Resilience In Region Research Articles

Genetic variability of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes under drought conditions targeting the CWANA region

Drought stress limits grain yield in bread wheat, challenging agricultural productivity in regions like Morocco, where yields are below global standards. A gap in stable drought-tolerant varieties remains, requiring further research. This study evaluates 200 bread wheat genotypes under rain-fed and irrigated conditions (2020–2021) to identify candidates with improved drought tolerance. The research measured eight traits and used PCA, HCA, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation to identify key traits for drought tolerance, group similar genotypes, assess significant differences, and evaluate trait relationships. The results showed significant variation, with genotypes G150 and G57 yielding 4.03 t/ha and 4.0 t/ha, respectively, outperforming the average yield of 2.5 t/ha under drought stress. Notably, the days to heading at the Merchouch station (rainfed) exhibited the lowest coefficient of variation (CV) at 3.2 %, while the days to maturity at the Sidi Al-Aidi station (irrigated) showed the lowest CV at 2.5 %. The analysis revealed significant genotype-by-environment (G x E) interactions, underscoring the importance of selecting genotypes suitable for specific environmental conditions. Genotypes such as G150 and G57 demonstrated superior performance under drought stress, while others excelled in non-stress conditions. PCA identified key traits contributing to drought tolerance, including grain yield, biomass, and days to heading (r = 0.48), which were positively correlated with yield potential. Grain yield, a critical agronomic trait, showed moderate heritability, indicating both genetic and environmental influences. Identifying drought-tolerant genotypes offers valuable material for breeding programs to improve drought resilience and yield stability in the CWANA region, supporting food security amid changing climates.

Clustering of Basic Educational Resources and Urban Resilience Development in the Central Region of China—An Empirical Study Based on POI Data

This paper presents an urban resilience evaluation index system and evaluation on the clustering of educational resources based on the data of 80 prefecture-level cities in China’s central region in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The results reveal a rising trend of urban resilience in the central region of China, with the provincial capital cities exhibiting the highest levels of resilience. Educational resources are clustered in urban areas of provincial capital cities and other prefectural-level cities. Furthermore, clustering of educational resources has a significant impact on urban resilience. Policy factors play a significant role in moderating the relationship between educational resource clustering and urban resilience in large cities; however, this moderating role is not significant in small cities. These findings have significant implications for the optimal allocation of educational resources, promotion of urban resilience, and advancement of social equity.

Resilience evaluation and spatio-temporal evolution analysis of China's science and technology financial ecosystem

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the resilience of science and technology (sci-tech) financial ecosystem. It constructs an evaluation system from four dimensions: resistance, adaptability, recovery and innovation. The data are from 29 provinces in China from 2010 to 2020. It is evaluated using entropy weights–TOPSIS and dynamic evaluation model. The spatial evolution law is revealed by spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results show that: (1) The overall resilience level of sci-tech financial ecosystem is not high. Its evolution and development are generally in a relatively stable state. It has significant regional heterogeneity, showing a distribution pattern of ‘high east and low west’. (2) It has significant spatial positive correlation. The structure of the sci-tech financial ecosystem in the eastern region is highly complex, most provinces are in high–high agglomeration area. Provinces in other regions are mainly in low–low agglomeration area. Only a few provinces have experienced changes in the spatial distribution. (3) The dynamic value in the eastern region shows polarisation characteristics. Although the static value of resilience in the central and western regions is low, the dynamic evaluation value in some provinces in the central and western regions is high. The subsequent growth momentum of resilience in the north-eastern region is insufficient.

The critical elements of the health system that could make for resilience in the World Health Organization African Region: a scoping review.

Unpredictable events, such as the outbreak of infectious diseases and humanitarian crises, are putting a strain on health care systems. As a result, African countries will need to prepare themselves with appropriate strategies to withstand such occurrences. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to map available evidence about what type and what components of health systems are needed to help countries cope with health emergencies and to foster health system resilience in the WHO African Region. A systematic search was performed independently in Scopus and PubMed electronic databases as well as grey literature. Studies were selected based on set eligibility criteria based on the Joanna Brigg's Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews. The key findings were focused on health system resilience and were mapped based on the WHO's core health system components. Our data were tabulated, and a narrative synthesis was conducted. A total of 28 studies were included in this scoping review, mostly conducted in the WHO African Region and region of the Americas. Studies focused on a variety of strategies, such as the continuous delivery of essential services, the strengthening of the health workforce, including community health care workers, community engagement, the provision of protective mechanisms for the health workforce, and flexible leadership and governance measures. Our findings suggest that strategies to improve health system resilience must include all areas of the healthcare delivery process, including primary care. A resilient health system should be ready for a crisis and have adaptable policies in place to offer adequate response at all levels, as well as post-recovery planning. Such health systems should also seek for continuous improvement. More research is needed to assess the efficacy of initiatives for improving health system resilience, particularly in vulnerable African health systems.

A new insight to investigate the developmental resilience of Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle based on ecological niche theory

ABSTRACT Enhancing the resilience of urban agglomerations is crucial for regional sustainable development. By analyzing the regional resilience of Chengdu-Chongqing Twin Cities Economic Circle (CCEC) from 2006 to 2018, this paper explores the development level of regional resilience, and tries to apply the new perspective of niche related method to the research of regional resilience. Based on the urban resilience theory and the ecological niche theory, this paper constructs the regional resilience index (RRI) from the four dimensions of ecology, economy, society and resources, and selects the suitability, robustness and diversity indicators to construct the regional resilience evaluation index system. The results show that the regional suitability of the central urban area shows a positive trend, showing that the suitability of urban development in the core area is better, and the suitability of urban development in the second edge area is weaker. From the perspective of regional robustness characteristics, the differences in the four dimensions of ecology, economy, society and resources are on the rise, and there are certain risks of system robustness. From the characteristics of regional diversity, the interaction between cities at the same level is more frequent, the competition between core cities is fierce, the secondary cities are homogeneous, the system function and structure similarity within the region is high, and the diversity of regional resilience is poor. Finally, the current situation of resilience in the CCEC region is discussed and suggestions for optimization are made.

Impacts of increasing compound hot-dry events on vegetation under the warming-wetting trend in Northwest China

In the warming world, climate extremes tend to be more frequent and intensive. The exceptional response of ecosystems triggered by extreme events under a warmer and wetter climate in northwest China (NWC) has aroused growing concern. However, understanding the responses of vegetation to climate extremes from a compound perspective remains challenging. In this study, we identify the climate dynamics in NWC during 1971–2020 based on daily meteorological observations, focusing on the changes in compound hot-dry events (CHDEs) during the warmer and wetter period. We further explore the effects of CHDEs on vegetation by examining vegetation anomalies and recovery time using daily gross primary productivity (GPP) data. The results show a clearly warmer and wetter period in NWC during 2000–2020. No signs of a stalled increase in CHDEs are observed during this period, and even the duration of CHDEs in western NWC keeps showing an increasing tendency. Vegetation in eastern NWC, with a lower probability of GPP anomalies, exhibits stronger resistance of ecosystems to CHDEs than in western NWC. In NWC, vegetation typically returns to its normal state in 5.50 days on average, but exhibits greater resilience in the western region, where it takes less recovery time (4.82 days). Vegetation in central region shows the lowest probability of GPP anomalies and relatively long recovery time, likely due to its higher altitudes. Our research underscores the imperative to address the considerable impacts of CHDEs on vegetation growth even as the regional climate tends to be warmer and wetter.

Does artificial intelligence promote provincial ecological resilience? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT How does artificial intelligence affect provincial ecological resilience? This study incorporates artificial intelligence, provincial ecological resilience, government environmental attention and public environmental concern into a framework to construct a research model, and selects the panel data of 30 provinces in the Chinese mainland from 2012 to 2021. The multiple regression analysis method is used to empirically analyse the impact of artificial intelligence on provincial ecological resilience, and the moderating roles played by government environmental attention and public environmental concern. The study finds that there is a positive impact of artificial intelligence on provincial ecological resilience, which is confirmed by various robustness tests. Meanwhile, there is a significant promotion role of artificial intelligence for provincial ecological resilience in eastern region, while the promotion role for provincial ecological resilience in non-eastern region is not significant. Government environmental attention and public environmental concern play moderating roles in the impact of artificial intelligence on provincial ecological resilience. Recognizing these findings, policymakers can design targeted support plans to promote the development of artificial intelligence as well as facilitate the roles of government environmental attention and public environmental concern to achieve the enhancement of provincial ecological resilience.

Urban Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Assessment in Semi-arid Region Based on TOPSIS Analysis Method

Urban Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Assessment in Semi-arid Region Based on TOPSIS Analysis Method

Unveiling the impact and mechanism of digital technology on agricultural economic resilience

Enhancing the economic resilience of agriculture is essential for promoting sustainable and high-quality agricultural development. The emergence of digital technology has created new opportunities in this field. However, existing research predominantly focuses on traditional agricultural factors and technologies. Therefore, the impact of digital technology on agricultural economic resilience within the broader context of the “production–operation–industry” system in agriculture has not been comprehensively explored. To bridge this gap, this study analyzes panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. It employs the static Van Dorn’s law and a dynamic spatial panel model to examine how digital technology empowers agricultural resilience. The findings indicate a continuous strengthening of digital technology development in China, albeit with significant polarization and spatial imbalances. Moreover, the resilience of the agricultural economy undergoes notable fluctuations, initially narrowing and subsequently displaying an upward trend. Digital technology clearly plays a pivotal role in empowering resilience through agricultural scale operation, industrial transformation, and technological progress. Its impact, particularly on the promotion of resilience in the eastern region and non-grain-producing areas and on high-level agricultural economies, also shows regional and technological variations.

Interaction mechanisms of urban ecosystem resilience based on pressure-state-response framework: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta

The unprecedented pace of urbanization has intensified environmental concerns, underscoring the critical importance of bolstering urban ecosystem resilience (UER) in contemporary cities. This study presents a Pressure–State–Response framework for evaluating the UER within the Yangtze River Delta region spanning 2012 to 2021. Utilizing spatial visualization techniques and the panel vector auto–regressive model, spatial differentiation patterns and interaction mechanisms among sub–dimensions are examined. Findings indicate an overall positive trajectory of UER, characterized by decreasing Pressure, noteworthy steady growth in State, and rising Response. Spatially, Pressure is higher in the north and lower in the south, with large cities becoming new centers of high pressure; State is higher in the southwest mountains and lower in the northeast plains; Responses center around Shanghai, expanding toward the southwest and northwest. The complex interactions between Pressure, State, and Response form a nested cycle of UER, indicating that the UER in the Yangtze River Delta is evolving towards a more rational development trend, where the tight mechanism of societal Response plays a key role. The implications underscore the urgent need for tailored regional governance strategies that leverage spatial variations, balance human impact on ecosystems, and optimize dimensional interactions for resilient city development. This research contributes a comprehensive framework for understanding and enhancing ecological resilience in the Yangtze River Delta region, offering valuable insights into regional governance and long–term urban ecological sustainability amidst global environmental challenges.

The coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in the Yangtze River Delta region.

With a rapidly growing sports industry worldwide, one may argue that sports industry agglomeration can play a crucial role in the economy of the sports industry. In particularly, the coupling linkage between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience can be leveraged to promote both economic quality and efficiency. Based on data on three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta region during the 2011-2020 period, this study uses the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method, coupling coordination degree model, and relative development models to explore the coupling coordination relationship between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience in this region. The results show that: (1) Sports industry agglomeration shows an overall increasing albeit fluctuating trend with inter-provincial differences. (2) Economic resilience has steadily increased, while the economic resilience kernel density curve generally shows a "dual peaks" trend. (3) The coupling coordination between sports industry agglomeration and economic resilience remains in a fluctuating, albeit coordinated state. These findings are relevant for the integration and high-quality development of the sports industry in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Projected performance of green infrastructure strategies for flood mitigation in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta

Background: The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta – the world’s most populous river delta – faces heightened susceptibility to the rise in flooding disasters due to climate change, impacting millions annually. Current flood management strategies are unsustainable and ineffective, and resilient flood management is needed. A promising alternative is the strategic implementation of green infrastructure (GI) applications, which have proven effective in flood management in other regions. Methods: An analysis of the region’s past and future vulnerability to flooding is conducted. Then, green infrastructure performance metrics from regions with similar climatic conditions are extrapolated for the GBM. Green roofs, permeable pavements, and rain gardens were identified as the most suitable GI types for the GBM. Finally, computer simulations were employed to analyze the performance of different implementations of GI within a model city. Results: The simulations showed that 0% green rooftop coverage, 100% permeable pavement coverage, and 40% rain garden coverage were the most feasible GI layout. This configuration resulted in the most preferable balance between cost effectiveness and reduced runoff. Green rooftops were minimized due to high installation costs relative to their retention capacity, whereas permeable pavements and rain garden coverage were maximized. Conclusions: The studies show GI’s potential for flood mitigation and resilience in the GBM region. GI initiatives align with the region's flood mitigation policies and are thus feasible to implement with aid from government incentives. Furthermore, the computer program developed for this analysis could serve as a valuable tool for assessing GI implementation limits and offering guidance to policymakers.

Heavy steers and heifers run at low stocking rates enhance drought resilience in a pastoral region of Australia

CONTEXTThe semi-arid mulga lands of the Southern Rangelands of Western Australia experience frequent droughts. Maintaining a profitable animal grazing enterprise whilst preserving rangeland condition requires selecting an appropriate stocking rate and herd structure. OBJECTIVEWe construct and apply bioeconomic models of beef enterprises for the semi-arid Southern Rangelands of Western Australia, to assess the profitability and relative riskiness of three different livestock production systems and three different stocking rates when exposed to different frequencies of drought. METHODSWe construct bio-economic models of herd structures that separately focus on producing either: (i) 200 kg heifers and 210 kg steers (ii) live export of 340 kg heifers and 380 kg steers, or (iii) 500 kg heifers and 560 kg steers for local slaughter. The models are applied to assess the financial and production resilience of each herd structure for three different stocking rates, given the incidence of drought and various price scenarios. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSComparing the three herd structures, option (iii) produces more kilograms of beef at an equivalent grazing pressure and recovers fastest from drought. Considering cattle prices over the 7-year period ending in 2021, live export and slaughter production systems generate comparable financial returns to graziers' actual reported results. Under two different scenarios of future prices, option (iii) provides the most profitable outcome. Applying a stocking rate that is 66% of a recommended stocking rate allows use of residual rangeland feed (known as ‘haystack’) during drought, generates greater profit, and produces a more stable herd size and income. Not matching the haystack with the longest modelled drought reduces the grazier's average annual profit by $172,000. The optimum herd structure identified in this study targets the production of 500 kg heifers and 560 kgs steers for local slaughter, and relies on a conservative stocking rate that leaves enough haystack to increase resilience if ever consecutive droughts occur. SIGNIFICANCEIn the Southern Rangelands of Western Australia, there are financial and environmental merits in a herd structure that produces heavy steers and heifers for local slaughter yet is underpinned by conservative stocking rates.

Multi-hazard could exacerbate in coastal Bangladesh in the context of climate change

Floods and landslides have cascading effects on coastal areas of Bangladesh. This study aims to develop multi-hazard maps (e.g., floods and landslides) for the coastal region, by integrating a genetic algorithm optimizer with Long Short-Term Memory deep learning algorithm (GA-LSTM-DLA), global climate model, and geospatial data. It assesses vulnerabilities to multiple hazards and projects future risks considering the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator Earth System Model 1.5 (ACCESS-ESM1-5) under three climate scenarios, i.e., Shared Socioeconomic Pathways1-2.6, 2–4.5, and 5–8.5 (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is used to assess the performance of GA-LSTM-DLA model. According to important feature obtained by random forest (RF) algorithm, most important features for flash, riverine, tidal floods, and landslides are drainage density, rainfall, and geology, respectively. The baseline susceptibility maps for flash, riverine, tidal floods, and landslides are initially recorded as 0.11%, 7.99%, 3.46%, and 0.03%. Projections for the year 2100, under different SSPs, show significant increase, i.e., SSP1-2.6—flash 1.31%, riverine 23.74%, tidal 26.97%, landslides 2.05%; SSP2-4.5—flash 0.12%, riverine 30.97%, tidal 10.23%, landslides 0.18%; SSP5-8.5—flash 0.02%, riverine 17.42%, tidal 6.19%, landslides 0.14%. These projections highlight urgent need for mitigation and adaptation measures against hazards susceptibility, particularly under more extreme socioeconomic scenarios. Overall, the findings of this work are critical for policymakers to develop informed strategies for climate resilience, sustainable development, and disaster risk reduction in the coastal region of Bangladesh.

Resilience in the Finnish-Russian Border Region and Russia’s War against Ukraine: From the Perspective of Locally Engaged People

Abstract The article deals with people’s resilience in the Finnish-Russian border region. The authors first show how inhabitants of the EU’s longest external border slowly acquired cross-border contacts and co-operation after a long period of war between 1939 and 1945. In the later parts, using a case study, they describe how the Russian war against Ukraine has drastically changed the life of the inhabitants of the Finnish-Russian border region. Nevertheless, a special group of inhabitants of this region practice everyday resilience in many ways: they try to live and maintain their relations as they did before the war.

Exploring optimal deep tunnel sewer systems to enhance urban pluvial flood resilience in the gangnam region, South Korea

Urban pluvial flooding is becoming a global concern, exacerbated by urbanization and climate change, especially in rapidly developing areas where existing sewer systems lag behind growth. In order to minimize a system's functional failures during extreme rainfalls, localized engineering solutions are required for urban areas chronically suffering from pluvial floods. This study critically evaluates the Deep Tunnel Sewer System (DTSS) as a robust grey infrastructure solution for enhancing urban flood resilience, with a case study in the Gangnam region of Seoul, South Korea. To do so, we integrated a one-dimensional sewer model with a rapid flood spreading model to identify optimal routes and conduit diameters for the DTSS, focusing on four flood-related metrics: the total flood volume, the flood duration, the peak flooding rate, and the number of flooded nodes. Results indicate that, had the DTSS been in place, it could have reduced historical flood volumes over the last decade by 50.1–99.3%, depending on the DTSS route. Regarding the conduit diameter, an 8 m diameter was found to be optimal for minimizing all flood-related metrics. Our research also developed the Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) surfaces in three dimensions, providing a correlation between simulated flood-related metrics and design rainfall characteristics to distinguish the effect of DTSS on flood risk reduction. Our findings demonstrate how highly engineered solutions can enhance urban flood resilience, but they may still face challenges during extreme heavy rainfalls with a 80-year frequency or above. This study contributes to rational decision-making and emergency management in the face of increasing urban pluvial flood risks.

Good Governance, Democracy, and Economic Resilience in the Gulf Region: A Post-Pandemic Analysis

Good Governance, Democracy, and Economic Resilience in the Gulf Region: A Post-Pandemic Analysis

Characteristics and formation mechanism of spatial association network of coastal human-nature system resilience in the Bohai Rim region

Characteristics and formation mechanism of spatial association network of coastal human-nature system resilience in the Bohai Rim region

Measurement of cultivated land ecosystem resilience in black soil region of Northeast China under the background of cultivated land protection policy in China: Case study of Qiqihar City

Scientific understanding and measurement of cultivated ecosystem resilience is crucial for the protection of cultivated land represented by black soil and the sustainable development of cultivated land ecosystem. In this study, we took Qiqihar, a typical black soil region, as the study area and divided the cultivated land ecosystem into two subsystems, black soil ecology and human socioeconomic. And we constructed a “policy background - generation process - system composition” measurement element screening model (PGSM) to establish the subsystem index systems. Cultivated land ecosystem resilience in 2020 was measured by the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model and the multiscale fusion model. The results showed that the resilience of the black soil ecological subsystem (54.27) in Qiqihar is higher than that of the socioeconomic subsystem (49.01), and their spatial distribution trends were opposite. The overall resilience of cultivated land ecosystem was moderately low (51.64) but spatially heterogeneous. Cultivated land resource endowment and human activities pressure had the greatest impact on the subsystem. Socioeconomic input was the primary problem in regional resilience. Based on these findings, we made suggestions for cultivated land protection in black soil regions. This study contributes to the scientific and comprehensive measurement of the cultivated land ecosystem resilience and provides reference for sustainable management of black soil systems in China and globally.

Towards a Holistic Definition of Post-pandemic Resilience: The Pacific Context

AbstractPost-pandemic resilience in the Pacific region presents some unique, context-specific, economic, social, environmental, and political challenges as well as opportunities. This study aims at developing a holistic definition of post-pandemic resilience in the Pacific context, based on the interconnected aspects and factors that contribute. As there is a gap in the literature for a holistic definition of post-pandemic resilience based on empirical studies from the Pacific Island countries, this study tries to plug that gap. Using a qualitative systems thinking approach, data was collected from primary and secondary sources including semi-structured interviews with ten senior leaders in the Pacific. This study first captures the multiple levels and different interconnected aspects of post-pandemic resilience in the Pacific and then presents a holistic definition. An analysis of the different papers published in this special issue based on this holistic definition and their contexts is also provided in this article. Overall, this study contributes to the literature and practice on post-pandemic resilience by developing a holistic definition using an empirical study based in the Pacific.