Open Areas Research Articles

Urban green open space in developing countries: Indonesia regulations, problems and alternative solutions

PurposeThis paper aims to work toward a new approach in providing green open spaces in the middle of urban land in Indonesia that has been densely built up and on it has attached land rights. An approach is needed through a specific spatial policy that contains zoning regulations for the provision of public green open spaces on top of residential houses built on the green zoning plans.Design/methodology/approachThis approach considers an interconnected ecological holistic approach, as previously existing regulations have not normatively identified the green open space as an ecological landscape consisting of blue open spaces and several objects that function as green open spaces.FindingsIndonesia in terms of green open space for local climate instrument is still identified as one of the three lowest countries in Southeast Asia in the number of green open space areas. We found that the regulating process of development rights and property rights, in the construction of Indonesian law, still requires many alternative efforts to this day in providing urban green open spaces. The delivery of desired outcomes depends on the alternative policy as a form of legal politics in compensating planning and community interests through developing green open spaces in an ecoregion approach.Originality/valueThis writing was shaped by the understandings of the author with regards to the development of urban green open space regulating issues in Indonesia as one of the emerging country group in Asia and Jakarta as the second-most populous urban area in the world. This paper aims to work toward providing green urban open spaces in Indonesia that has been densely built up and on it has attached land rights, through a specific spatial policy that contains zoning regulations for the provision of public green open spaces on top of residential houses built on the green zoning plans.

An innovative drying method for on-site and precast walls – Efficiency in accelerating the drying of reduced-scale earth-lime-hemp composites

The drying of construction materials is a challenge regarding structure’s durability and costly construction delays. Long drying periods induce high-moisture content that leads to fungal growth risks. This study presents the development of an innovative forced convection drying method, inspired by unglazed transpired solar wall system and repurposed here for its drying potential at the wall scale. This method employs a metal perforated panel placed at a short distance from the material to dry. This creates an air cavity between them where forced convection is applied with ambient air penetrating through the perforated panel. The moistened air is evacuated thanks to an air circuit composed of a fan and an extraction duct. Two panel configurations with round and cross-shaped perforations are investigated and compared to a natural convection reference. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on Earth-Lime-Hemp composites. With forced convection method, the evaporation front moves moisture towards the near wall forced convection surface and leads to more efficient moisture removal. The results demonstrate a 50 % reduction in drying time using forced convection drying compared to natural convection drying in an open area. Both panel configurations show similar efficiency. The proposed drying method meets the challenges above-mentioned and is applicable for both prefabricated elements and on-site construction. Additionally, it can be effective for the restoration after water damage, enhancing overall construction resilience.

SmallMap: Low-cost Community Road Map Sensing with Uncertain Delivery Behavior

Accurate road networks play a crucial role in modern mobile applications such as navigation and last-mile delivery. Most existing studies primarily focus on generating road networks in open areas like main roads and avenues, but little attention has been given to the generation of community road networks in closed areas such as residential areas, which becomes more and more significant due to the growing demand for door-to-door services such as food delivery. This lack of research is primarily attributed to challenges related to sensing data availability and quality. In this paper, we design a novel framework called SmallMap that leverages ubiquitous multi-modal sensing data from last-mile delivery to automatically generate community road networks with low costs. Our SmallMap consists of two key modules: (1) a Trajectory of Interest Detection module enhanced by exploiting multi-modal sensing data collected from the delivery process; and (2) a Dual Spatio-temporal Generative Adversarial Network module that incorporates Trajectory of Interest by unsupervised road network adaptation to generate road networks automatically. To evaluate the effectiveness of SmallMap, we utilize a two-month dataset from one of the largest logistics companies in China. The extensive evaluation results demonstrate that our framework significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, achieving a precision of 90.5%, a recall of 87.5%, and an F1-score of 88.9%, respectively. Moreover, we conduct three case studies in Beijing City for courier workload estimation, Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in last-mile delivery, and fine-grained order assignment.

Study of Panel Zone Behavior in Interior Beam–Column Joints with Reduced Beam Section (RBS)

Based on the post-earthquake investigation of the Beiling and Hanshen earthquakes, many welded rigid beam–column joints were found to exhibit brittle failure. The failure modes of the joint region and the overall steel frame structure under the action of the earthquake need to be studied. The seismic performance of different types of weakened beam-end interior joints was investigated. The finite element method was verified by high-strength steel beam–column joint tests conducted by our research team. Finite element modeling of weakened steel beam flanges and weakened steel beam web joints was carried out based on the validated finite element modeling method. The joints were studied and analyzed using seismic parameters such as joint stress clouds, equivalent story shear–inter-story displacement ratio curves, panel zone bending moment–shear ratio curves, ductility, stiffness, and energy dissipation. The results of this study showed that honeycomb open hole-type joints exhibit a better deformation and energy dissipation capacity compared to open circular web hole-type joints. However, their load carrying capacity is reduced, which is mainly due to the larger area of the web openings. Additionally, double reduced beam section (DRBS) joints exhibit superior seismic performance and plastic hinge outward movement characteristics compared to single reduced beam section (RBS) joints. It was also found that the deformation and energy dissipation of DRBS joints and steel beam honeycomb hole-type joints are mainly borne by the beams, with the panel zone’s participation in energy dissipation accounting for a smaller proportion of the energy.

A pathway to urban resilience: investigating green open space priority areas to mitigate the urban heat island phenomenon in Samarinda City, Indonesia

Purpose The potential for massive economic growth exists in Samarinda City due to the intensification of activities in built-up areas. This suggests the potential for increased urban disease in the relocation of Indonesia’s new capital city to a location adjacent to Samarinda. One of the most striking impacts is the urban heat island (UHI). The increase in this phenomenon can be addressed effectively and efficiently through the provision and arrangement of appropriate vegetation-based actions. Therefore, this study aims to identify priority areas of green open space (GOS) based on UHI levels. In addition, this study also aims to present alternative mitigation measures to reduce the risk of disasters due to UHI. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-method approach was used in this research, involving an initial land surface temperature analysis to identify the UHI class. This analysis was complemented by quantitative spatial analyses, such as scoring, overlay and intersect methods, to determine the priority level class and the typology of GOS priority. A qualitative analysis was also conducted through data triangulation or comparison methods, such as examining existing land use, GOS priority maps and spatial plan policies. Findings The findings show that the total UHI area in Samarinda City was 6,936.4 ha in 2019 and is divided into three classifications. In Class 1, the UHI area is very dominant, reaching 87% of the total area. Meanwhile, the main results identified two priority classes of GOS in Samarinda, namely, the medium and high categories with an area of 960.43 ha and 113.57 ha, respectively. The results also showed that there were 17 typologies associated with five alternative mitigation measures: green industry, greening parking lots, improving urban green infrastructure and buildings, urban greening and mining restoration. Research limitations/implications Specific to assessing UHI, image data were available only in medium spatial resolution, leading to a consequence of detailed accuracy. In addition, since the determination of mitigation considered local policies, the method should be used in other locations requiring adjustments to existing regulations, specifically those related to spatial planning. Originality/value This study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the UHI phenomenon in Indonesia, especially in the urban areas of Kalimantan Island. In addition, the study presents new insights into alternative mitigation actions to reduce the risk of UHI. Innovatively, this study introduces a typology of regions associated with appropriate alternative mitigation actions, making it an important achievement for the first time in the context of this study.

Piston ring and cylinder liner scuffing analysis in dual-fuel low-speed engines considering liner deformation and tribofilm evolution

The piston ring and cylinder liner (PRCL) system in larger-bore low-speed marine engines frequently experiences scuffing failures, which significantly decrease the engine reliability. To understand this failure mechanism, a scuffing failure model subjected to the PRCL system was developed considering multidisciplinary coupling effects that integrate asperity contact, hydrodynamic lubrication, tribochemistry reactions, thermal effects, friction, and surface wear. The impacts of large-scale deformation and gas-combustion mode on the scuffing performances of the PRCL system were examined. The key findings indicate that the larger-scale liner deformation can markedly reduce oil film thickness and exacerbate local asperity contact, influencing the evolution of the tribofilm by increasing the removal process. Under gas-combustion mode, the oil film thickness is even lower, and the asperity contact pressure further increases due to a more starved lubrication state and higher combustion temperature. This leads to tribofilm breakdown and severe wear near the ring opening area, which are aligning with the full-scale experimental results with scuffing failure.

Evaluation of Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in University Dormitories in China

Evaluation of Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in University Dormitories in China

Optimizing ventilated packaging design for strawberries: Assessing the impact on fruit quality from farm to retailer using physics-based modeling

Amongst fruits and vegetables, strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) are one of the most perishable products. Consequently, it is challenging to maintain their quality until they reach the consumer. Therefore, keeping optimal hygrothermal conditions around the berries from farm to the consumer is crucial to preserving them and avoiding food loss. Using ventilated packaging design is an established way to address this technological, economic, and environmental problem. Until now, strawberry packaging is often designed using a trial-and-error approach, and a multitude of packaging designs exist. Ideally, the packaging should be designed in such a way that it provides the best preservation of the fruit all the way from farm to retailer. This is challenging since the hygrothermal conditions change significantly along the supply chain. In this study, we use physics-based modeling to evaluate new strawberry packaging designs in regard to cooling performance, risk of condensation, mass loss, and respiration-driven shelf life of the fruit and assess their performance along the whole post-harvest export supply chain from Spain to Switzerland. Twelve packaging designs for strawberries with existing and newly-designed vent hole configurations were investigated. Simulations quantified how the berries physiologically and hygrothermally evolve inside these packages along the whole post-harvest supply chain. Implementing appropriate ventilation in open-and top-sealed trays for strawberries can help to minimize losses along the post-harvest supply chain. As commonly known, strawberries cool significantly faster in better-ventilated trays than in unventilated trays, and condensation-based time of wetness could be reduced by 45% by adding additional ventilation holes in a top-sealed tray. The height of the secondary packaging, the total opening area (TOA), the size, and the placement of the vents have a substantial influence on the performance of the packaging. We recommend a TOA between 5.5% and 7% and a diameter of the vents between 5 and 12 mm. Also, they should be evenly distributed. However, there is always a trade-off in packaging design: a reduced risk of condensation comes along with a higher mass loss of the strawberries. Strawberry packaging models enabled a unique insight into the evolution of the fruits along the supply chain and visualized the spatial distribution of condensation and mass loss inside the package.

Small-scale turbulent characteristics in transcritical wall-bounded flows

Considerable efforts have been devoted to the understanding of the small-scale characteristics in turbulent flows. While the universality of small-scale quantities has been established for incompressible flows, their extension to high-pressure transcritical flows remains an open area of research. To address this question, we investigate the real-fluid thermodynamic effects on small-scale velocity statistics of high-pressure transcritical wall-bounded turbulence. We show that in the locally isotropic region for transcritical flows, low-order moments of small-scale statistics collapse for all cases and Kolmogorov's (1941) theory holds. However, real-fluid thermodynamic effects introduce deviations in the tails of the probability density function for the velocity derivative and, consequently, high-order moments of velocity gradients and dissipation rate in transcritical flows cannot collapse in the locally isotropic region. Analysis of the intermittency shows that the low-order structure functions in transcritical flows follow extended self-similarity, while the dependence of the intermittency factor on real-fluid effects is observed for high-order structure functions. The real-fluid effects on intermittency are explained by turbulent structures related to rare events. Additionally, the dissipation rate moments for transcritical flows follow a universal scaling with Reynolds number, and the scaling exponents are different from those of incompressible flows. These results extend the small-scale universality in incompressible flows (Schumacher et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 111, 2014, pp. 10961–10965) to realistic flows with significant changes in thermodynamic properties, and provide a physical underpinning of the scaling laws of small-scale statistics at transcritical conditions.

The role of sheltered habitats in biodiversity conservation of species sensitive to drought: a case study using ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the Gorongosa National Park

AbstractIn the aftermath of 2019’ tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth, we assessed ground beetle communities of the Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique. The influence of habitat shelters, namely the buffering role of closed microhabitat conditions on Alpha diversity and community trait values during a long period of drought, was evaluated across the main habitat types of the park: miombo forests, mixed forests, transitional forests, and grasslands (open savannas). These habitat types comprised a distance gradient in relation to lake Urema, in the center of GNP. Miombo forests were farther from the lake while grasslands and transitional forests were in the floodplain area. Ground beetle communities were sampled using pitfall traps set up at 25 sites of each habitat type along an environmental gradient of tree canopy cover during the last twenty days of the dry season. Higher species richness of ground beetles was found in closed habitat shelters along the distance gradient to lake Urema. A higher functional diversity was also found along the canopy gradient, with larger sized and wingless species being more abundant in closed habitats than in open areas. This result highlights the crucial role of habitat closedness in the protection of sensitive ground beetles. In particular, the buffer effect of tree canopy and the protection of the understory plants and the litter layer was critical for the survival of hygrophilous species and will be key in conservation strategies to face climate aridification and habitat fragmentation.

An Investigation of the Acoustic Enclosure of an Air Conditioning Compressor Using Response Surface Analysis and Topological Rigidity Optimization

A novel split-type air conditioning system is introduced to balance usability and portability. Unlike conventional split-type systems, where the compressor is typically placed outside, this system situates the compressor within the indoor unit, which may expose users to compressor noise. There are prominent peaks in the compressor noise spectrum, particularly at the compressor operating frequency and its harmonics, notably the second and third harmonics. The research presents a multilayered acoustic enclosure specifically designed for air conditioning compressors to address this issue without modifying the compressor or indoor unit casing. In order to get better sound insulation performance, a response surface methodology (RSM) is applied to optimize the thickness ratio, open area ratio, and open area height of the acoustic enclosure with predefined thickness. In addition, topological optimization is employed to strengthen weak areas of the acoustic enclosure. Then, experimental trials using the proposed acoustic enclosure are conducted in a semianechoic chamber. Results demonstrate significant reductions in noise levels, including 7.99 dB(A), 5.69 dB(A), and 5.19 dB(A) reductions in the fundamental frequency, second harmonic, and third harmonic noise of the compressor’s operating frequency, respectively.

Patterned, plain, and in-between: An assessment of ecogeographic divergence between colour pattern morphs of the common egg-eater Dasypeltis scabra

ABSTRACT Intraspecific variation in colour patterns may reflect adaptive responses to local environmental regimes that favour selection of different trade-offs between visual communication, thermoregulation, and anti-predatory functions. Understanding the drivers of colour pattern variation within species can therefore provide valuable insights about adaptation. However, the ecogeographic correlates, and thus the ecological drivers, associated with the segregation of different colour morphs for most reptile species, including snakes, are not well known. Here, we examined differences in environmental niches associated with occurrence records of preserved museum specimens and georeferenced photographic images of common egg-eaters (Dasypeltis scabra) to characterise ecogeographic divergence between typically patterned, patternless, and faintly marked individuals. We gathered 1707 records that we assigned as either patterned, plain, or intermediate morphs. Most records were of patterned individuals, which were widely distributed in southern Africa. Climate niches differed between morphs as plain and intermediate snakes were restricted to high-elevation areas in the Highveld grasslands of South Africa, and woodland-dominated areas in the central and eastern parts of both Zambia and Zimbabwe, but there were no areas where only plain or intermediate snakes occurred in isolation from patterned snakes. Environmental niche modelling predicted minimal areas suitable for co-habitation of colour morphs. We speculate that plain or weakly-marked colour patterns likely developed as an adaptation to increase camouflage ability in open areas in grassland and certain woodland habitats.

Classification model for chlorophyll content using CNN and aerial images

Chlorophyll content is usually used as a quantitative measurement of plant health. The chlorophyll content is also a continuous number of data type, leading to a regression approach when developing the deep learning model. The regression model will predict the chlorophyll content in number format, which requires experts to analyse the outcome. Nevertheless, the analysis of the outcome could possibly lead to human error in diagnosing the plant’s health condition. Therefore, this study proposed a classification approach in developing a deep learning model to analyse the plant’s health condition without human intervention. The classification approach requires a discrete group for dependent variables instead of continuous numbers. When forming the chlorophyll content index groups in this study, which are low, optimum and high levels, two research studies were combined to form the groups, which were (1) the product of the standard range of nitrogen value in mango plant and (2) the correlation analysis between nitrogen value and chlorophyll content index. The classification model in this study used transfer learning algorithms, which were InceptionV3, DenseNet121 and ResNet50, with the canopy-scale level of mango plant RGB images with complex leaf structures in an uncontrolled and open area. Based on the findings, the classification model could classify the chlorophyll content index levels on both mango plant images, which were infected and not infected with black sooty mould. The finding also shows that a clearer distribution pattern of spectral information extracted from the mango plant images can influence the performance result of the classification model. Besides that, the starting point of the Digitization Footprint for this study site across the development stages of the classification model was 308.5756 MB/ha. Finally, the overall accuracy performances for the classification models that used the transfer learning algorithms, which were InceptionV3, DenseNet121, and ResNet50, and trained using the images of the mango plant infected with pest were 96.49 %, 92.98 %, and 89.47 %, respectively, and for using the images of the mango plant not infected with pest were 88.10 %, 78.57 %, and 69.05 %, respectively.

Using the urban environment for conservation of rare understory shrub species Daphne jejudoensis and Maesa japonica

To investigate the potential for urban environments on Jeju Island, South Korea, to support the conservation of rare understory shrub species, specifically Daphne jejudoensis and Maesa japonica with limited habitat availability, several study sites were selected to assess the performance of these plants after transplanting. A study site similar to the original habitat (Fo), sites between building gaps (GapJ and GapC), a flowerbed in front of a building (FbJ), the rooftop of a building (Roof), and indoor terraces at higher latitude areas (TeSD and TeSM) were selected. Building gap sites and terrace sites displayed similar but a little lower canopy coverage to the forest site (80−90 %). The flowerbed site showed ∼ 50 % coverage, and the Roof site showed ∼ 30 % canopy coverage. Therefore, urban environmental sites (GapJ, GapC, TeSD, and TeSM) displayed similar canopy coverage to original habitats of D. jejudoensis and M. japonica, with stronger light intensity than the Fo site. Shortwave radiation energy from the sky hemisphere at urban environmental sites was only 15−50 % that of the Roof site and only 3 % that of the Fo site. Therefore, urban environmental sites displayed intermediate radiation between canopy open areas and forest sites. This increased light intensity and radiation led to significantly better performance for both shrub species in terms of photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency, and chlorophyll content at urban environmental sites compared with canopy-opened Roof sites. Furthermore, these sites supported similar plant growth for D. jejudoensis and better growth for M. japonica compared with the Fo site. Therefore, urban environments possess huge potential for successful conservation of rare tree species with limited habitat range. Additionally, results for terrace sites suggest that D. jejudoensis and M. japonica have great potential as indoor gardening plants, which could support species conservation through public engagement. As a pioneering study, our findings highlight the great potential for species conservation using stable and accessible urban environments around buildings.

Interactive effects of drought and deforestation on multitrophic communities and aquatic ecosystem functions in the Neotropics-a test using tank bromeliads.

Together with the intensification of dry seasons in Neotropical regions, increasing deforestation is expected to exacerbate species extinctions, something that could lead to dramatic shifts in multitrophic communities and ecosystem functions. Recent studies suggest that the effects of habitat loss are greater where precipitation has decreased. Yet, experimental studies of the pure and interactive effects of drought and deforestation at ecosystem level remain scarce. Here, we used rainshelters and transplantation from rainforest to open areas of natural microcosms (the aquatic ecosystem and microbial-faunal food web found within the rainwater-filled leaves of tank bromeliads) to emulate drought and deforestation in a full factorial experimental design. We analysed the pure and interactive effects of our treatments on functional community structure (including microorganisms, detritivore and predatory invertebrates), and on leaf litter decomposition in tank bromeliad ecosystems. Drought or deforestation alone had a moderate impact on biomass at the various trophic level, but did not eliminate species. However, their interaction synergistically reduced the biomass of all invertebrate functional groups and bacteria. Predators were the most impacted trophic group as they were totally eliminated, while detritivore biomass was reduced by about 95%. Fungal biomass was either unaffected or boosted by our treatments. Decomposition was essentially driven by microbial activity, and did not change across treatments involving deforestation and/or drought. Our results suggest that highly resistant microorganisms such as fungi (plus a few detritivores) maintain key ecosystem functions in the face of drought and habitat change. We conclude that habitat destruction compounds the problems of climate change, that the impacts of the two phenomena on food webs are mutually reinforcing, and that the stability of ecosystem functions depends on the resistance of a core group of organisms. Assuming that taking global action is more challenging than taking local-regional actions, policy-makers should be encouraged to implement environmental action plans that will halt habitat destruction, to dampen any detrimental interactive effect with the impacts of global climate change.

Environmental Impact Assessment of a Dumping Site: A Case Study of Kakia Dumping Site

Open dumping threatens the environment and public health by causing soil, water, and air pollution and precipitating the deterioration of the environmental balance. Therefore, sustainable waste management practices and compliance with environmental regulations are important to minimize these negative impacts. In this context, it is very important to identify the environmental damage inflicted by open dumping areas and to take measures to prevent this damage. Makkah is among the cities that still use open dumping for solid waste disposal. The rapid increase in this city’s population is generating large quantities of municipal solid waste (MSW), making it difficult to manage waste economically without harming the environment or public health. During Umrah and Hajj, the rate of MSW generation increases to an even greater degree. The sustainable management of MSW in holy cities is of great importance. This study aimed to investigate the environmental impact of the Kakia Open Dumping Site in Makkah on air quality, soil, and nearby groundwater wells. It also conducted analyses of essential elements (Ca, Mg, and Na), heavy metals (Pb, Cd, and Cr), and a metalloid (As) in leachate produced at the Kakia Open Dumpsite, enabling the development of management strategies. In addition, the correlations between the essential elements, the metalloid, and the heavy metals were also analyzed. The goal is not only to mitigate the negative effects of open dumping, but also to highlight the need to adopt sustainable management strategies for MSW in religiously significant cities like Makkah.

The first record of an established population of Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) in New Jersey, USA.

Amblyomma maculatum Koch, the Gulf Coast tick, is expanding northward from its original range in the southeastern United States. In 2013, its most northern collection was in Delaware. Amblyomma maculatum has since been found in Connecticut, Illinois, and New York. It is the vector of the human pathogen Rickettsia parkeri, the causative agent of R. parkeri rickettsiosis. We report the first finding of an established population of A. maculatum in Salem County, NJ, with a R. parkeri infection prevalence rate of 23.8%. Our finding of A. maculatum is consistent with other recent findings in the northeastern United States in that specimens were found in open areas devoid of tree canopy. This discovery demonstrates the importance of tick surveillance in order to identify expanding tick populations and the pathogens they may transmit.

Numerical and Analytical Study of the Cyclic Behavior of ADAS Damper and the Effect of Axial Force on its Behavior

ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to study ADAS dampers and develop equations to calculate their seismic parameters. A model was used to analyze the dampers with various variables. The study proposed equations for stiffness, energy dissipation, and strength of the dampers. It also identified the variables with the most and least impact on the results. The effect of axial force on damper performance was investigated, including the calculation of critical load and examining its influence on stiffness, strength, and ductility. Reducing the opening area and height and increasing the width of the damper increased energy dissipation and effective stiffness.

Contribution of marine macrophytes to pCO2 and DOC variations in human-impacted coastal waters

AbstractCarbon cycles in coastal waters are highly sensitive to human activities and play important roles in global carbon budgets. CO2 sink–source behavior is regulated by spatiotemporal variations in net biological productivity, but the contribution of macrophyte habitats including macroalgae aquaculture to atmospheric CO2 removal has not been well quantified. We investigated the variations in the carbonate system and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in human-impacted macrophyte habitats and analyzed the biogeochemical drivers for the variations of these processes. Cultivated macroalgal metabolism (photosynthesis, respiration, calcification, and DOC release) was quantified by in situ field-bag experiments. Cultivated macroalgae took up dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) (16.2–439 mmol-C m−2 day−1) and released DOC (1.2–146 mmol-C m−2 day−1). We estimated that seagrass beds and macroalgae farming contributed 0.8 and 0.4 mmol-C m−2 day−1 of the in situ total CO2 removal (5.7 and 6.7 mmol-C m−2 day−1, respectively) during their growing period in a semi-enclosed embayment but efficient water exchange (i.e., short residence time) in an open coastal area precluded detection of the contribution of macrophyte habitats to the CO2 removal. Although hydrological processes, biological metabolism, and organic carbon storage processes would contribute to the net CO2 sink–source behavior, our analyses distinguished the contribution of macrophytes from other factors. Our findings imply that macroalgae farming, in addition to restoring and creating macrophyte habitats, has potential for atmospheric CO2 removal.

Analysis of the Early Pleistocene small mammals from Pirro Nord 13 (Apricena, southern Italy) and their implications for reconstructing the palaeoenvironment of the early human occupation in Europe

The Pirro Nord quarry (Apricena, Foggia, southern Italy, 41°48′6″N, 15°23′5″ E) is a well-known palaeontological and archaeological locality comprising an abundant and diverse Early Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles related to the Late Villafranchian and Early Biharian mammal ages. In this study, we describe the small mammal assemblages (insectivores, rodents, and bats) excavated between 2010 and 2022 to reconstruct the palaeoenvironment surrounding the site using Habitat Weighting and the Bioclimatic model methods. The rodent assemblage comprises mostly Allophaiomys cf. ruffoi, Apodemus sp., and Hystrix refossa, whereas Eliomys cf. intermedius was reported for the first time. Insectivores includes Talpa gr. minor-caeca; Asoriculus sp.; Erinaceus praeglacialis; and Sorex sp. Bats are represented by Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rhinolophus gr. euryale-mehelyi, Myotis gr. myotis-blythii, Myotis sp., and Miniopterus schreibersii. Landscape reconstruction attested to the presence of a rich and diverse environment with open areas and forest patches surrounding the Pirro Nord 13 site. The climate was slightly colder than that of current times in the same area, with higher precipitation. The presence of different ecosystems near the sites constituted suitable conditions for the first human dispersion in Europe, as already revealed by evidence from Barranco León D, Atapuerca TE7–14, and Fuente Nueva 3 elsewhere on the Iberian Peninsula. The study of small mammal assemblages improves our understanding of the chronological boundaries of the human occupation of Pirro Nord 13, adding important information in the context of the first peopling of the Mediterranean region between 1.6 and 1.3 million years ago.