Human Land Research Articles

Freshwater exploitation at Ajvide - Pitted ware culture fishing practises investigated through laser ablation facilitated strontium isotope analyses

The importance of marine resources for the Neolithic hunter-fisher-gathers of the Pitted Ware Culture of Gotland, Sweden, is well documented through zooarchaeological analyses and diet studies of human remains. Terrestrial areas were important for living and supplementing the diet but the extent of the terrestrial territories and regions of land use for different groups is largely unknown. The presence of euryhaline species in recovered zooarchaeological assemblages indicates that freshwater fishing or fishing in the brackish estuaries of the Baltic Sea was part of the subsistence practises. To explore if the inland freshwaters of Gotland were used and, if exploited, where they were located, 18 teeth from euryhaline fish from the Pitted Ware Culture site Ajvide on Gotland were selected. The 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in the fish teeth were analysed using laser ablation-multi collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and correlated with an updated bioavailable baseline of Gotlandic water sources. Through this approach, the habitational origin of the fish was shown to primarily stem from at least six freshwater sources located in the west-central area of Gotland, in close relation to the site, with a few individuals originating from within the Baltic Sea. The study highlights the significance of ichthyoarchaeological analysis in understanding the territorial practice of past foraging societies and recommends further studies on euryhaline species to expand our knowledge of fish habitat, human resource utilization and land use.

Ongoing transmission of onchocerciasis in the Pru District of Ghana after two decades of mass drug administration with ivermectin and comparative identification of members of the Simulium damnosum complex using cytological and morphological techniques

Background Human onchocerciasis remains a public health problem in Ghana. Mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin (IVM) has reduced disease morbidity and prevalence, but the transmission of onchocerciasis remains ongoing in several endemic foci. We investigated parasite transmission in some endemic communities in Ghana that had received > 18 rounds of annual MDA with IVM and determined the species composition of black fly (Simulium damnosum) vectors in these areas.MethodsAdult female black flies were collected using human landing catches and identified as either forest or savanna species using morpho-taxonomic keys. The adult flies underwent dissection to determine their parity and detect any O. volvulus larvae, followed by the calculation of entomological indices. Simulium damnosum s.l. larvae were collected and preserved in freshly prepared Carnoy’s fixative and were later used for cytotaxonomic studies.ResultsA total of 9,983 adult flies were caught: 6,569 and 3,414 in the rainy and dry seasons respectively. Black fly biting activities over the study period showed bimodal or trimodal patterns. The highest monthly biting rate (MBR) of 10,578.75 bites/person/month was recorded in July in Beposo, while the highest monthly transmission potential of 100.69 infective bites/person/month was recorded in Asubende in August. Morphological analysis of 2,032 flies showed that 99.8% (2,028) of the flies were savanna species, with only 4 (0.2%) adult flies being of the forest species. Cytogenetic studies on 114 black fly larvae revealed three cytospecies (Simulium damnosum s.s., S. sirbanum and S. sanctipauli) in the study area.ConclusionsThe present studies confirmed an ongoing transmission of onchocerciasis in the study communities except Abua-1. It also provides further information on biting behaviors and onchocerciasis transmission indices in the study communities. Further, our data confirmed the savanna species (S. damnosum s.s. and S. sirbanum) of the S.damnosum s.l. to be the major vectors of onchocerciasis in the study areas, with only an occasional influx of forest cytotypes.Graphical

Holocene vegetation change at Grosssee, eastern Swiss Alps: effects of climate and human impact

AbstractPollen, spores, and microscopic charcoal from the sediments of Grosssee (1,619 m a.s.l.), a small lake in the lower subalpine vegetation zone of the Glarus Alps, Switzerland, were analysed to reconstruct vegetation patterns and land use over the past ca. 12,300 calibrated 14C years bp (cal bp). Pollen data revealed an open landscape covered with grasses and herbs such as Artemisia during the Late Glacial Period. The catchment was likely initially afforested with Betula and Pinus cembra or Pinus sylvestris during the Early Holocene. Thermophilous taxa such as Ulmus, Tilia, and Alnus glutinosa-type expanded from ca. 11,000–9,200 cal bp, and mesophyllic Picea abies and Fagus sylvatica followed, and expanded beginning from ca. 8,000–7,600 cal bp. Interestingly, Alnus viridis (synonym: A. alnobetula) expanded about 2,000 years earlier than at comparable sites in the northern Swiss Alps. Its expansion was profound and persistent, and percentages > 15% were already achieved by ca. 7,000 cal bp. Local erosion events that followed are well explained by vegetation changes and inferred human land use activities at Grosssee. In particular, this led to a more open landscape, and land uses (e.g. grazing) intensified from the Mid- to Late Holocene. Indicators of environmental disturbance including persistently high levels of A. viridis, monolete fern spores, and microscopic charcoal were pronounced after ca. 4,000 cal bp. At that time, high influxes of spores from coprophilous fungi and the consistent presence of cultural indicators (Cerealia-type, Plantago lanceolata) indicate increased grazing and high levels of human impact. Land use and grazing activities seemed to have been particularly pronounced and to have promoted diversity in the vegetation over the past 1,000 years.

Mark-Release-Recapture Trial with Aedes albopictus (Diptera, Culicidae) Irradiated Males: Population Parameters and Climatic Factors.

Aedes albopictus is considered one of the major invasive species in the world and can transmit viruses such as dengue, Zika, or chikungunya. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) can be used to suppress the native populations of Ae. albopictus. Mark-release-recapture (MRR) studies are crucial to support the development of the release strategy during the SIT application. Meanwhile, weather conditions can affect the MRR trial's results and it is critical to understand the influence of climatic factors on the results. In October 2022, 84,000 irradiated sterile males were released for three consecutive weeks in Faro, Southern Portugal. Mosquitoes were recaptured by human landing collection (HLC) one, two, four, and six days after release. Generalized linear models with a negative binomial family and log function were used to estimate the factors associated with the number of recaptured mosquitoes, prevalence ratios, and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 84,000 sterile male mosquitoes were released, with 528 recaptured (0.8%) by HLC. The prevalence of recaptured mosquitoes was 23% lower when the wind intensity was moderate. Marked sterile males had an average median distance travelled of 88.7 m. The median probability of daily survival and the average life expectancy were 61.6% and 2.1 days, respectively. The wild male population estimate was 443.33 males/ha. Despite no statistically significant association being found with humidity, temperature, and precipitation, it is important to consider weather conditions during MRR trial analyses to obtain the best determinant estimation and a more efficient application of the SIT in an integrated vector management program.

Land use drives the distribution of free, physically protected, and chemically protected soil organic carbon storage at a global scale.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is increasingly emphasized as a climate mitigation solution, as scientists, policy makers, and land managers prioritize enhancing belowground C storage. To identify key underlying drivers of total SOC distributions, we compiled a global dataset of soil C stocks held in three chemical forms, reflecting different mechanisms of organic C protection: free particulate organic C (fPOC), physically protected particulate organic C (oPOC), and mineral-protected soil organic C (mSOC). In our dataset, these three SOC pools were differentially sensitive to the effects of climate, soil mineralogy, and ecosystem type, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between physical and chemical C protection mechanisms. C stocks in all three pools varied among ecosystems: cropland soils stored the least amount in each pool, with forest and grassland soils both containing significantly more fPOC (40%-60% greater in each ecosystem) than croplands. oPOC stocks did not significantly differ from zero in croplands but were substantial in forest and grassland soils. Meanwhile, mSOC stocks were the greatest in grasslands and shrublands (90%-100% greater than croplands). In cropland soils, there were no major effects of tillage on C storage in any of the three pools, while manure addition enhanced mSOC stocks, especially when added with inorganic N. Thus, the human land use intensity in croplands appears to reduce SOC storage in all major pools, depending upon management; retaining native vegetation should be emphasized to maintain current global SOC stocks.

Improving the performance of evidential belief function model using five machine learning models in earth fissure susceptibility mapping

The frequency and occurrence of earth fissures threaten human settlements, infrastructure, and agricultural lands in many parts of the globe. This natural hazard has particularly posed great challenge in the North, Central, and Eastern parts of the Najaf Abad Basin of Iran. This paper presents a comparative analysis of machine learning algorithms for earth fissure susceptibility assessment, and involves the creation of an earth fissure database by selecting and validating 200 fissure locations. To improve the accuracy of the fissure locations, various geographic data sources, such as Google Earth images, field surveys, and GPS measurements, were employed. The locations were divided into training and validation sets based on sixteen conditioning factors for finding the earth fissure susceptible zones using EBF (Evidential belief function), EBF – Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), EBF – Function Tree (FT), EBF – Alternating decision tree (ADtree), EBF – Adaptive Boosting (AdaBoost), EBF – Random SubSpace (RSS), EBF – Naive Bayes Tree (NBTree) models. The results show that earth fissures occur in greater concentrations where groundwater levels are lowest, and their prevalence is closely associated to both agricultural activities and the presence of clay, clayey sand, and silty clay soils. Susceptibility analysis results revealed that 15–21 % agricultural dependent population falls under the very high susceptibility risk zone in and around the major cities of the Najaf Abad region. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the EBF-RSS algorithm has higher accuracy (>99 %) compared to other algorithms (>85 %) in training and validation phases for earth fissure susceptibility prediction. Our findings emphasise the need to prioritise these susceptible areas for sustainable land and water management strategies and implement effective measures to mitigate the impact of earth fissures. Our study also advances our knowledge on geospatial analysis and earth fissures-related hazard assessment by applying five machine learning algorithms that shows spatial similarity in susceptibility categories with splendid accuracy performance.

Species diversity of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), larval habitat characteristics, and potential as vectors for lymphatic filariasis in Central Bengkulu Regency, Indonesia.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a vector-borne disease in various regions of Indonesia. The transmission dynamics within a locality are intricately linked to the presence of the pathogen (microfilaria), definitive host (humans), intermediate host (mosquitoes), reservoir, and environmental factors. The geographic landscape of Central Bengkulu Regency, which is characterized by plantations, marshlands, and forests, serves as a suitable habitat for mosquitoes. Understanding species diversity, vector behaviors, habitat characteristics, and microfilarial presence is crucial for devising effective and efficient control strategies. This study aimed to identify species diversity, assess biting patterns, characterize larval habitats, and detect microfilarial presence in mosquitoes. Mosquito collection was conducted using human landing collection (HLC) and resting collection indoors and outdoors for 6 months at a frequency of twice monthly from November 2022 to May 2023. The larvae were collected using dippers and pipettes. Adult mosquitoes and larvae were identified at the species level and analyzed using diversity indices. The measured larval bioecological parameters included physical, chemical, and biological conditions. The mosquito density obtained through HLC was calculated using the man-hour density (MHD) and man-biting rate (MBR) formulas. The presence of microfilaria was confirmed using a polymerase chain reaction. A total of 808 adult mosquitoes from five genera and 18 species were captured, along with 485 larvae from four genera and eight species. The mosquito diversity was moderate. The dominant adult species included Armigeres subalbatus (44.8%), whereas Aedes albopictus (25.4%) and Ar. subalbatus (22.3%) were abundant larvae. The highest larval density was observed in natural ponds. The average MBR was three mosquitoes per person per night, with fluctuating nightly activity (mean MHD of 1.8 mosquitoes per person per hour). Larval habitats had temperatures of 25.4°C-28.7°C, illumination of 224-674 lx, and pH of 7.1-7.9, with over half being turbid and nearly two-thirds lacking predators. Microfilariae were not detected in the tested mosquitoes. The presence of mosquitoes, their habitat, and the high density of Ar. subalbatus contributes to the transmission of LF in Central Bengkulu Regency, Indonesia.

Shoreline Translocation during Road Expansion Was Successful for Most Waterbirds but Not for Waders

Coastal wetlands are one of the most threatened ecosystems due to, firstly, their relative rarity and, secondly, the strong human interest in these coastal sites for infrastructure development, and recreation. These coastal wetlands also serve as important migration stopover sites for a range of waterbirds. There is great international interest in mitigating the negative effects of human land development and in restoring degraded habitats. I evaluated the response of one waterbird community to the mitigation action implemented during road expansion in an important waterbird coastal habitat in central Norway. Using a novel mitigation method, the shoreline was moved seawards to allow space for a continued shoreline habitat and the extended road. By weekly monitoring the waterbird community during spring and autumn migration periods (n = 7 of each), I found similar biodiversity, evenness, and abundance of geese, dabbling ducks, diving ducks, gulls, and waders when data for the whole wetland were used. However, after construction waders were partially displaced from the zone closest to the road to a zone further away. For some groups of birds, shoreline translocation can be a fruitful mitigation action aiming to reduce the negative effects of infrastructure expansion in coastal areas.

Intensification of Human Land Use Decreases Taxonomic, Functional, and Phylogenetic Diversity of Macroinvertebrate Community in Weihe River Basin, China

Recent anthropogenic activities have escalated human exploitation of riparian zones of river ecosystems, consequently diminishing aquatic biodiversity. This intensification of land use is also causing water quality degradation and changes in water environmental factors, evidenced by increased nutrient levels and adversely impacting the community structure and diversity of aquatic organisms. Notably, the Weihe River Basin, the largest tributary of the Yellow River, has demonstrated signs of significant anthropogenic pressure. Despite this, comprehensive investigations examining the effects of land-use intensity on aquatic organism diversity in this watershed remain limited. In this study, the environmental impacts and macroinvertebrate diversity under high-intensity and low-intensity land-use scenarios within the Weihe River Basin were investigated through field surveys conducted during the spring and autumn seasons. Our results demonstrated that areas under high-intensity land use exhibited elevated nutrient concentrations (e.g., total nitrogen) compared to those under low-intensity land use. These environmental changes significantly influenced the macroinvertebrate community structure, reducing functional and phylogenetic diversities in high-intensity land-use watersheds. Hydrological factors (water depth, river width, and discharge) have a significant impact on macroinvertebrate taxonomic diversity. Thus, understanding the effects of land-use intensity on aquatic biodiversity is essential for ecological assessments of impacted watersheds and developing management strategies for the sustainable use and planning of riparian lands in the Weihe River Basin.

Relationships between channelization, sedimentation and sea level in the deltaic environment of the ancient harbor of Lattara, southern France

The impacts of coastal changes and human land use on depositional processes, ecological conditions, geomorphic evolution and harbor works at the archaeological site of Lattara, one of the oldest cities of the northwestern Mediterranean built in a deltaic environment, were investigated from a multi-proxy approach based on sedimentological, biological and geochronological analyses. A distributary channel connected to the ancient harbor of Lattara was deepened and channelized around 200 cal BCE. The drastic increase in water depth caused by channelization was associated with increased flow competence and bedload transport, and could have improved navigation in the harbor area. By contrast, high accumulations of anthropogenic deposits in the channelized stream from the second century CE seem to have negatively affected sediment transport conditions by reducing bedload flux. The construction of a cobble pavement on the western bank of this channelized stream in the fourth century CE was contemporaneous with a sharp decrease in bedload transport showing an abrupt transition to a low energy environment such as in abandoned channels. A drainage ditch was then dug in the deposits of the channelized stream during the Medieval Warm Period, in a context of land use intensification and increased river flooding that led to the deposition of coarser sediments.

Longitudinal survey of insecticide resistance in a village of central region of Burkina Faso reveals co-occurrence of 1014F, 1014S and 402L mutations in Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles arabiensis

BackgroundPyrethroid resistance is one of the major threats for effectiveness of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) in malaria vector control. Genotyping of mutations in the voltage gated sodium channel (VGSC) gene is widely used to easily assess the evolution and spread of pyrethroid target-site resistance among malaria vectors. L1014F and L1014S substitutions are the most common and best characterized VGSC mutations in major African malaria vector species of the Anopheles gambiae complex. Recently, an additional substitution involved in pyrethroid resistance, i.e. V402L, has been detected in Anopheles coluzzii from West Africa lacking any other resistance alleles at locus 1014. The evolution of target-site resistance mutations L1014F/S and V402L was monitored in An. coluzzii and Anopheles arabiensis specimens from a Burkina Faso village over a 10-year range after the massive ITN scale-up started in 2010.MethodsAnopheles coluzzii (N = 300) and An. arabiensis (N = 362) specimens collected both indoors and outdoors by different methods (pyrethrum spray catch, sticky resting box and human landing collections) in 2011, 2015 and 2020 at Goden village were genotyped by TaqMan assays and sequencing for the three target site resistance mutations; allele frequencies were statistically investigated over the years.ResultsA divergent trend in resistant allele frequencies was observed in the two species: 1014F decreased in An. coluzzii (from 0.76 to 0.52) but increased in An. arabiensis (from 0.18 to 0.70); 1014S occurred only in An. arabiensis and slightly decreased over time (from 0.33 to 0.23); 402L increased in An. coluzzii (from 0.15 to 0.48) and was found for the first time in one An. arabiensis specimen. In 2020 the co-occurrence of different resistance alleles reached 43% in An. coluzzii (alleles 410L and 1014F) and 32% in An. arabiensis (alleles 1014F and 1014S).ConclusionsOverall, an increasing level of target-site resistance was observed among the populations with only 1% of the two malaria vector species being wild type at both loci, 1014 and 402, in 2020. This, together with the co-occurrence of different mutations in the same specimens, calls for future investigations on the possible synergism between resistance alleles and their phenotype to implement local tailored intervention strategies.

Keanekaragaman Kupu-Kupu (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) di Kawasan Ekowisata Dusun Kaliurang Timur, Yogyakarta

Butterflies act as bioindicators and pollinators of the environment. Ecotourism development poses a threat to butterfly life due to high human activity and land degradation. This study aims to determine the diversity of butterflies (Rhopalocera), diversity index, evenness index, dominance index, similarity index, and abiotic parameters at each sampling location. The data was collected at Tlogo Putri, settlements, and Tankaman Natural Park, whose location selection was based on purposive sampling and using the point count method. Based on the research obtained 55 species with a total of 294 individuals, diversity index (TP: 2.88; P: 2.51; TNP: 2.66), evenness index (TP: 0.86; P: 0.75; TNP: 0.84), dominance index (TP: 0.08; P: 0.14; TNP: 0.09), species similarity index (TP & P: 46.42; TP & TNP: 27.45). Abiotic parameters in the ecotourism area of Kaliurang Timur Hamlet are altitude of 814-889 meters above sea level, temperature of 26-28°C, air humidity of 10-45%, light intensity of 7571-4877x10 lux, wind speed of 0-1 m/s, and rainfall of 0-20. The conclusion of this study is that 55 species of Rhopalocera order were found, the diversity index is moderate, the evenness index is high, the dominance index and the similarity index are low at each sampling location. Abiotic parameters measured were in the normal range for Rhopalocera life in the ecotourism area of Kaliurang Timur Hamlet.

Analyzing the Spatiotemporal Pattern and Interaction of SDGs for Sustainable Development in Inner Mongolia

Increased global climate change and contradictions in human–land relationships has aroused awareness of studies on regional sustainable development. Whether SDGs and their interactions are suitable for analyzing the fine scale of regional differentiation of sustainable development, especially in ecologically sensitive regions, was still in suspense. This study analyzed the inter-annual changes and regional clustering of SDGs and the interactions among SDGs, and among their indicators, at both provincial and municipal levels in Inner Mongolia. We found the sustainable development was relatively higher in the east than in the west. SDG5, SDG6, SDG10, SDG11, and SDG15 got cold spots in the west and hot spots in the east. For most SDGs and indicators, synergies outweigh trade-offs. Improvement measures should focus on the indices with strong synergies such as SDG3 and SDG7, and SOC2, ECO1, ECO4, and ECO5. Special attention should be put on those with trade-offs such as ECO15 and ENV20 to be aware of their opposite effects. SDG5 and ECO2 were the most important in the entire network that need attention. Considering only singular or a few SDGs may not be feasible when assessing sustainable development because other goals or indicators may play roles. Reasonable improvements for sustainable development needed to clarify synergies and trade-offs among SDGs and indicators.

Malaria burden and residual transmission: two thirds of mosquito bites may not be preventable with current vector control tools on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

ObjectivesThis study assesses exposure to malaria vector mosquitos that is nonpreventable through use of nets, the contribution of outdoor and indoor biting towards residual vector exposure, and the risk factors for being bitten and for being infected with malaria parasites on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. MethodsHuman behavior and malaria infection data were collected from 13,735 randomly selected residents during cross-sectional surveys, concomitantly with entomological human landing catches, indoors and outdoors, in 20 locations on the Island. Self-reported time of going indoors, going to bed and whether using a net were analyzed to impute for each respondent the number of bites received outdoors and indoors during the night before the survey. ResultsOn average, each person received 2.7 (95% CI: 2.6-2.8) bites per night outdoors, 8.5 (8.3 to 8.7) bites indoors if not using a net, and 4.7 (4.5 to 4.8) bites indoors if using a net. Malaria infection was associated with more bites, regardless of whether received indoors or outdoors. Older age, male gender, not using a net, rural location, and going indoors later increased the risk of being bitten. The proportion of bites not averted by using a net was estimated as 66% (61 to 71). ConclusionsA large proportion of biting, mostly indoors, may not be preventable by bednets. Tools targeting indoor biting should be prioritized in Bioko. Novel vector control tools are urgently needed to reduce overall exposure to mosquito bites.

Spatio-temporal analysis of riverbank changes using remote sensing and geographic information system

Fluvial hazards cause severe damage to human lives and properties. The increased intrusion of anthropogenic activities into natural hydrological cycles has increased hazard severity and confounded river channel dynamics. The present article studies the epochal channel erosion, accretion, and unaltered sites along the 42 km stretch between the Polavaram project and Dowleshwaram Barrage on the Godavari River. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques were used to identify changes in river morphology. A total of five decades of Landsat images were analyzed, classifying the land use with a supervised learning Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm and an ISO cluster unsupervised algorithm to delineate the rivers and study the influence of land use land cover change (LULCC) on river morphology. Accretion and erosion channel changes during the assessment period were measured at all reaches, and the possible driving mechanisms of morphological alterations were studied.The results indicate the susceptibility of human dwellings and agricultural lands to floods due to the shifting of the highly vibrant river shoreline. The study provides the most recent information on Godavari River dynamics. These aspects of the river's evolution will aid in planning and management in the lower portions, which have not been well understood. River channel alterations can be quantitatively and economically analyzed using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) data.

Human–Land Coupling Relationship in Lushan National Park and Its Surrounding Areas: From an Integrated Ecological and Social Perspective

Human–Land Coupling Relationship in Lushan National Park and Its Surrounding Areas: From an Integrated Ecological and Social Perspective

Spatial Distribution, Influencing Factors and Sustainable Development of Fishery Cultural Resources in the Yangtze River Basin

Agricultural cultural heritage is crucial in advancing comprehensive rural revitalization. The Yangtze River Basin is rich in biodiversity and abundant in fishery cultural resources. The cultural resources not only reflect the ecological wisdom of harmonious coexistence and the human–land relationship between humans and nature but also provide critical cultural support for rural revitalization and watershed sustainable development. This study investigates the spatial distribution, influencing factors, and historical evolution of fishery cultural resources in the Yangtze River Basin. The highest proportions of significant resources are found in fishery engineering and landscapes, culinary flavors, fishery customs, dances, fishery gear, and poetry. By analyzing 14 categories of fishery cultural resources and 157 national and provincial intangible cultural heritage items, this study reveals a significant geographical clustering of these resources in the mid-lower reaches, particularly around the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake Basin, Wuhan and Dongting Lake, and the lower reaches of the Taihu Lake Basin. This study underscores the role of natural geographical conditions, aquatic biodiversity, socio-economic factors, and historical–cultural backgrounds in the distribution and evolution of fishery cultural resources, with these factors interacting dynamically. By advocating for a comprehensive approach to coordinating fishery culture preservation with rural revitalization, this study outlines a multidimensional strategy for the preservation and sustainable development of fishery cultural resources.

Detection of Hunting Pits using Airborne Laser Scanning and Deep Learning

ABSTRACT Forests worldwide contain unique cultural traces of past human land use. Increased pressure on forest ecosystems and intensive modern forest management methods threaten these ancient monuments and cultural remains. In northern Europe, older forests often contain very old traces, such as millennia-old hunting pits and indigenous Sami hearths. Investigations have repeatedly found that forest owners often fail to protect these cultural remains and that many are damaged by forestry operations. Current maps of hunting pits are incomplete, and the locations of known pits have poor spatial accuracy. This study investigated whether hunting pits can be automatically mapped using national airborne laser data and deep learning. The best model correctly mapped 70% of all the hunting pits in the test data with an F1 score of 0.76. This model can be implemented across northern Scandinavia and could have an immediate effect on the protection of cultural remains.

Asymmetric effects of hydroclimate extremes on eastern US tree growth: Implications on current demographic shifts and climate variability.

Forests around the world are experiencing changes due to climate variability and human land use. How these changes interact and influence the vulnerability of forests are not well understood. In the eastern United States, well-documented anthropogenic disturbances and land-use decisions, such as logging and fire suppression, have influenced forest species assemblages, leading to a demographic shift from forests dominated by xeric species to those dominated by mesic species. Contemporarily, the climate has changed and is expected to continue to warm and produce higher evaporative demand, imposing stronger drought stress on forest communities. Here, we use an extensive network of tree-ring records from common hardwood species across ~100 sites and ~1300 trees in the eastern United States to examine the magnitude of growth response to both wet and dry climate extremes. We find that growth reductions during drought exceed the positive growth response to pluvials. Mesic species such as Liriodendron tulipifera and Acer saccharum, which are becoming more dominant, are more sensitive to drought than more xeric species, such as oaks (Quercus) and hickory (Carya), especially at moderate and extreme drought intensities. Although more extreme droughts produce a larger annual growth reduction, mild droughts resulted in the largest cumulative growth decreases due to their higher frequency. When using global climate model projections, all scenarios show drought frequency increasing substantially (3-9 times more likely) by 2100. Thus, the ongoing demographic shift toward more mesic species in the eastern United States combined with drier conditions results in larger drought-induced growth declines, suggesting that drought will have an even larger impact on aboveground carbon uptake in the future in the eastern United States.

Simulating the effects of retreating Urmia Lake and increased evapotranspiration rates on the nearby unconfined aquifer

The unsustainable management of water resources along with climate change impacts have led Urmia Lake to severely shrink since 1995. To quantify the groundwater losses in the surrounding area and to avoid the future worsening of a yet worrying scenario a numerical model is needed. For this purpose, a transient state MODFLOW model (2000–2016) has been calibrated and validated versus hydraulic heads. Good model performances were obtained, allowing to accurately estimate the groundwater budget. MODIS dataset was employed to set up the numerical model to identify temporal and spatial extent of evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration turned out to play a massive contribution in groundwater outflow showing an increasing trend over time. Several scenarios, considering a different way to implement recharge and evapotranspiration in the modelling routine were assessed. The role of the spatialization of the evapotranspiration extinction depth was investigated by averaging remotely sensed heterogeneous datasets over the model domain. No significant differences in model performance indicators were found. Moreover, a model scenario without human groundwater exploitation and land use change was considered. The results slightly differ from the groundwater budget calculated by the validated model and thus indicating the climate change as the major driver of groundwater depletion in the study area. The implementation of such a model allowed for the assessment of the exchange between the lake and the unconfined aquifer, providing a robust foundation for future sustainable management.