from Gomphonema parvulum, Eunotia incisa, and Tabellaria flocculosa sensu lato species complexes were considered in biodiversity metrics. We provide documentation of these separations. A total of 297 species/operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were recorded. For 2018 samples, Eunotia rhomboidea accounted for 8.3% for separated taxa methods and G. parvulum sensu lato (16.2%) dominated for combined taxa methods. Luticola goeppertiana (5.4%) was the most abundant taxon in the 1956 samples. The 1956 composite samples species richness means were greater and significantly greater than those for other sample types (ANOVA, df = 3, p = 0.004). The recounted 1956 composite samples had the highest species richness (153) followed by the left diatometer (129). At the same location, the right and left diatometers were not similar. Both methods (diatometers and composite sampling) are useful when assessing species richness. Diatom community composition indicated an acidic and highly oxygenated environment.

Plastic occurrence in nests of a large forest bird

The study investigated the presence of waste plastic in fifty-three black stork (Ciconia nigra) nests with nestlings in Central Poland. Although the black stork is typically an old-growth forest species, fourteen nests (26%) contained plastic, predominantly polypropylene string, fragments of polypropylene bags used in agriculture, wrapping foil, fragments of plastic shopping bags, and plastic textiles. The probability of the presence of plastic in nests decreased with the increasing distance of the nest from the forest’s edge. Out of 141 black stork nestlings examined, two nestlings (1.42%) from two different nests were firmly entangled with plastic strings around their legs. The relatively high percentage (26%) of black stork nests with plastic indicates pollution of local habitats with plastic and possibly a negative anthropogenic impact on old-growth forests in Central Poland. In our study area, this impact could be a result of both high forest fragmentation and heavy human activity in forests.

Hydro‐Thermodynamic Processes at a Large Confluence Under Reservoir Regulation

AbstractConfluences are ubiquitous and important components in river systems, and their hydrodynamic complexity attracts increasing attention. The flow pattern in a confluence is influenced by the planform geometry, momentum, discharge ratio and bed concordance/discordance. In recent years, flow density is found to be a significant factor in natural confluence flow patterns, while the generated hydrodynamic processes that affects mixing within confluences are not fully known, especially in large rivers under heavy human activities. In this study, we investigate the hydro‐thermodynamic processes at a major confluence in the Yangtze River using a three‐dimensional numerical model. The water level in the confluence zone is regulated seasonally by the Three Gorges Reservoir, that is, the zone is within the reservoir's fluctuating backwater reach. The results show that reservoir regulation alters flow patterns in the confluence zone significantly in both horizontal and vertical planes, including shrinking re‐circulation, complicated cross‐sectional vortexes, as well as weakened riverine mixing capacity. The density difference leads to changes in the hydro‐thermodynamic processes, especially in combination with the reservoir regulation. When the tributary water temperature is high, the generated buoyancy strengthens the secondary flow in the mainstream, which further enhances the lateral transport capacity and accelerates the water mixing. More importantly, it is found that the combined effect of reservoir regulation and thermal buoyancy alters the flow structure considerably in the confluence zone, and modifies the water transport mode in the mainstream. Thus, a dimensionless number S is defined to represent the lateral water transport capacity.

Neighboring Effects on Ecological Functions: A New Approach and Application in Urbanizing China

Rapid urbanization has widely induced fragmented landscapes and further negatively affected ecological functions. The edge effect is an approach commonly used to investigate these negative impacts. However, edge effect research tends to focus on the impacts that a certain landscape receives from its adjacent lands rather than to assess all the influences of the landscape edges in a region, even though the latter is critical for regional ecological planning. To fill in this gap, the concept of neighboring effect is raised and analyzed in this paper with a case study of Xintai City in Northern China. Results show that the neighboring effects are generally negative for ecological functions, especially in regions that experience rapid urbanization or heavy human activities. The U-shaped relationship between the neighboring effect of a patch and its distance to the nearest township center indicates that the border region of urban and built-up areas suffers the most negative influences due to the intense interactions between different land uses. The heterogeneous effects of influencing factors in urban and rural areas were revealed by the regression results. Socioeconomic development has more important influence on neighboring effects on ecological functions in rural areas than in urban areas, and local cadres’ support of environmental protection matters only in rural areas for a less ecological functional loss. This study quantitatively examined the negative ecological effects of landscape fragmentation during rapid urbanization and calls for more attention to ecological planning at the local scale.

Effects of human activity on the habitat utilization of Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) in Zoige wetland.

Human activity is increasingly and persistently disturbing nature and wild animals. Affected wildlife adopts multiple strategies to deal with different human influences. To explore the effect of human activity on habitat utilization of Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana), habitat utilization patterns of three neighboring marmot populations in habitats affected differently by human activities were recorded and compared. We found that (a) distance between reproductive burrows (a represent of reproductive pairs) becomes shorter under the influence of human activities, and more burrows were dug as temporary shelters, resulting in shorter distance between those shelters and shorter distance flee to those shelters and, consequently, shorter flight initiation distance when threatened. More burrows that are closer to the disturbed habitats improve the ability to escape from threats. (b) Reproductive burrow site selection of the species is determined by the availability of mounds in the habitat, and breeding pairs selectively build reproductive (also the hibernation) burrows on mounds, potentially to improve surveillance when basking and the drainage of burrows. Human activities generally drive breeding pairs away from the road to dig their reproductive burrows likely to reduce disturbance from vehicles. However, even heavy human activity exerts no pressure on the distance of reproductive burrows from the road or the mound volume of the high disturbance population, potentially because mounds are the best burrowing site to reproduce and hibernate in the habitat. Marmots deal with disturbance by digging more burrows in the habitat to flee more effectively and building reproductive burrows on mounds to gain better vigilance and drainage efficiency.

Ecological Characteristics of the New Recorded Seahorse (Hippocampus haema) in Geoje-Hansan Bay, Korea

ABSTRACT Kim, M.J.; Kim, H.C.; Lee, W.C.; Park, J.M.; Kwak, S.N.; Oh, Y.; Kang, M.G., and Lee, S.H., 2018. Ecological characteristics of the new recorded seahorse in Geoje-Hansan Bay, Korea. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 351–355. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. A basic ecological research of the seahorse populations has not been done to date even though the population is declining due to overfishing, by-catching and heavy human activities. Recently reported seahorse (Hippocampus haema) samples were monthly collected in Geoje–Hansan bay for a year from August 2015 to August 2016. Standard length (SL), weight (Wt), coronet height (CH), trunk length (TrL), and tail length (TaL) of each individual were measured for identifying characteristics of H. haema. The ranges of temperature and salinity were 8.2–26.0 °C and 29.3–34.1 ‰, respective...

Antibiotic resistance genes in surface water of eutrophic urban lakes are related to heavy metals, antibiotics, lake morphology and anthropic impact.

Urban lakes are impacted by heavy human activities and represent potential reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes. In this study, six urban lakes in Wuhan, central China were selected to analyze the distribution of sulfonamide resistance (sul) genes, tetracycline resistance (tet) genes and quinolone resistance (qnr) genes and their relationship with heavy metals, antibiotics, lake morphology and anthropic impact. sul1 and sul2 were detected in all six lakes and dominated the types of antibiotic resistance genes, which accounted for 86.28-97.79% of the total antibiotic resistance gene abundance. For eight tested tet genes, antibiotic efflux pumps (tetA, tetB, tetC, and tetG) genes were all observed in six lakes and had higher relative abundance than ribosomal protection protein genes (tetM and tetQ). For 4 plasmid mediated quinolone resistance genes, only qnrD is found in all six lakes. The class I integron (intI1) is also found to be a very important media for antibiotic resistance gene propagation in urban lakes. The results of redundancy analysis and variation partitioning analysis showed that antibiotic and co-selection with heavy metals were the major factors driving the propagation of antibiotic resistance genes in six urban lakes. The heavily eutrophic Nanhu Lake and Shahu Lake which located in a high density building area with heavy human activities had the higher relative abundance of total antibiotic resistance genes. Our study could provide a useful reference for antibiotic resistance gene abundance in urban lakes with high anthropic impact.

Impact of human activities on Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli habitats in the Mawambi Hills, southwest Cameroon

Most forest habitats in Cameroon support villages whose inhabitants are heavily reliant on the forests for their everyday needs. We assessed the socio-economic status and natural resource use of 3 villages bordering Mawambi Hills, an unprotected forest in southwest Cameroon, home to both the Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli and the Endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee Pan troglodytes ellioti. This forest likely hosts one of the largest sub-populations of Cross River gorillas in Cameroon and is vulnerable to human influence given that it lies in close proximity to surrounding villages and is less hilly than other Cross River gorilla habitats. We show that employment opportunities in surrounding villages are rare, and people rely on agriculture and the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), such as eru Gnetum spp. and bush mango Irvingia spp., for food and income. We also show that areas of heavy human activity coincide spatially with great ape nest sites and raise concerns about the potential impact of human activities on great ape survival at the site. We call for (1) sustainable harvesting and marketing of NTFPs, (2) the introduction of alternative livelihood opportunities (e.g. beekeeping and on-farm production of NTFPs), (3) active wildlife law enforcement to safe- guard the persistence of great apes, and (4) the introduction of a community-based forest manage- ment programme that will enable communities to secure the rights to use and manage surround- ing forest resources legally.

Recreational Trails as Corridors for Alien Plants in the Rocky Mountains, USA

ABSTRACT. Alien plant species often use areas of heavy human activity for habitat and dispersal. Roads and utility corridors have been shown to harbor more alien species than the surrounding vegetation and are therefore believed to contribute to alien plant persistence and spread. Recreational trails represent another corridor that could harbor alien species and aid their spread. Effective management of invasive species requires understanding how alien plants are distributed at trailheads and trails and how their dispersal may be influenced by native vegetation. Our overall goal was to investigate the distribution of alien plants at trailheads and trails in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. At trailheads, we found that although the number of alien species was less than the number of native species, alien plant cover ( = 50%) did not differ from native plant cover, and we observed a large number of alien seedlings in the soil seed bank, suggesting that alien plants are a large component of trailhead communi...

Community Structures and Erosion Control Ability of Plantations in Xiaojiang Drainage Basin, China

Abstract: Xiaojiang drainage basin is one of the regions suffering from serious erosion and ecological degeneration due to the climate, geological and geomorphological conditions and the heavy human activities. Reforestation, which has been done since 1980s in the region, is an effective measure for the ecological restoration. Four types of plantations, i.e., Eucalyptus spp., Acacia mearnsii, Leucaena leucocephala and Pinus yunnanensis are investigated in the sample plots. Development processes and community structures of the tree layers, shrub layers and grass layers are studied with the “ergodic hypothesis” method and the index of species richness, coverage, importance value and Shannon_Wiener index et al, and erosion control abilities of the four types of plantations are compared in this paper. The result shows that the plantations of Acacia mearnsii and Leucaena leucocephala grow faster, which have higher crown coverages and stronger erosion control abilities than that of Pinus yunnanensis and Eucalyptus spp.. The Pinus yunnanensis plantation has a higher secondary understory biodiversity, the Eucalyptus spp. plantation has a high secondary understory biodiversity, but the plantations of Acacia mearnsii and Leucaena leucocephala have low secondary understory biodiversities. Study in this paper shows that the four types of plantation have distinct effects in promoting plant diversity and have different erosion control abilities. So plantation species selection and association mode should be considered in the process of reforestation for ecological restoration.

Environmental flows and its evaluation of restoration effect based on LEDESS model in Yellow River Delta wetlands

Due to freshwater supplement scarcity and heavy human activities, the fresh water wetland ecosystem in Yellow River Delta is facing disintegrated deterioration, and it is seriously affecting the health of the Yellow River ecosystem. This paper identifies the restoration objectives of wetland aiming to protect ecological and economic values and development as well as the water resources of the Yellow River. The hydraulic and groundwater coupling model and Landscape Ecological Decision and Evaluation Support System (LEDESS) of the Yellow River Delta were established to calculate environmental flows of degraded wetlands. LEDESS is a computer-based model developed and used to assess and evaluate the effects of land-use changes on nature. In this study, LEDESS is used to assess and evaluate the ecological effects and the restoration possibilities considering several environmental flows’ supplement scenarios. This included the changes of suitable habitat conditions and its ecological carrying capacities for indicator species, e.g., Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), Oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana), and Saunder’s gull (Larus relictus), and changing of ecological patterns. The results showed that replenishing fresh water to wetlands is one of the effective adaptive measures to mitigate wetland degradation and improve its habitat quality and carrying capacities. This study indicated that landscape ecology approach is not only considered as a good way to solve complex problems in ecosystem management but also can be used to decide on the environmental flows and assess its ecological effects in large-scale wetland rehabilitation. This integrated method could make environmental flows estimated and assessment more rational than the results of hydrologic methods. It could assist decision makers to “see” the ecological effects after water supplementing and so alleviate the contradictions between environmental flows and production water demands, and can facilitate the implementation of environmental flows in most countries with water resources shortage.

Zooplankton Community Responses in a Perturbed Tropical Stream in the Niger Delta, Nigeria~!2009-07-22~!2009-10-22~!2010-04-09~!

The effect of abattoir wastes and other anthropogenic activities on the distribution and abundance of zooplank- ton and environmental variables were investigated in Orogodo River, southern Nigeria. Samples of zooplankton were col- lected for a period of six months from three stations, representing upstream of the river course, effluent discharge point and downstream of the river course. A combined total of 79 species of zooplankton were encountered in the study. Station 1 recorded the highest number (78 species), station 2 with 22 taxa and station 3 with 72 representative taxa, showing re- covery in terms of diversity and abundance of zooplankton. Rotifers of the order Bdelloidea dominated all the stations and were relatively high in station 2 indicating their tolerance to a wide range of impact. Generally, the cladocerans were abundant at all stations. However, Moina micrura, and Thermocylops neglectus were the only members of this group re- corded in station 2. The low fauna diversity experienced in station 2 throughout the period of sampling showed strong evidence of impact arising from the abattoir waste discharge and heavy human activities at that station. Local environ- mental conditions (i.e. Temperature, flow velocity, depth, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity and conductivity) accounted for 69% of variation in zooplankton assemblages using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Seasonal trends in zooplankton community composition were also related to changes in environmental characteristics of the river. Our re- sults indicate that the changing water quality status of the Orogodo River affected the zooplankton diversity and abun- dance and such measure could be used as a biomonitoring tool to determine the ecological health of the river.

Phytoplankton Community Responses in A Perturbed Tropical Stream in the Niger Delta

The effect of abattoir wastes and other anthropogenic activities on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton and environmental variables were investigated in River Orogodo, southern Nigeria. Samples of phytoplankton were collected monthly from three stations designated as station 1 (upstream of the river course), station 2 (effluent discharge point) and station 3 (downstream of the river course) for a period of six months. A combined total of 46 species of phytoplankton were encountered in the study. Station 1 recorded a total of 45 species, station 2 with 18 taxa and station 3 with 42 representative species, showing recovery in terms of diversity and density of phytoplankton. The order of dominance in the river was Bacillariophyceae > Chlorophyceae >Cyanophyceae > Euglenophyceae. The blue-green algae (Cyanophyceae) were dominant in station 2 in terms of density and diversity indicating their tolerance to organic enrichment. Generally, Spirogyra, Ulothrix, Oscillatoria, and Navicula species were the preponderant species. Euglena viridis was the only member of the class Euglenophyceae recorded in the river and it occurred only sporadically in station 1. The low fauna diversity experienced in station 2 throughout the period of sampling showed strong evidence of impact arising from the abattoir waste discharge and heavy human activities at that station. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis indicated temporal trends in phytoplankton density and composition. This was related to changes in environmental characteristics of the river. Keywords: Phytoplankton, Spirogyra, Ulothrix, River Orogodo, Abattoir wastes, Environmental variables.Tropical Freshwater Biology Vol. 17 (1) 2008: pp. 37-52

Effects of anthropogenic activities on the Lower Sakarya River

Abstract We investigate the effects of anthropogenic activities on the Lower Sakarya River. The impacts of dam, levee, and bridge constructions, sand-gravel mining activities and water withdrawals during the industrialization period of the Sakarya River Basin have been explored by analyzing flow, sediment and channel cross section data from different periods in time by comparing pre- and post-1975 periods. The year 1975 is roughly determined to be commencement of heavy human activities. Assessment of data shows that average annual flow is reduced by almost 20% after 1975. Due to increased regulations after 1975 flow became less variable, i.e. low-flows are increased and high-flows are reduced. Flow showed less variation with seasons during the post-1975 period compared to the pre-1975 period. Close inspection of precipitation and temperature patterns over the course of this period indicates that these changes in the flow regime cannot be attributed to natural causes and must be instigated by anthropogenic activities. Analyses of sediment data point toward a consistent reduction in sediment concentration and loadings with years in the Lower Sakarya River. Sediment rating curves developed for pre- and post-1975 exhibit a similar pattern. The impact of the anthropogenic activities on the river cross section is also examined by employing data from 1965, 2003 and 2006 at various points along the river profile. We found as much as 1 m aggradation at the thalweg elevation along the river profile starting from the river mouth up to the 12th km. Degradation in thalweg elevation is observed upstream of the 12th km, as much as 7 m at some locations. This research clearly undermines how human activities can alter the river hydrology and morphology. The adverse impacts of these modifications on the stream ecology in the Lower Sakarya River unfortunately remain unresolved.

Spatial pattern of coral diversity in Luhuitou fringing reef, Sanya, China

84 quadrats from 5 vertical transects of Luhuitou fringing reef are investigated in detail by using video-quadrat and indoor-interpretation methods. The results show that (1) the reef consists of 69 species of hermatypic corals belonging to 24 genera and 13 families which are unevenly distributed in abundance. (2) Among all the corals, Porites lutea is the most dominant species with importance value percentage up to 36.62%; Porites and Acropora are dominant genera with importance value percentages 43.85% and 22.88%, respectively. (3) There exist distinct spatial differences in coral communities. Both the coral covers and coral diversity indices on the northeastern transects are higher than those on the central and southern transects. (4) Coral communities also show remarkable zonal characteristics with less coral species occurring on reef flat than on reef slope. The importance value percentage of the sole dominant coral genus, Porites, is over 50%, while on the reef slope, the importance value percentages are 28.33% for the first dominant genus Acropora and 26.71% for the second dominant genus Porites. Our further analysis suggests that the spatial and zonal differences of coral diversity pattern are correlated with both natural environmental changes and human activities. The shallow water reef flat is frequently exposed at low tide and it receives more anthropogenic influences (including dredging and trampling) than the deep water reef slope. Thus, the coral community on the reef flat is not as well developed as that on reef slope. The relatively poor coral covers and coral diversity indices on the central and southern transects are closely related to heavy human activities around these sites such as aquaculture, fishing and coastal sewage drainage. Therefore, the impact of human activities must be taken into account in developing strategies for the protection of this coral reef.

STUDI LINGKUNGAN FISIK DI KAWASAN SUB DAERAH ALIRAN SUNGAI GARANG

Sub watershed is a dynamic ecosystem with an interdependent among components. When a watershed experiences an overload canying capacity situation caused by the heavy human activities, the environment's damage will happen especially inphysical and chemical character, land productivity, and the occurrence of flood and draught. All of these, will affect the environment sustainability. This study's objective is to learn the physical changes of garang sub-watershed in Semarang, related to erosion, flood, and draught in this area. Method used is field survey, to identify the erosion level and flodd level, and to measure the draught level. Parameter employed are; rainfall's erosion, land erosion factors, length abd slope level, and management factors of vegetation and erosion. To study the flood factors, parameter used are : rainfalls, volume and surface water level, and maximal and minimal debit of water. The drought factors used for parameter are : rainfalls, width index of leaves, crop/vegetation co efficient, actual evapotranspiration, and crop's evapotranspiration. Analyses method used for measuring the erosion level is USLE method, while for the flood level is letting curb method, and for draught level is'SARRA method. The results show that the actual erosion of garang sub-watershed is between 0.932 ton/ha/year to 1.680.532 ton/ha/year. The flood curb in the catchment's area has commodities is between 0.61 to 0.94.

SEA TURTLE NEST CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES ON SOUTHWESTERN BEACHES IN TURKEY

Loggerhead turtle nests at risk from tidal inundation and predation were either relocated, screened against predation, or fenced in areas of heavy human activity on Fethiye, Dalyan, and Dalaman beaches during the nesting seasons of 2000-2002. Relocation, screening, and fencing clearly increased the hatching success rate and provided effective protection of sea turtle nests against inundation and predation. The emergence pattern and sex ratios of hatchlings, incubation periods, and distances of nests from the water line were analyzed. Incubation temperatures leading to a high female-biased sex ratio were found on Dalyan Beach. Sand and nest temperatures of the relocated nests at the hatchery site influenced the sex ratios, as seen from histological sexing of dead hatchlings from both in situ and relocated nests.