Impact Of Production Activities Research Articles

Impact of Productive Activities on Forest Cover Change in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve Region: Evidence and Research Gaps

Background and Research Aims Human activities seeking to satisfy various needs have resulted in deforestation and other forest cover change processes. The Natural Protected Areas are among the most efficient instruments to contain forest loss. The compensation from conservation is not sufficient to compete with land uses with higher economic rent, such as timber extraction and food production. This study summarizes the evidence and identifies research gaps on forest processes caused by productive activities in Mexico’s Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Methods We systematically reviewed the scientific literature investigating forest processes caused by the productive activities in the Calakmul, including the transition zone. We calculated the frequencies of codes on forest processes and productive activities in the entire sample (53), evaluated each code’s significance in the qualitative synthesis and interpretation, and summarized the measurements of forest processes considering only the primary studies (46). Results Deforestation was the most commonly investigated process. Traditional agriculture initially caused deforestation, while livestock and conventional agriculture became more dominant recently with the agricultural intensification policies. Few articles investigated forest degradation experiencing a steady increase from fallow shortening and selective logging. Also, few studies identified forest recovery resulting from long fallows and core zone delimitation. No publications evaluated the forest cover impact of sustainable initiatives. Conclusion The tendency to quantify deforestation on a regional scale masks presence of other forest processes. The rural development programs in Calakmul did not include the environmental perspective, while participation in sustainable initiatives was low. The understanding of productive activities at the local level will allow differentiation of the long-term from temporary forest dynamic. Implications for Conservation To assure resilient and inclusive growth in Calakmul, the reduced-impact logging, sustainable agricultural intensification, improved fallows, and beekeeping should be supported with monetary resources that cover the transaction costs of unsustainable livestock breeding and industrial agriculture.

¿La combinación de clones posee alguna ventaja sobre los sistemas monoclonales?

Las plantaciones forestales han sido tradicionalmente desarrolladas a partir de material de propagación de origen seminal. Sin embargo, las principales especies plantadas en el mundo se pueden propagar vegetativamente, por lo que las posibilidades para el desarrollo de la silvicultura clonal son crecientes. El cultivo de Salicáceas se realiza con estacas o guías, por lo que las plantaciones son 100% producidas bajo un esquema de silvicultura clonal. Además, en el Delta del Río Paraná los rodales se instalan como bloques monoclonales y el clon Populus deltoides ‘Australiano 129/60’ es el más difundido, definiendo una matriz productiva con una estrecha diversidad genética. Esto determina que el sistema sea menos estable y trae aparejado un riesgo productivo ante la aparición de condiciones de estrés biótico o abiótico. En consecuencia, el modelo de silvicultura monoclonal presenta algunas desventajas no solo desde el punto de vista ecológico, sino también productivo. A partir de la posibilidad que brindan las especies forestales, que presentan una gran variabilidad tanto intra como interespecífica, es posible pensar en combinación de clones para aumentar la diversidad genética de las plantaciones. Las plantaciones clonales mixtas pueden favorecer a la disminución de los impactos de las actividades productivas en el ambiente, distribuir espacialmente la demanda de nutrientes del suelo, aumentar la diversidad genética y mejorar los índices de rendimiento del rodal. El objetivo de esta revisión es analizar los antecedentes de silvicultura clonal y plantaciones mixtas como base para la propuesta de alternativas silviculturales para las Salicáceas del Delta del Paraná.

ESPECIES DE ACRIDOIDEA (INSECTA: ORTHOPTERA, CAELIFERA) PRIORITARIAS PARA LA CONSERVACIÓN EN URUGUAY

Concern grows for conserving biodiversity due to the strong impact of productive activities and urbanization exert on it. To address this problem it is necessary to determine the species with the greatest threats. The great majority of priority animal species for conservation are vertebrates, while invertebrates are practically absent, despite the great diversity of species they present. The grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea), known as locusts of the country or tucuras, are native herbivorous insects typical of different habitat of Uruguay. Changes in habitat linked to agricultural-livestock and forestry activities are the main threats. The objective of this work was to compile a list of priority acridianspecies for conservation. To determine this list, some criteria used by other authors for arachnids from Uruguay were followed. A list of 38 priority acridian species for conservation belonging to the families Ommexechidae (1), Romaleidae (10) and Acrididae (27) was compiled. This work lays the foundations to generate agreements in the country and in the region in the conservation of the group's biodiversity.

Review of simulation-based life cycle assessment in manufacturing industry

ABSTRACTThe manufacturing industry has a duty to minimize its environmental impact, and an increasing body of legislation mandates environmental impact evaluations from a life cycle perspective to prevent burden shift. The manufacturing industry is increasing its use of computer-based simulations to optimize production processes. In recent years, several published studies have combined simulations with life cycle assessments (LCAs) to evaluate and minimize the environmental impact of production activities. Still, current knowledge of simulations conducted for LCAs is rather disjointed. This paper accordingly reviews the literature covering simulation-based LCAs of production processes. The results of the review and cross-comparison of papers are structured in terms of seven elements in line with the ISO standard definition of LCA and report the strengths and limitations of the reviewed studies.

Влияние деятельности Улан-Хольского месторождения на изменение химических свойств почв Калмыкии

Влияние деятельности Улан-Хольского месторождения на изменение химических свойств почв Калмыкии

Using Food Flow Data to Assess Sustainability: Land Use Displacement and Regional Decoupling in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Food flow data provide unique insights into the debates surrounding the sustainability of land based production and consumption at multiple scales. Trade flows disguise the spatial correspondence of production and consumption and make their connection to land difficult. Two key components of this spatial disjuncture are land use displacement and economic regional decoupling. By displacing the environmental impact associated with food production from one region to another, environmental trajectories can falsely appear to be sustainable at a particular site or scale. When regional coupling is strong, peripheral areas where land based production occurs are strongly linked and proximate to consumption centers, and the environmental impact of production activities is visible. When food flows occur over longer distances, regional coupling weakens, and environmental impact is frequently overlooked. In this study, we present an analysis of a locally collected food flow dataset containing agricultural and livestock products transported to and from counties in Quintana Roo (QRoo). QRoo is an extensively forested border state in southeast Mexico, which was fully colonized by the state and non-native settlers only in the last century and now is home to some of the major tourist destinations. To approximate land displacement and regional decoupling, we decompose flows to and from QRoo by (1) direction; (2) product types and; (3) scale. Results indicate that QRoo is predominantly a consumer state: incoming flows outnumber outgoing flows by a factor of six, while exports are few, specialized, and with varied geographic reach (Yucatan, south and central Mexico, USA). Imports come predominantly from central Mexico. Local production in QRoo accounts for a small portion of its total consumption. In combining both subsets of agricultural and livestock products, we found that in most years, land consumption requirements were above 100% of the available land not under conservation in QRoo, suggesting unsustainable rates of land consumption in a ´business as usual´ scenario. We found evidence of economic regional decoupling at the state level.

Beyond nature: The management of a productive cultural landscape in Las Médulas area (El Bierzo, León, Spain) during pre-Roman and Roman times

This article focuses on the analysis of plant remains (seeds/fruits, charcoal, pollen, spores, and non-pollen palynomorphs) from two archaeological sites (pre-Roman and Roman) located in Las Médulas, a cultural landscape, in the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The article explores the way the communities living in the area managed their environment and the impact of productive activities on the landscape. This research has shown the multiplicity of needs this landscape satisfied and the various ways these communities managed the surrounding environment through different productive activities (agriculture, animal husbandry, and mining amongst others).