Restoration Of Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Articles

THE CURRENT STATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OF ENTERPRISES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR (ON THE EXAMPLE OF “KERNEL-TRADE” LLC)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of environmental management of agricultural enterprises (on the example of “Kernel-Trade” LLC). The article analyzes the indicators of development of certain types of economic activity in order to determine the place of agriculture in the economy of Ukraine. Using statistical data, the author assesses the impact of agricultural enterprises on the environment (the use of mineral and organic fertilizers, liming of soils, soil gypsumization, soil treatment with pesticides, etc.) The author assesses the volume of investments and current expenditures in the field of environmental protection of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine. “Kernel-Trade” LLC is considered as one of the strongest players in the agro-industrial market, and its main financial indicators (profit, EBIDTA, social payments, gross income, net debt), its contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (namely, contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 6 – clean water and satisfactory sanitation 7 – affordable and clean energy, 12 – responsible production and consumption, 15 – protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, and 17 – partnership for sustainable development) and the environmental management cycle in the field of environmental protection. Based on the analysis of statistical information from the company’s annual report, the volume of CO2 emissions by different types of activities was compared. Using the SWOT analysis, the features of the current state of environmental management of the enterprise are summarized. The scientific novelty and theoretical significance of the article’s results lies in the development of theoretical and methodical provisions for improving the management of enterprise competitiveness through the implementation of environmental management initiatives. Today, the topic of ecology is extremely relevant, since obtaining EU membership requires not only economic and political changes, but also, above all, changes in the sustainable development of the country as a whole. It is through the prism of agriculture that the authors of the article emphasized the need for changes in the approach to enterprise management on the basis of environmental sustainability in Ukraine.

Translating the 10 golden rules of reforestation for coral reef restoration.

Efforts are accelerating to protect and restore ecosystems globally. With trillions of dollars in ecosystem services at stake, no clear framework exists for developing or prioritizing approaches to restore coral reefs even as efforts and investment opportunities to do so grow worldwide. Restoration may buy time for climate change mitigation, but it lacks rigorous guidance to meet objectives of scalability and effectiveness. Lessons from restoration of terrestrial ecosystems can and should be rapidly adopted for coral reef restoration. We propose how the 10 golden rules of effective forest restoration can be translated to accelerate efforts to restore coral reefs based on established principles of resilience, management, and local stewardship. We summarize steps to undertake reef restoration as a management strategy in the context of the diverse ecosystem service values that coral reefs provide. Outlining a clear blueprint is timely as more stakeholders seek to undertake restoration as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins.

Soil Carbon Sequestration in Novel Ecosystems at Post-Mine Sites—A New Insight into the Determination of Key Factors in the Restoration of Terrestrial Ecosystems

Mining activities are one of the main causes of land degradation around the world and reduce the quality of the surrounding ecosystems. Restoration approaches using different vegetations and reclamation methods have been implemented to address this issue. In this review, paper, different studies focusing on the effect of the restoration of mining sites on the accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) were analyzed. SOC in reclaimed mining soil (RMS) increased considerably after various restoration efforts were implemented. The amount of SOC accumulated in RMS was mostly influenced by the restoration age, vegetation type, and substrate or type of reclamation used. From the scientific papers analyzed, we found that SOC accumulation increases with restoration age; however, vegetation type and reclamation have varied effects. According to the review, the restoration of mine sites with vegetation resulted in a rate of SOC accumulation ranging from 0.37 to 5.68 Mg SOC ha−1 year−1. Climate conditions influenced the type of vegetation used for restoration. Regrading, liming, NPK fertilization, and seeding a mix of legumes and grasses were the most efficient reclamation techniques. Additionally, the use of grass and legume better facilitates the early accumulation of SOC compared with afforestation. Thus, the selection of appropriate tree species composition, reclamation treatments, and restoration age are the key factors for a high SOC accumulation rate.

Scientometric and patent researchof technological directions in the field of protection and restoration of land ecosystems using “Web of science” and “Derwent innovation” platforms

The results of scientometric and patent research aime date stablishing the most promising technological trends for making forecasts for 2021–2030 are described. The study is focused on the achievement of Ukraine’s Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems”. There search was conducted using the international platforms “Web of Science” (WoS) and “Derwent Innovation”. The period under study is 2011–2019. The results of a scientometric analysis of world and domestic publication activity, as well as the dynamics of citations for a selected array of publications are presented. The publication activity of the countries of the world and Ukraine, as well as of world and domestic companies, institutions, higher educational institutions, carrying out scientific and technical activities, has been established. The analysis of the dynamics of citations and determination of the growth rate of the number of citations (2019/2015, %) by key words / technological areas, which belong to the global technological trends in the field of protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, were carried out. The top-10 technological are as that are the most promising for predictive research have been identified. The results of the analysis of the dynamics and rates of patenting in the world and in Ukraine in this area are presented. The analysis was carried out on the basis of the codes of the International Patent Classification using the international data base “Derwent Innovation”. The patent activity of the main countries of the world and Ukraine, as well as leading world and domestic patent holders, has been established. The patent research was carried out on keywords / technology areas that relate to global technology trends in the named area. The analysis of the dynamics and rates of patenting (2019/2015, %) was carried out. A selection of technological areas with a high rate of patent activity and placement of landscape maps on blue and green zones was carried out. To conduct predictive studies, the most promising, promising and mid-promising technological directions in the field of protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems have been identified.

ЗНАЧЕННЯ ЕКОСИСТЕМНИХ АКТИВІВ ДЛЯ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ ТЕРИТОРІЙ

National environmental policy in Ukraine declares introducing of the ecosystem approach into all aspects of social and economic development, as well as conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. The legislative acts sustain support of ecosystem services will enhance sustainable development of the society and ecosystems. One of the Sustainable Development Goals for Ukraine until 2030 concerns protection and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems like inland freshwaters, mountains, forests and meadows. It proves ecosystem management tools are relevant for the environmental policy and methodological basis for those tools being applied is assessment of ecosystem assets and services. Concept of ecosystem assets is quite innovative in Ukraine, and its definitions and visions of functions differ a lot. Both Ukrainian and foreign researchers focus mostly on ecosystem services, approaches to assess them and administration of the payments. Ecosystem assets and issues on their evaluations well as introduction of the ecosystem approach into the managerial practices are still underdeveloped. The paper is to define economic sense of ecosystem assets for provision of the sustainable development of territories. Evaluation of ecosystem assets is important for local communities in order to assess scope of ecosystem payments, elaborate local development strategies, and make decisions if economic activities communities carry on have to be altered. There are no universal rules for such the evaluation, and with foreign experience alone it is difficult to decide how territorial communities can assess their ecosystem assets and which tangible benefits they will get from it. Therefore, it is needed make more efforts in Ukraine too in order to introduce the tool and identify priority areas for its application, i.e. land and water use, biodiversity and so on. So that enhance implementation of the ecosystem approach into the management practices, considerable amendments in the legislation are required. Pilot projects on evaluation of ecosystem assets would be helpful and confirm feasibility of the approach. Even more, such the projects would assist to assess ecosystem services particularly produced by protected areas, water, soils and landfills.

Trade‐off between vegetation type, soil erosion control and surface water in global semi‐arid regions: A meta‐analysis

Abstract Soil erosion control and water resource protection can closely interact during restoration of terrestrial ecosystems. In semi‐arid ecosystems, an urgent issue is how vegetation restoration can achieve the goal of soil erosion mitigation and water conservation, which in turn, feeds back to ecosystem functioning. We reviewed 78 articles from 22 countries in semi‐arid areas to evaluate the effects of vegetation type (i.e. forest, grassland and scrubland) on runoff and sediment yields across different environmental conditions (i.e. vegetation coverage, rainfall intensity, slope gradient and soil texture). Our meta‐analysis shows that runoff and sediment reduction both increased as the vegetation coverage increased, and tended to be stable when vegetation coverage exceeded 60%. Vegetation provided a greater benefit for sediment reduction than for runoff control under intense rainfall. Grasslands were generally more effective in reducing sediment than other vegetation types. Forests, grasslands and scrublands were most efficient in soil erosion control on 20°–30°, 0°–25° and 10°–25° slopes respectively. Grasslands and scrublands generally performed better with respect to soil erosion control on moderately coarse soils, whereas forests were most effective on medium‐textured and moderately fine soils. Synthesis and applications. Effective restoration and soil erosion control in semi‐arid ecosystems strongly depends on the selection of vegetation type. Our study further indicates that, for land managers, it is critical to consider local slope, and soil texture, and maintain appropriate vegetation coverage to achieve ecosystem sustainability. Grasslands might be particularly suitable to optimize the trade‐off between soil erosion control and surface water resource in semi‐arid regions.

Quantitatively assessing the effects of climate change and human activities on ecosystem degradation and restoration in southwest China

Identifying the effects of climate change and human activities on the degradation and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems is essential for sustainable management of these ecosystems. However, our knowledge of methodology on this topic is limited. To assess the relative contribution of climate change and human activities, actual and potential net primary productivity (NPPa and NPPp respectively), and human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) were calculated and applied to the monitoring of forest, grassland, and cropland ecosystems in Yunnan–Guizhou–Sichuan Provinces, southwest China. We determined annual means of 476 g C m–2 year–1 for NPPa, 1314 g C m–2 year–1 for NPPp, and 849 g C m–2 year–1 for HANPP during the period between 2007 and 2016. Furthermore, the area with an increasing NPPa accounted for 75.12% of the total area of the three ecosystems. Similarly, the areas with increasing NPPp and HANPP accounted for 77.60 and 57.58% of the study area respectively. Furthermore, we found that ~57.58% of areas with ecosystem restored was due to climate change, 23.39% due to human activities, and 19.03% due to the combined effects of human activities and climate change. In contrast, climate change and human activities contributed to 19.47 and 76.36%, respectively, of the areas of degraded ecosystem. Only 4.17% of degraded ecosystem could be attributed to the combined influences of climate change and human activities. We conclude that human activities were mainly responsible for ecosystem degradation, whereas climate change benefitted ecosystem restoration in southwest China in the past decade.

Holocene ecosystem change in Little Llangothlin Lagoon, Australia: implications for the management of a Ramsar-listed wetland

We present new chironomid and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) data from Little Llangothlin Lagoon, Australia that provides more detail on changes in this wetland since European settlement ca. 1840 AD. We also examine how the updated Holocene paleoecological record provides insights for management of this Ramsar-listed wetland. The current management strategy for Little Llangothlin is to restore the wetland and catchment to its natural state. This strategy is intended to protect the values that allowed it to be listed as a Ramsar wetland; i.e. its role as a drought refuge for waterbirds and to preserve or enhance threatened ecological communities. There are clear conflicts between the Ramsar listing criteria, management objectives and the management strategy in light of information provided by the palaeoecological record. In particular, restoration of terrestrial ecosystems through reforestation may jeopardise the wetlands role as a drought refuge. Some activities, such as artificial raising of the water level in 1989 are intended to restore, but actually introduced a state that did not exist prior to human settlement. We recommend a more integrated management approach that heeds the information provided by the palaeoecological record and focuses more on maintenance or enhancement of ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Estimation of CO2 emissions in the life cycle of roads through the disruption and restoration of environmental systems

Effects of disruption and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems have been largely overlooked when conducting assessments of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in road construction projects. This is an important oversight given the intensive land-conversion generated by linear infrastructure development, as well as the relevance given to carbon pool variations associated with land use and land-use changes by national inventories of GHG emissions and global reports. This paper describes the implementation of a methodology to classify those environmental systems in land-uses categories, to determine their carbon stocks (vegetation and soil), and to quantify CO2 emissions and removal related to their management at the different stages of road construction projects. The procedure is illustrated through its application in the impact assessment of road projects in the territory of Spain. This methodology integrates currently available information on carbon stocks and considers the accounting criteria adopted in national GHG emissions inventories. It is intended to constitute part of an integral assessment tool for GHG emissions in linear infrastructure projects. Four case studies are presented in which emissions from the disruption of environmental systems range from 0.55 to 3.66kTCO2km−1. This represents 5 to 13% of the total emissions in the construction stage, and 3.5 to 7% of the net CO2 balance, i.e., once the initial carbon sequestration by restoration planting has been discounted. Results also indicate that under ideal conditions the long-term effect of restoration may even fully offset this impact, though really such conditions are far from being the case in the usual development of plantations. This study confirms the advisability of systematically incorporating the analysis of land use and land-use changes into the assessment of GHG emissions of road projects for consideration in decision-making from the design stage to the maintenance stage in such projects.

The Technology of Remote Sensing and its Application to Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration

Terrestrial ecosystems as the most important type of ecological system provide humanity with a main part of the living environment, food and clothing. However, many of ecological environmental have been severely damaged by human beings irrational activities, such as mining, deforestation, excavation herbs, etc. Faced with ecological and environmental protection pressure, its urgent to carry out ecological restoration projects according to the local conditions. Remote sensing technology is widely used in terrestrial ecosystems restoration because of its objectivity, real-timing, accuracy, covering a wide area and other unique advantages. This article discusses the restoration of terrestrial ecosystems based on remote sensing technology. At last, it analyses development trends of this research area.