Human-induced Environmental Degradation Research Articles

The impact of community-led conservation models on women's nature-based livelihood outcomes in semi-arid Northern Ghana

With increasing human-induced environmental degradation, women's nature-based livelihood activities are threatened. In semi-arid northern Ghana, shea processing (i.e., shea butter, a derivative of shea nut from the shea tree), a vital women-dominated economic activity, is at risk as naturally occurring shea trees continue to decline in numbers and productivity. The decline of the shea tree's number and productivity and the ensuing biodiversity loss have sparked conservation efforts by governments and local communities. This includes community-led conservation models, which have recently gained traction in the Global South. Ghana implemented the Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA)—a community-led conservation model to improve biodiversity and ecosystem services, including shea trees conservation in response to climate change. Research has not explored the impacts of community-led conservation efforts on women’s nature-based livelihoods in Ghana. Using a mixed-methods approach involving surveys (n = 517) and focus group discussions (n = 8), this study explored shea productivity outcomes under CREMAs. Findings show that women residing in CREMAs had significantly better shea harvesting outcomes than those outside CREMAs (α = −53.725; P < 0.01). These findings demonstrate the potential for targeted conservation initiatives that are community-led, such as the CREMAs, to improve the conservation of economically significant naturally occurring trees like Shea. With the increasing impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, such models would be instrumental in achieving sustainable development goals like SDG5-gender equality, SDG10-reduced inequalities, SDG13-Climate action, SDG14-life below water, and SDG14-life on land.

Species diversity and extinction risk of vertebrate pollinators in India

Animal pollinators underpin the functioning and persistence of ecosystems globally. However, the vital role of pollination is being progressively eroded by the worldwide decline of pollinator species caused by human-induced environmental degradation, resulting in rising costs to biodiversity, agriculture, and economy. Most studies quantifying pollinator diversity and declines have focused on insects, whereas vertebrate pollinators remain comparatively neglected. Here, we present the first comprehensive study quantifying the macroecological patterns of species richness and extinction risk of bird and mammal pollinators in India, a region of extremely high biodiversity and increasing anthropogenic pressure. Our results reveal that hotspots of mammal pollinator diversity are restricted to the south of the Western Ghats, whereas bird pollinator diversity hotspots are scattered throughout the country. Analyses of hotspots of threatened species (based on the IUCN Red List) show that only mammal pollinators are currently classified as threatened in India, whereas multiple hotspots of population declines were observed for birds, and primarily in the Southwest for mammal pollinators. Our analyses failed to identify a role for species traits as drivers of these patterns, whereas most pollinators appear to be threatened by agriculture, logging and hunting for food, and medicinal purposes. Pollinator endangerment has widescale ecological and economic implications such as reduced food production, plant extinction, loss of functional and genetic diversity, and economic damage. We suggest protection of vertebrate pollinators should be emphasised in active conservation agendas in India.

From Meaning to Ecocide: The Value of Phenomenology for Green Criminology

The planetary crisis that we face today is not only a result of human-induced environmental degradation, but also of a deep crisis of meaning and value in human existence. In consequence, this article will demonstrate the value of phenomenology towards the existential paradigm within green criminology and its importance to overcome a lived experience that is opposed to the planet’s ecological balance. The article will present Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology through his conception of ‘being-here’, which elaborates on the modes of unreflective and unselfconsciousness of everyday existence. This will then be developed into the theory of being-towards-ecocide that is concerned with the meaning of the individual’s encounter with ecocide. Finally, the value of phenomenology as a conceptual tool for the analysis of green crimes and harms will be outlined as a necessary shift towards transcending ecocide and for an existential, theoretical, and systematic construction for the world of everyday life.

Environmental Security Policies of the Russian Federation

Since the earliest times of history, humanity has been known to be fighting an existential war against nature. Although man’s struggle against his natural environment has not caused severe damage to nature for centuries, human-induced natural environmental degradation has begun to be seen with modernization, the effect of which was experienced to a great extent in the 20th century. With both population growth and technological developments, humanity has achieved significant gains in its struggle for survival against nature, but these gains have turned against humanity itself with the irreversible deterioration of nature. This degradation, which started with environmental pollution in the past and resulted in climate changes today, has been taken care of by modern states, which have significant power in the governance of people. These modern states, which previously had a security perspective through their relations, have started to take steps as environmental problems harm their legitimacy and citizens. States had to come together to solve this common problem no matter how different they were in government type and ideology. Since the day it left the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has not refrained from taking national steps toward the global environmental security regime. Although like many states, the fight against environmental problems has made mistakes and shortcomings, it has cooperated internationally for various reasons. The most important reason is that the Russian Federation is at the top of the list of states polluting nature. But apart from this, environmental security has been the area of interest of the Kremlin administration due to its geopolitical and geostrategic interests in the international system. Therefore, it has set targets on environmental security in documents such as foreign policy and security concepts adopted since the early 1990s. This study aims to examine the national and international environmental policies of the Russian Federation on global climate change. For this reason, firstly, a brief introduction to the subject of environmental security will be made, and the documents containing the political and security perspective of the Russian Federation will be discussed in the next section. In the last part, it will try to summarize what kind of international contribution and cooperation the Russian Federation has made in solving environmental problems.

Reading the More-Than-Human World in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land

"This article offers an ecocritical reading of The Waste Land, arguing that Eliot’s magnum opus can be read as an ecopoem that anticipates the woes of the Anthropocene, finding evidence for this in the many references to the human-induced environmental degradation and anthropogenic detritus that are scattered throughout the poem. In the aftermath of the Great War, amidst the disintegration of the mind of Europe in an increasingly secularised world, Eliot strives to find solace not only in the spirit, but also in the more-than-human world as represented by mountains, water and birdsong that emulates the sound of dripping water. Yet in Eliot’s conceptualisation, the more-than-human world is tinged with the transcendent and the divine, as his ecologism is deeply ethical and spiritual."

Restraint in International Politics: A Conversation between Brent Steele and Christopher Peys

Taking into account the turbulent sociopolitical events of the first half of 2020, this discussion piece evaluates the theory of restraint presented in Brent Steele’s 2019 book, Restraint in International Politics. A conversation between Steele and Christopher Peys about the ‘politics of restraint’, this article examines the socio-psychological ‘complexes’ of actionism and restraint, and addresses a series of queries about both the limitations and possibilities of restraint, before examining Steele’s theory in the emerging context of our world’s recent race-related events, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the international community’s inability to confront the threat of widespread, human-induced environmental degradation.

Circular Economy, resources and environmental metabolism

Resource allocation is increasing as an global issue, because resources (natural resources, ores, oil resources) are in limited quantities worldwide, as opposed to ever-increasing human needs. Therefore, resource allocation is the deployment and optimal utilization of a defined resource. In the economic arena, allocation is usually controlled by the pricing mechanism: if the demand for a resource is high, then the cost of the resources used will be high; due to such high prices, this resource will be used for limited needs. When the price of natural resources and materials rises, in response to volatile markets and increased competition, developed nations are looking at possible alternatives as a promising economic model. In that regard, the circular economy is considered as an expected solution. As one of the objectives of the circular economy is the need of resources, improving resource efficiency or the need for resource efficiency targets remains equally relevant for circular economy policies. The challenges in the circular economy are long-standing and crucial in tackling resource depletion and the new environmental problems facing humanity. The fundamental and comprehensive structural changes are in the complete redesign of the existing linear economic system and the acceptance and comprehensive inclusion of the circular economy as a new economic hope. A circular economy is one in which products are recycled, repaired or reused rather than thrown away, and in which waste from one process becomes an input into other processes. Based on the general concern that the world is entering an intensified period of resource stress, a commitment to urgent behavioral research to identify the most important natural resource trends affecting the human environment is more than necessary. The identified trends - which will include patterns of demand, supply, availability, price levels, and price volatility - are shaped and influenced by emerging climate changes, evolving demographic patterns, increasing economic development, and human induced environmental degradation.

"You can never replace the caribou": Inuit Experiences of Ecological Grief from Caribou Declines

"You can never replace the caribou":Inuit Experiences of Ecological Grief from Caribou Declines Ashlee Cunsolo (bio), David Borish (bio), Sherilee L. Harper (bio), Jamie Snook (bio), Inez Shiwak (bio), Michele Wood (bio), and The Herd Caribou Project Steering Committee (bio) Introduction We are living in a time characterized by ongoing and accelerating ecological loss. Indeed, with recent reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES) Global Assessment (2019) identifying unprecedented species declines and accelerating extinction rates with 1 million species threatened with extinction, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (2018) calling for "rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes" in society, it is clear that now is a time of great environmental upheaval, loss, and change, with resulting effects on human emotions and mental wellness ("Focus on climate change and mental health," 2018). The already-present, worsening, and projected environmental stressors and experiences (IPBES, 2019; IPCC, 2018, 2019) are creating the need for new understandings and new [End Page 31] lexicons—understandings and lexicons that reflect the full range of our emotional relationships with the land, ecosystems, and the more-than-human worlds. With eco-emotional terms such as solastalgia (Albrecht et al., 2007), biophilia (Fromm, 1973; Wilson, 1984), topophilia (Tuan, 1974), and other types of psychoterratic syndromes (Albrecht, 2019) entering both the research and mainstream lexicons, it is clear that new concepts are needed to identify, understand, and communicate how the loss of environments, ecosystems, and species globally is associated with emotional pain, psychological distress, and anxiety (Albrecht, 2019; Cunsolo & Ellis, 2018; Cunsolo & Landman, 2017a). One such concept that is gaining continued traction in research, professional practice, policy, and general public interest is "ecological grief" (Cunsolo & Ellis, 2018; cf. Albrecht, 2019; Clayton, Manning, Krygsman, et al., 2017; Cunsolo & Landman, 2017a; Minor et al., 2019). Ecological grief, or the "grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change" (Cunsolo & Ellis, 2018, p. 275), is a natural human response to ecological degradation or destruction. Global research has documented ecological grief related to: warming temperatures and resulting sea ice loss and environmental alterations in Northern and Arctic regions (Clayton et al., 2017; Cunsolo Willox et al., 2012; Cunsolo Willox, Harper, Edge, et al., 2013a; Cunsolo Willox, Harper, Ford, et al., 2013b; Durkalec, Furgal, Skinner, & Sheldon, 2015; Minor et al., 2019); long-term drought and agricultural land loss in the Wheatbelt in Australia (Ellis & Albrecht, 2017); forest fires, and the resulting destruction of home and place, often leading to displacement in the Northwest Territories, Canada (Dodd et al., 2018); the decline of sparrows in urban landscapes in the United Kingdom (Whale & Ginn, 2017); the disappearance of culturally-significant plants in ecosystems in Australia (Ryan, 2017); and the loss and degradation of wild soundscapes (Krause, 2017). Ecological grief has also been documented in scientists and ecologists who research climate change and biodiversity loss (Clayton, 2018), as well as within stories and testimonies from the general public (cf. Clayton, Manning, Krygsman, & Speiser, 2017; "Is this how you feel," n.d.). [End Page 32] Like other forms of grief, research, published literature, and testimonies of lived experience indicate that ecological grief, if left undiscussed and unsupported, has the potential to cause psychological disruptions and disturbances in one's life and activities. Authors such as Judith Butler (2004) and Ashlee Cunsolo and Karen Landman (2017a), however, have identified the ways in which ecological grief—and what we choose to grieve—illuminates not only our fundamental dependency on healthy and thriving ecosystems, but also the political and ethical responsibilities we have to these systems, and to each other, and opportunities for action and healing. Butler (2004), for example, argues that grief and mourning carry a "we-creating" capacity, at once exposing our deep and often-unacknowledged connections to others (human or non-human) and reminding ourselves of our responsibilities to mitigate human-induced environmental destruction and degradation. Building on this diverse and growing body of literature on ecological grief and loss, this article characterizes the lived experiences of loss and grief experienced by...

“Saving” Plant Genetic Resources (&amp; Ourselves) in a Time of Accelerating Ecological Change

The articles in this issue examine the strategies that farmers, scientists, and citizens use to “save” the things that matter to us (our seeds, our bodies, our farms, and our communities) in the midst of accelerating, human-induced environmental degradation. They investigate the ways that these actors imagine the future—the ways that they seek to preserve what they see as vital, prevent what they see as unacceptable, and (sometimes) give in to what they see as unavoidable. The authors meticulously document the care that these actors invest in saving seeds, cultivating gardens, ensuring farm success, and documenting the information necessary for these things to be sustained (or resurrected) in an uncertain future. We begin by presenting a special issue of four articles that provide insight into the world of seed banking, which has become a major strategy for preserving plant genetic resources in the Anthropocene. The authors take us inside a few of the major institutions that play a role in collecting and preparing seeds for banking, exploring how they developed historically, how they function today, and who plays a role in caring for these seeds and determining their future use. Together, this collection helps us understand the political-economic machinations, the everyday labor, and the imagined futures involved in seed saving. Also in this issue, Janette Bulkan provides a meticulous overview of The Place of Bitter Cassava in the Social Organization and Belief Systems of Two Indigenous Peoples of Guyana. Drawing on historical resources and her own ethnographic research, Bulkan explains how and why cassava remains central to indigenous diets and cultural practices in Guyana, despite the availability of processed wheat flour and white rice. She pays particular attention to the role of women in cultivating cassava and protecting and disseminating knowledge about particular cultivars. She also explores the role of cassava in the areruya belief system. In Beyond Alternative Food Networks: Understanding Motivations to Participate in Orti Urbani in Palermo, Giuseppina Migliore, Pietro Romeo, Riccardo Testa, and Giorgio Schifani examine why residents of Palermo (the largest city in Sicily) choose to participate in urban gardening. While previous studies have focused on political motivations for involvement with orti urbani, the authors found citizens involved in these gardens were primarily concerned about eating safe food. Many cannot afford to buy organic foods; so they choose to grow their own. The authors frame their work within an interesting reading of the history of orti urbani and argue that Palermo should allocate more green space to these gardens. Thomas L. Henshaw considers collegiate food service systems in Is the Emergence of the “Fresh Prep” Food Service Provider an Entrée into Local Foods? Henshaw considers emergent strategies of food service firms, especially those who emphasize “fresh” products. Theoretically, the emphasis on fresh products should facilitate the purchase of locally produced, and therefore “fresher,” products. However, based on interviews with staff at eight liberal arts colleges in the Great Lakes region, he finds that the emphasis on freshness does little to change food service purchasing. Instead, food service managers should do more to increase institutional will and goals for local procurement, develop goals for purchasing, and enter into favorable contracts with growers. Finally, Andrea Rissing takes us to Iowa in “Profitability” vs. “Making It:” Causes and Consequences of Disembedding Beginning Farms’ Finances to consider what a successful farm really looks like. Based on ethnographic work with Iowans who have ended their farming enterprises, as well as bankers and farm consultants, Rissing shows how financial success does not necessarily lead to farming success. Instead, financial considerations intersect with family relationships, workload, and other lifestyle factors to constitute individuals’ ideals of farming “success.” She concludes that, despite the desire of farm financial advisors to consider monetary goals as central, farm financial health needs to be considered within a social context to more truthfully measure, and predict, success.

Conservation strategy for aquatic plants: endangered Ottelia acuminata (Hydrocharitaceae) as a case study

Knowledge of the extent and structure of genetic diversity and a species’ ecological niche are integral to formulating management plans for the conservation of threatened species. This is particularly important for aquatic organisms, which are especially vulnerable to human-induced environmental degradation and experience rapid global decline. To develop a proper conservation strategy for a threatened aquatic plant, Ottelia acuminata (Hydrocharitaceae), we utilized species distribution modeling (SDM) to delimit its potentially suitable range, both under the current climate and the climate expected in the near future, and employed AFLP to analyze the extent and structure of genetic variation over its entire distribution range. The within-population genetic diversity (He = 0.085) was lower than in the other species of Hydrocharitaceae studied using AFLP. The structuring of the genetic variation corresponded well to the distribution of previously described phenotypic varieties. There was 100% clustering of individuals according to their population origin suggesting a lack of inter-population gene flow. Based on the results of SDM and population genetic analysis we recommend (i) collecting seeds from all extant populations for seed banking through cryopreservation and the creation of living collections; (ii) reintroductions after restoration of once-occupied habitats utilizing plants of local origin, or, if the local variety has been extirpated, utilizing the most genetically similar population representing the same phenotypic variety; and (iii) experimental introduction of the species into lakes, ponds and small rivers in protected areas within the identified suitable range utilizing either a single population or a mix of populations belonging to the same genetic or phenotypic group.

Livelihood exposure to climatic stresses in the north-eastern floodplains of Bangladesh

In this paper, we seek to better understand the temporal and spatial aspects of climatic stress on local resource production systems and resource-use behaviors by including the perspectives of resource-dependent communities. Field research was conducted over a nine-month period in the remote north-eastern floodplain communities of Bangladesh, considered one of the most climate-vulnerable, least developed and under-studied regions in the country. This area is heavily dominated by wetland ecosystems, and subjected to regular seasonal flood and extreme rainfall events. Beyond these regular stresses, flash-floods and drought are the two most destructive climatic stresses on livelihood sustainability in the area. Data were collected in 12 villages bordering two significant wetlands (Hakaluki haor and Tanguar haor), involving focus group discussions (n = 14), key informant interviews (n = 35) and household surveys (n = 356). Our results show that climatic stresses on rural livelihoods are catalyzed by human-induced environmental degradation and local resource use behaviors, contextual features that include both socio-economic and bio-physical properties. A climatic event appeared as a stress to livelihood sustainability when it happened in an untimely manner (e.g., flooding during resource harvesting periods) and directly affected the production process (e.g., agriculture and fisheries). We also found that human stress perceptions varied with the level of locally-driven innovation and adoption of technologies, which supports the important role of local experience and knowledge in adaptation planning. Further research is needed into how communities in different settings are already organizing to manage perceived climatic stresses, including traditional knowledge systems, local innovation networks and livelihood practices to help better contextualize adaptation policy.

Habitat associations and distribution model forFuscopannaria leucostictain Nova Scotia, Canada

AbstractFuscopannaria leucostictais a rare and understudied cyanolichen with an interesting and unusual distribution in tertiary relict hotspots worldwide. There is a relatively large population in eastern North America, where it occurs mostly throughout the Appalachian Mountains and reaches its northernmost extent in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada. The ability to detect this species, and thus determine its habitat requirements, is critical for understanding how it might be affected by human-induced environmental degradation. Maximum entropy modelling with MaxEnt was used to predict the distribution of suitable habitat for this species in Nova Scotia using 62 presence locations, 1405 pseudo-absence locations and four environmental covariates: depth to water table (a proxy for relative soil moisture), distance to the coast and mean annual temperature and precipitation. Our predictive maps identify important habitat features and areas of high suitability in Nova Scotia with an area under the curve value of 0·85. The predicted distribution of this lichen was most affected by temperature. This study elucidates locations as well as species-habitat relationships forF. leucosticta,providing land managers with baseline data that can aid in the discovery of additional populations and provide a better understanding of its ecological requirements which will support the development of sound conservation strategies for this rare lichen.

Human interventions and consequent environmental degradation of a protected freshwater lake in Kerala, SW India

Sasthamkotta lake in the southwestern coast of India is the largest freshwater lake in the region. The lake has a water spread area of about 3.75 km2 and serves as a drinking water source for about seven lakh people in southern Kerala. Unfortunately, the lake is at the verge of severe degradation consequent to different kinds of human interferences. The Sasthamkotta lake receives water mainly from rainfall (2,350 mm/year) and surface run-off (3.33 million m3/ year). Apart from these, a significant quantity of water reaches the lake through underwater springs emerging from the Quaternary and Neogene aquifers as well. Rampant removal of construction grade sand using high power jet pumps from the Quaternary aquifers linking the lake with the adjoining river, over exploitation of lake water, unscientific engineering constructions, etc. are some of the externalities leading to degradation and ultimate drying up of the lake. The floodplain of the Kallada river, hosting the lake Sasthamkotta, was unaffected by sand extraction till early 1970’s. The results of the present study revealed that indiscriminate sand mining has turned floodplain area of about 3.57 km2 into fallow lands, during the past 3–4 decades. This together with the riverbed lowering due to instream sand mining has significantly reduced the groundwater replenishment of the lake system. The construction of embankment on the southern side of the lake has not only isolated the lake system from its natural settings, but has prevented the flood pulse contribution of monsoon waters to a considerable extent. The present paper examines in detail the pros and cons of the human induced environmental degradation of the Lake Sasthamkotta which is declared recently a Ramsar wetland of international importance. Based on the study, a set of recommendations are also drawn for improving the overall environmental quality of the Sasthamkotta lake in particular and the freshwater lakes in the coastal lands of densely populated tropics in general.

Producing Gorongosa: Space and the Environmental Politics of Degradation in Mozambique

This article examines the spatial production of the greater Gorongosa ecosystem, linking the production of space with scientific discourses on environmental degradation. Ecological research conducted in Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in the 1960s established the spatial contours and produced the greater Gorongosa ecosystem that is continually under threat from Mozambican cultivators. This discursive production and its material effects obscure a long history of human occupancy and transformation of the landscape that is now categorised as a national park. The use of aerial surveys and satellite imagery by conservationists to chart biophysical changes in the landscape is central to the spatial production of the greater Gorongosa ecosystem. The knowledge produced through these ways of seeing the landscape is used to justify various socio-technical and legal interventions to protect the environment. Through analysing the discourse on human-induced environmental degradation in GNP between 2005 and 2010, I suggest that when nature and space are taken as self evident by conservation practitioners, there is a danger of reproducing narratives of environmental degradation that simplify historically dynamic interactions between people, institutions, and their biophysical surroundings, and serve as further justification for intervening in the lives and livelihoods of adjacent residents.

Population structure of an endemic gastropod in Chinese plateau lakes: evidence for population decline

The highly endemic diversity of the Yun-Gui plateau lakes has decreased severely in recent decades. Protecting these native species is a challenge, in part because their biology and population ecology remain unexplored. We investigated 1 focal endangered gastropod species (Margarya melanioides) in 1 plateau lake: 1) to quantify spatiotemporal variation in population abundance and size structure, and 2) to identify the key variables influencing these variations. Density was 0.068 individuals/m(2) with an estimated total population size of 2.1 x 10(7) individuals. The size-frequency distribution was skewed toward larger, mature individuals (40.0-60.0 mm), a result indicating that the population is aging. Population size structure showed high spatial heterogeneity, and density was highest in the north-central region of the lake. Redundancy analysis indicated that human-induced environmental degradation strongly controlled the spatial patterns in size-structure. This species has experienced a remarkable decrease in range and population size over the past 50 y, and the population probably will collapse by 2015. The decline could be attributed to demographic drift, environmental filtering, human harvesting, and its limited dispersal ability. Our studies should give useful information for building efficient conservation strategies for M. melanioides and other threatened plateau gastropods. Further studies are needed on the population ecology and reproductive biology of M. melanioides, particularly on its reproductive behavior and size-specific survivorship.

Awake in the Anthropocene

Due to the extended time frame over which they occur, human-induced environmental changes are out of sync with human lives lived in an age characterized by nano-second attention spans. As a result, the violence exacted by such changes poses representational and motivational challenges to human abilities to address them. I tackle the question, as a scholar from outside the discipline of religious studies, how might Buddhist thought provide valuable tools for people interested in working progressively at the intersection of violence and human-induced environmental degradation? Like other non-specialist Westerners, I have cobbled together an eclectic Buddhist perspective. I aim to explore affinities between certain Buddhist themes and my own professional orientation and expertise in earth science. To that end, I describe concepts of time derived from geological science and Asian mythical traditions; probe ideas about violence in relation to global environmental degradation; and, consider implications of the Noble Eightfold Path, the way to deliverance from suffering taught by the Buddha, for adjusting systemically to environmental change over time. By expanding, scientifically and spiritually, what the present moment can be, an instant of infinite duration, I hope to connect my journey towards taking a long view of a moment with the long view of change that human beings require to awaken to violence that is at once potentially catastrophic and so slow, that it's difficult to discern and therefore counter.

A new biological indicator to assess the ecological status of Mediterranean trout type streams

Fuelled by the generalized degradation of freshwater ecosystems, the development of tools to assess their ecological status has been the focus of intensive research in the last decades. Although fish are one of the key biological quality elements used to describe the ecological status of rivers, fish metrics that accurately respond to disturbances in Mediterranean trout type streams are still lacking. In these systems, multimetric indices are not optimal indicators because of their low species richness and abundances, thus alternative approaches are needed. Since carrying capacity defines the potential maximum abundance of fish that can be sustained by a river, its relationship with actual density (D/K ratio) could be an accurate indicator of population conservation status and consequently of the ecological status of the river. Based on this rationale, we modeled carrying capacity dynamics for 37 brown trout populations during a 12-year study period. We analyzed the response of the D/K ratio to a gradient of increasing environmental harshness and degradation in order to assess its suitability to accurately measure brown trout conservation status. Our results showed that the D/K ratio was highly sensitive to temporal and spatial variations in environmental conditions and the levels of human-induced environmental degradation. Variations in the environmental and human degradation factors included in the best explaining regression models developed for the whole population and by age classes accounted for between 58 and 81% of the variation in the D/K ratio. Likewise, the D/K ratio was sensitive to both general and life stage specific disturbance factors. Further analyses helped identify the factors limiting population abundance. Therefore, the D/K ratio could be an interesting indicator to consider when defining objective management plans and corrective actions in degraded rivers and streams subject to Mediterranean climatic conditions.

Environmental poverty, a decomposed environmental Kuznets curve, and alternatives: Sustainability lessons from China

Amid increasing recognition of the importance of the environmental factor in understanding poverty and development, this article coins the term “environmental poverty” to refer to the lack of the healthy environment needed for society's survival and development as a direct result of human-induced environmental degradation. A decomposed environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) demonstrates that places (such as countries, counties, or cities) following the “grow first, clean up later” approach (or the first half of the EKC) may obtain economic gains accompanied by extreme environmental sacrifice, excessive social injustice, and income and environmental inequalities. The same place may include communities whose curves differ in shape. Some communities may prosper at the expense of other communities, which may fall into environmental poverty and eventually irreversible environmental degradation and economic failure. Places following alternatives or “flat EKCs” may be slow in getting out of economic poverty, but enjoy a healthier environment, equality in income and environmental quality, and social justice. Countries, especially developing countries, should aspire to sustainable alternatives.

Soil Loss Mapping for Sustainable Development and Management of Land Resources in Warora Tehsil of Chandrapur District of Maharashtra: An Integrated Approach Using Remote Sensing and GIS

The study area is characterized by low and fluctuating rainfall pattern, thin soil cover, predominantly rain-fed farming with low productivity coupled with intensive mining activities, urbanization, deforestation, wastelands and unwise utilization of natural resources causing human induced environmental degradation and ecological imbalances, that warrant sustainable development and optimum management of land resources. Spatial information related to existing geology, land use/land cover, physiography, slope and soils has been derived through remote sensing, collateral data and field survey and used as inputs in a widely used erosion model (Universal Soil Loss Equation) in India to compute soil loss (t/ha/yr) in GIS. The study area has been delineated into very slight ( 40 t/ha/yr) soil erosion classes. The study indicate that 45.4 thousand ha. (13.7% of TGA) is under moderate, moderately severe, severe and very severe soil erosion categories. The physiographic unit wise analysis of soil loss in different landscapes have indicated the sensitive areas, that has helped to prioritize development and management plans for soil and water conservation measures and suitable interventions like afforestation, agro-forestry, agri-horticulture, silvipasture systems which will result in the improvement of productivity of these lands, protect the environment from further degradation and for the ecological sustenance.

Health Care Provider Beliefs Concerning the Adverse Health Effects of Environmental and Ecosystem Degradation

Little is known about health care provider interest, knowledge, and beliefs regarding the health effects of human-induced environmental degradation (HIED). A survey was created and distributed to better characterize health provider beliefs about the adverse health effects of HIED. An invitation to participate in an online 24-question survey was e-mailed to 2177 members of the Wilderness Medical Society to characterize experience with health effects of HIED, types of health effects attributed to HIED, attitudes toward HIED, and educational sources about HIED. Data were analyzed from 665 responses, a response rate of 35%. Results demonstrate that health care providers identify a large number and variety of health effects associated with HIED, although exacerbation of asthma, reactive airways disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were most commonly identified. Over 80% report that HIED has affected the health of a patient they have cared for; 60% report patients have asked about HIED effects on health; and 93% report that they do not distribute information to patients about HIED. Over 75% of respondents believe there is an unfulfilled need for information and education about the adverse health effects of HIED. Respondents report continuing medical education, journal articles, and medical schools/residency programs as the best methods for education and for raising awareness of the health effects of HIED. Results indicate strong health professional belief in health effects of HIED, patient concern related to the health effects of HIED, and a need to educate both health care providers and patients on the adverse health effects of HIED.