Single Ecosystem Research Articles

The Concept of Sustainable Mobility in Modern Megacities

Purpose: to formulate the general conception of sustainable mobility management in modern cities based on an analysis of the main approaches to the management of the development of sustainable mobility.Methods: the study is based on the application of systems analysis methods. The analysis is based on open sources information such as scientific articles, legal and regulatory acts, official strategic planning documents, analytical and methodical materials of Russian and international conferences. The article also includes the results of the author's empirical research conducted.Results: an analysis of the development of sustainable transport mobility in large cities and current strategies for its further formation was carried out. It allowed identifying the main elements of the conceptual model of the development of transport mobility. The research defines the structure of an adaptive system for sustainable mobility management, which would form a basis for developing a sustainable mobility concept to effectively organize various stakeholders' cooperation.Conclusions and Relevance: local solutions for transportation mobility may not be practical or can lead to a conflict of interests. That calls for the complex approach to forming sustainable mobility as a feature of a city transportation system to satisfy the demand for mobility to increase the quality of life in the cities. The conceptual basis for the development of sustainable mobility consists of goal setting, planning, collaboration, implementation, usage.The effective management of sustainable mobility can be achieved by implementing digital analytical platforms, working as a single ecosystem. Developing such an ecosystem can be time-consuming and directly influenced by technological, infrastructural, legal, and economic factors. The most urgent is to redesign the existing mobility patterns to achieve the environmental goals, the higher quality of life of city residents, the engagement of different stakeholders in sustainable mobility development.

Digital Transformation of Small Enterprise Activities in the Context of Economic Security

Aim. The presented study aims to develop recommendations for improving the existing mechanisms of adaptation of small enterprises to the uncertain conditions of the external environment associated with digitalization processes in the economy.Tasks. The author analyzes the existing mechanisms of adaptation of small enterprises to the conditions of uncertainty; substantiates the connection between the digitalization of business processes and the economic security of enterprises; proposes an original approach to the content of the mechanism of adaptation of small enterprises to the processes of digitalization.Methods. The author uses general and special scientific methods and techniques. General scientific methods include analysis and synthesis, comparison and generalization, modeling, literature review, observation, and expert assessment. Special scientific methods include factor analysis and process analysis.Results. The author substantiates the introduction of digital tools provided by Industry 4.0 and step-by-step digitalization of small enterprises in the form of original diagrams demonstrating the content of the mechanism of adaptation of enterprises to the processes of digitalization, individual elements of this mechanism (Internet marketing and its technologies), and prospects for the development of the mechanism in the form of a diagram of its integration into a large digital ecosystem (region, cluster, etc.). The most significant elements of the proposed adaptation mechanism are the mechanism of digitalization and the mechanism of economic security of small enterprises as well as their relationship and balance of interests. The study examines practical approaches to the step-by-step digitalization of small enterprise activities by assessing the efficiency of introducing certain Internet marketing tools in the activities of a small enterprise that does not directly operate in online mode (a chain of driving schools). A relevant investment project is assessed, showing the efficiency of all proposed scenarios. The author also considers the prospects of integrating small enterprises into a single digital ecosystem of a larger structure or entity (region, cluster, etc.) for a large-scale socio-economic synergetic effect that would serve as a mutual benefit for all participants of the system.Conclusions. In spite of the lack of a clear model for the digitalization of the economy in Russia and many obstacles to the successful digital transformation of small enterprises, practical digitalization mechanisms are already being developed, offering a set of step-by-step actions for small enterprises with allowance for their limited resources and prospects for development in each market. One of the success factors of digitalization is the correlation and balance between digitalization mechanisms and the economic security of enterprises. By adopting international approaches to Internet marketing technologies, a modern small enterprise gains a significant strategic advantage in the long term.

Variable responses of carbon and nitrogen contents in vegetation and soil to herbivory and warming in high‐Arctic tundra

AbstractChemical responses of tundra vegetation and tundra soil to environmental changes are likely to differ, with implications for ecosystem functioning, yet they are rarely compared. Here, we aimed at comparing sensitivity and magnitude of short‐term carbon and nitrogen responses of three main tundra ecosystem compartments: vascular plants, mosses, and soil, to two environmental perturbations: herbivore disturbance and warming. In a full‐factorial field experiment in the high‐Arctic Svalbard, we simulated herbivore disturbance as spring grubbing activity by pink‐footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) and passively increased summer temperatures using open‐top chambers. Manipulations were set up within three habitats that differ in soil moisture and carried out for two consecutive growing seasons. Overall, we found small and few significant responses to herbivore disturbance and warming, suggesting that carbon and nitrogen contents of high‐Arctic ecosystems are relatively resistant to these perturbations, at least in the short term. However, the three ecosystem compartments still differed in their sensitivity to perturbations (vascular plants > soil > mosses), and this was exacerbated by their differential sensitivity across habitats (mesic > moist > wet). Also, while vascular plants responded to herbivore disturbance in mesic and wet habitats and to warming in mesic and moist habitats, soil and mosses only responded to herbivore disturbance in mesic and wet habitats, respectively. Responses to treatments were generally consistent across the two growing seasons, despite great differences in temperature conditions and large between‐year variations in the chemical composition of the three ecosystem compartments. These findings highlight the potential for environmental perturbations to have small, yet differential short‐term impacts on the carbon and nitrogen contents of vascular plants, mosses, and soil, both within and between tundra habitats. Our results imply that assessments of a single ecosystem compartment in a given context cannot be extrapolated to the whole ecosystem, thus stressing the importance of considering both vegetation and soil carbon and nitrogen responses, and how they display across habitats, in order to better understand how environmental changes might affect biogeochemical processes in the tundra. Longer‐term studies should dig deeper into the relative role of (simulated) global change drivers vs. natural inter‐annual climatic fluctuations for tundra ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics.

Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on the Development of the German Tourism Industry

The years preceding the outbreak of the pandemic were the heyday of the German tourism industry. However, the end of 2019 marked a milestone in its successful development. The crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus has hurt all sectors of the world economy, including tourism. The year 2020 has become the most difficult for the German tourism and hospitality industry in many years and has forced a new assessment of the path traveled and the prospects for further development of this industry. People stopped traveling, visiting relatives, going to theaters and restaurants for a long time. Distance learning and the transfer of some employees to remote work are also controversial. However, in modern conditions, the acceleration of digitalization and the introduction of new technologies is an inevitable process.At the same time, the crisis allows the earth's ecosystem to recover, as production is partially stopped and carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere have significantly decreased. The pandemic forces people to think about the future and take the necessary measures for survival, realizing that they are part of a single ecosystem of our planet.

Organic matter temporal dynamics in the river ecosystem basin using remote sensing

Environmental research addresses ecosystems of various hierarchical levels. One of the ecosystem types is the river basin. The basin approach has been applied in the research. We consider the river basin as a single ecosystem of complex landscape structure. The research objective was to assess the biological processes in various landscapes within a holistic natural geosystem – a catchment area. The Klyazma River Basin (a part of the Volga River of 40 thousand km2 area) was the research object. It is a complex combination of different landscapes, each marked by a diverse composition of geomorphological and soil-vegetation structures. According to the geomorphological structure and soil and vegetation cover, four landscape provinces and eight key sites have been identified in the studied catchment area where the ecosystem parameter have been measured. The study is based on remote sensing data and the Trends. Earth Land Degradation Monitoring. The calculation of productivity indicators (GPP, NPP) in carbon units and the land use structure analysis are based on Modis data. The soil organic carbon pool was determined by the UN FAO’s data, based on Trends. Earth and QGIS 2.18. The two-factor variance analysis ANOVA has been used for the data statistic processing. The cartographic analysis of the land use structure dynamics of the entire Klyazma Basin resulted in revealing the areas where various land transitions from one category to another have been identified. They are basically associated with the agricultural land overgrowth. The forest area increased by 9% during the period from 2001 to 2017. Considerable increase in the waterlogged, wetlands areas was observed in the eastern part of the Basin, in the Volga-Klyazma Province. The landscapes react differently to changes in climatic parameters and land use. Thus, the active revegetation of farmland by forests gives the increased rate of carbon accumulation in the soil. Landscapes covered with grasses and shrubs are more productive those covered with forest. On the other hand, woody biotopes are more stable in their development over time. Statistical analysis using the two-factor variation analysis ANOVA method resulted in demonstrating that phytoproductivity dynamics of the key sites does not depend on their productivity parameters nor on the site landscape structure, but is mainly determined by a time factor. In different landscapes the biological processes, characterising the organic matter dynamics in the form of plant production, organic matter accumulation and others are shown to differ both in rate and intensity and ambiguously respond to changes in climate parameters and land use. The river basin, as a single ecosystem, showed sufficient stability of the dynamic processes. This suggests that holistic natural ecosystems, such as catchment areas, have internal compensatory mechanisms that maintain the development stability for a long time, while unplanned land use remains the main damaging factor.

Business’s digital transformation: choice, implementation and improvement of CRM-systems

The aim of the article. The aim of the article is to determine the essence, advantages and disadvantages of business’s digital transformation, describe the importance of business-process management through its digital transformation, define the nature, types and capabilities of CRM-systems, identify and describe trends in their development, analyze the results of prior researches and select the most popular CRM-systems, as well as research for existing problems of using defined CRM-systems, suggest recommendations for eliminating shortcomings of existing CRM-systems. Analyses results. The coronavirus pandemic has forced companies to rapidly change business processes and shift to remote work, which in turn has led to widespread using of CRM systems in customer relationship management. The modern market offers different goods and services, but they are mostly similar in many ways. The question is how to keep the customer for a long time? The introduction of CRM systems will help answer this question. The definition of CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, which refers to all the strategies, methods, tools and technologies that a business uses to develop, retain and attract customers. Customer Relationship Management is a special approach of doing business, where the first priority of the company is to focus on the client. The main purpose of the CRM strategy is to create a single ecosystem, which helps to attract new and develop existing customers. Managing relationships means attracting new customers, turning neutral customers into loyal ones, and forming business partners from regular customers. The concept of CRM means that separate business tools are combined into a well-established system. CRM includes programs for collecting customer’s data, managing transactions, control and monitoring manager’s decisions, analytics and forecasting. The article considers the essence of modern transformation of business processes, their advantages and disadvantages, defines the concepts, types, existing opportunities and trends in CRM-systems. The article analyses the experts’ opinions of the most popular modern CRM-systems and generalizes its shortcomings, measures the main elimination of revealed problems. The article conducted a study based on a survey of experts, the main purpose of which was to identify the share of popular CRM-systems among consumers, as well as to identify the main problems and limitations of these systems. Conclusions and directions for further research. The main goal of the CRM strategy is to create a single ecosystem for attracting new customers and developing existing ones. The main tasks of CRM-systems include: attracting new customers through various channels, communication, choice of interaction strategy, Purchase funnel, document management, closing sales, re-communication and analytics of the company. There are three types of CRM systems: desktop, client-server and cloud systems. The main trends in CRM systems development include: increasing usage of artificial intelligence, service automation, data integration, usage of blockchains and social CRM-system, a large number of different applied subsystems and voice interface. The most popular systems are proved to be: Agile CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Zoho CRM, Dynamics 365 and Bitrix24. The main problems of existing CRM-systems can be identified as: slow work on query processing and data output; wasting time on system administration; a large number of built-in tools increases the time to get used with the system; high cost of service, etc. Prospects for further development of CRM-systems include: integration with Big Data and AI; usage of voice technologies as a method for increasing operational efficiency; usage of data from social networks; as well as the creation of a single and common approach of customer identification. In the future, vendors should simplify their product versions and reduce the number of tools to basic, which will reduce the monthly fee for service, as well as speed up data processing by the system, due to the lack of unnecessary add-ons. On the other hand, companies that use CRM systems in their daily work should pay more attention to the integration CRM systems with social networks, which contain essential share of information about their target audience and existing customers.

Functional Diversity Can Predict Ecosystem Functions Better Than Dominant Species: The Case of Desert Plants in the Ebinur Lake Basin

Studying the impact of biodiversity on ecosystem multifunctionality is helpful for clarifying the ecological mechanisms (such as niche complementary effects and selection) of ecosystems providing multiple services. Biodiversity has a significant impact on ecosystem versatility, but the relative importance of functional diversity and dominant species to ecosystem functions needs further evaluation. We studied the desert plant community in Ebinur Lake Basin. Based on field survey data and experimental analysis, the relationship between the richness and functional diversity of dominant species and the single function of ecosystem was analyzed. The relative importance of niche complementary effect and selective effect in explaining the function of plant diversity in arid areas is discussed. There was no significant correlation between desert ecosystem functions (soil available phosphorus, organic matter, nitrate nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen) and the richness of the dominant species Nitraria tangutorum (p < 0.05). Soil organic matter and available phosphorus had significant effects on specific leaf area and plant height (p < 0.05). Functional dispersion (FDis) had a significant effect on soil available phosphorus, while dominant species dominant species richness (SR) had no obvious effect on single ecosystem function. A structural equation model showed that dominant species had no direct effect on plant functional diversity and ecosystem function, but functional diversity had a strong direct effect on ecosystem function, and its direct coefficients of action were 0.226 and 0.422. The results can help to explain the response mechanism of multifunctionality to biodiversity in arid areas, which may provide referential significance for vegetation protection and restoration for other similar areas.

Spatio-temporal niche plasticity of a freshwater invader as a harbinger of impact variability.

Invasive alien fishes have detrimental ecological effects on aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide. Impacts from an invasion in a single ecosystem may differ across space and time due to variability in prey availability and environmental conditions. We hypothesize that such variability can be profound, even within a single ecosystem. Stable isotopes analysis (SIA) is commonly used to quantitatively describe the trophic niche of a species. However, spatial and temporal variability in occupied niches are often not incorporated into management strategies and policy options. Here, we used long-term monitoring data to investigate the invasion stage as well as SIA to analyse the trophic niche of the invasive channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in Lake Kasumigaura (Japan), a long-term ecological research site (LTER), across distant sampling sites and years. We found a significant spatio-temporal variability in relative growth and isotopic niche occupation. Moreover, we defined a new index, the Isotopic Plasticity Index (IPI), which is the ratio between core and total home range of an occupied isotopic niche, to be used as a proxy for the trophic niche stretch or density. We found that this IPI varied considerably, confirming the spatio-temporal variability in trophic niches, suggesting the IPI to be an adequate new isotopic metric. Our results further provide evidence for the existence of variation across invaded landscapes, implying heterogeneous impacts on recipient native communities. Therefore, our work emphasizes the importance of exploring trophic plasticity in feeding ecology and growth as such information enables a better understanding of impacts and can inform the design and implementation of effective management responses.

Effects of microplastics and drought on soil ecosystem functions and multifunctionality

Abstract Microplastics in soils have become an important threat for terrestrial systems as they may potentially alter the geochemical/biophysical soil environment and can interact with drought. As microplastics may affect soil water content, this could exacerbate the well‐known negative effects of drought on ecosystem functionality. Thus, functions including litter decomposition, soil aggregation or those related with nutrient cycling can be altered. Despite this potential interaction, we know relatively little about how microplastics, under different soil water conditions, affect ecosystem functions and multifunctionality. To address this gap, we performed an experiment using grassland plant communities growing in microcosms. Microplastic fibres (absent, present) and soil water conditions (well‐watered, drought) were applied in a fully factorial design. At harvest, we measured soil ecosystem functions related to nutrient cycling (β‐glucosaminidase, β‐D‐cellobiosidase, phosphatase, β‐glucosidase enzymes), respiration, nutrient retention, pH, litter decomposition and soil aggregation (water stable aggregates). As terrestrial systems provide these functions simultaneously, we also assessed ecosystem multifunctionality, an index that encompasses the array of ecosystem functions measured here. We found that the interaction between microplastic fibres and drought affected ecosystem functions and multifunctionality. Drought had negatively affected nutrient cycling by decreasing enzymatic activities by up to ~39%, while microplastics increased soil aggregation by ~18%, soil pH by ~4% and nutrient retention by up to ~70% by diminishing nutrient leaching. Microplastic fibres also impacted soil enzymes, respiration and ecosystem multifunctionality, but importantly, the direction of these effects depended on soil water status. That is, under well‐watered conditions, these functions decreased with microplastic fibres by up to ~34% while under drought they had similar values irrespective of the microplastic presence, or tended to increase with microplastics. Litter decomposition had a contrary pattern increasing with microplastics by ~6% under well‐watered conditions while decreasing to a similar percentage under drought. Synthesis and applications. Single ecosystem functions can be positively or negatively affected by microplastics fibres depending on soil water status. However, our results suggest that microplastic fibres may cause negative effects on ecosystem soil multifunctionality of a similar magnitude as drought. Thus, strategies to counteract this new global change factor are necessary.

Coexistence of multiple leaf nutrient resorption strategies in a single ecosystem

Leaf resorption is critical for considerations of how plants use and recycle nutrients, but fundamental unknowns remain regarding the controls over plant nutrient resorption. Empirical studies suggest at least three basic types of resorption control, including (i) stoichiometric control, (ii) nutrient limitation control, and (iii) nutrient concentration control strategies. However, which strategies are adopted in given conditions and whether multiple strategies coexist in an ecosystem are still open questions. To address these unknowns, leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) resorption efficiency (NRE and PRE) and proficiency were measured for seven woody species at a nutrient-rich but potentially N-limited secondary forest and a nutrient-poor and potentially P-limited secondary forest. NRE was higher in the N-limited forest while PRE was higher in the P-limited forest, suggesting that plants responded to nutrient limitation with preferential resorption of the more limiting nutrient. NRE:PRE was positively related to leaf N:P ratios within each forest, demonstrating a role for stoichiometric control. Nutrient concentration controls were also found, with higher nutrient resorption proficiency in the nutrient-poor forest than in the nutrient-rich forest. The controls of stoichiometry and nutrient concentration were community-wide, but the nutrient limitation control was species-specific. Our results highlight the coexistence of multiple nutrient resorption strategies in a single ecosystem, and suggest these strategies are scale-dependent.

An integrated evaluation framework for Land-Space ecological restoration planning strategy making in rapidly developing area

Ecological restoration is important to mitigate global ecological degradation. However, previous restoration, mainly targeting a single ecosystem or ecological problem at a single scale, couldn’t effectively solve systemic ecological problems, especially in rapidly developing areas. Land-Space Ecological Restoration (LSER) policy was proposed to change the situation that traditional ecological restoration was lack of overall planning and united goals. To integrate ecological restoration measures in different departments and scales in LSER practice and management, a multi-scale evaluation framework for LSER planning strategy making based on “P-S-R” perspective and landscape, ecological, GIS methods was proposed, and applied in Jiangsu Yangtze River Economic Belt in China. We took fishnet scale as data calculation unit, and town, county, regional scales as decision scale to formulate a hierarchical evaluation and decision making system. In study area, ecological engineering type (including 7 kinds of protection or restoration, and artificial or natural measures) at town level was identified, guided by county-level LSER zoning and grading obtained by normal cloud model evaluation method. At regional scale, an ecological network including 53 ecological sources, 95 corridors, 674 restoration points, and 80 footstones was constructed to determine regional restoration priority. Based on the research results, a decision-making system could be formed, with the regional ecological network as the decision-making basis for the overall restoration pattern, the county-level LSER classification as the standard for planning goals and task decomposition, and the township LSER project classification as the basis for the site selection of diverse ecological restoration projects. The proposed evaluation framework could integrate the data and decision-making process of ecological restoration measures at different scales, and assist regional ecological goal setting and space strategy making of LSER planning to achieve sustainable development goals.

Smart cities in China: growth driver in the post pandemic world

Research background: In recent decades, a global trend towards the introduction of IoT technologies, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and many others into the field of urban management to create a single digital ecosystem has become increasingly noticeable. The urgency of this problem also manifested itself during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many components of the smart city made it possible to control and contain the spread of the infection. All these factors testify that in current conditions, the digitalization of cities is simply inevitable. In this regard, the number of smart cities continues to increase worldwide, and their development models are constantly improving under the influence of a considerable number of innovative solutions Purpose of the article: Of particular interest are the Chinese successes in the rapid digitalization of the economy and society and the increase in the number of smart cities. The study aims to analyze and identify trends in the development of smart cities in China. Methods: Since the concept of "smart city" is relatively modern and is in constant development, the authors have studied various articles and reports on this topic to identify different opinions about this topical problem. As part of the study, the authors carried out a visual clustering analysis of smart cities distribution in China. Findings & Value added: The authors were able to identify that the Chinese smart cities market has its own characteristic features, which allowed it to achieve such success. In more detail in this article, the authors focused on cluster development and highlighted the geographical pattern of smart cities distribution in China and their strengths and weaknesses in each area.

青弋江流域生态系统服务评估与权衡研究

研究生态系统服务价值变化特征及多种服务之间的权衡协同关系，对平衡经济发展与环境保护具有重要意义。基于修订的当量因子表，结合2000、2009、2018年3个时期遥感解译获取的土地利用数据，运用生态系统服务权衡协同度模型、敏感性分析、空间自相关、土地利用程度综合指数模型等分析了青弋江流域生态系统服务价值（Ecosystem Services Value，ESV）的时空演变特征及9种生态服务之间的权衡协同关系。结果表明：（1）2000、2009及2018年的生态系统服务价值分别为285.19、351.26和294.68亿元，价值总量呈先增后减的变化趋势，其中2009-2018年间总ESV下降了16.1%，生态服务趋于退化。整个研究时段内，林地对ESV的贡献量最大，其次是耕地和水域。（2）2000-2009年，单项生态系统服务间以协同关系为主导，协同率为77.8%，食物生产服务与本研究中的其他服务之间均为权衡关系；2009-2018年间生态系统服务间的关系与前9年基本一致，但食物生产服务与其他服务功能之间的权衡度呈增强的趋势。（3）敏感性分析表明，各时期的敏感性指数（CS）值均小于1，表明基于修订的当量因子表计算获得的生态系统服务价值系数符合青弋江流域的实际情况，计算结果可靠。（4）生态系统服务价值存在较强的正向空间自相关，但集聚程度有下降的趋势。双变量空间自相关分析表明当土地利用程度增强时，生态系统提供的总服务价值或单项服务价值均会降低。研究结果可为青弋江流域土地利用结构的优化调整及生态环境保护提供参考信息。;It is of great significance for balancing economic development and environmental protection to study the characteristics of ecosystem services value (ESV) and the trade-offs and synergies between multiple services. Based on the revised equivalence factor table, combined with the land use data from remote sensing interpretation in 2000, 2009 and 2018, the ecosystem services trade-offs and synergies model, sensitivity analysis, spatial autocorrelation and comprehensive index model of land use degree were used to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of ESV in Qingyijiang River Basin and the trade-off relationship among nine kinds of ecological services. As the results showed, firstly, in 2000, 2009 and 2018, the ESV of Qingyijiang River Basin was 28.519 billion yuan, 35.126 billion yuan, and 29.468 billion yuan respectively, while the total value showed a trend of first increase and then decrease. Among them, the total ESV decreased by 16.1% from 2009 to 2018, and the ecological services tended to be degraded. Secondly, from 2000 to 2009, the single ecosystem service was dominated by synergy, with the synergy rate of 77.8%. There was a trade-off relationship between food production service and other services in this study. The relationship between ecosystem services in 2009-2018 was almostly same as that in the previous nine years, but the trade-off between food production service and other services was increasing. Thirdly, the sensitivity analysis showed that the coefficient of sensitivity index (CS) values of each period were less than 1, which indicated that the ESV coefficient calculated on the basis of the revised equivalence factor table was consistent with the actual situation of Qingyijiang River Basin, and the calculation results were reliable. Fourth, there was a strongly positive spatial autocorrelation of ESV, but the degree of agglomeration had a downward trend. Bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the total service value or individual service value of ecosystem would decrease when the land use degree increased. The results can provide reference information for the optimization and adjustment of land use structure and ecological environment protection in the Qingyijiang River Basin.

Розвиток фінтеху: тенденції та наслідки для ринку фінансових послуг

The article is aimed at determining the consequences of digitalization and development of the fintech sector for the financial services market. According to the results of the analysis, a number of transformational trends for the financial services market are identified and characterized, among which the major ones: disintermediation in the financial services market – as a process of «cutting out» the classical financial institutions from the direct process of financial asset exchange; democratization of financial services processes – as a process of expanding the range of financial products; disaggregation of financial services – as a process of splitting financial services into separate financial products; increasing the inclusiveness of financial services, which provides better availability for different categories of customers; emergence of decentralized finances – as a concept and ecosystem of financial services, in which the provision of financial services and products is carried out directly without traditional financial intermediaries within the public open and decentralized blockchain network; development of automation and virtualization of financial services, which involves the widespread use of artificial intelligence technologies, algorithmic assessment of customer creditworthiness, autonomous risk management, automated trading on the exchange, the work of virtual assistants, robo-advisers and security systems against fraud; appearance of built-in financial products as part of services outside of the applications of financial institutions. The consequence of these trends is a reduction in the demand for financial services as a separate product of classical financial institutions; reducing the profits of traditional financial service providers; expansion of new business models of financial services provision in cooperation with technology companies; increasing the need to update the regulatory support of financial services processes, as well as the integration of mass financial products into the client offers of non-financial companies within a single ecosystem of products and services of a digital company.

Sustainable agricultural development: from sectoral to ecosystem approach

The article is devoted to the study of the prospects for using the ecosystem approach in agriculture. The methodology of research is based on the concept of sustainable development, ecosystem theory and platform economy. Research methods and materials deal with economic and statistical analysis of the agricultural industry and related branches of agricultural engineering and the land market in Russia. The main idea of the article is the assumption that in order to ensure sustainable development, it is necessary to integrate the listed industries into a single ecosystem based on the same technological standards and digital platform solutions, with a unified coordination center. The main problem in the organization of the ecosystem in agriculture in Russia is the systemic dependence of the industry on institutional factors, primarily government subsidies and the lack of specific design solutions in the field of its sustainable development. The authors see the development of another high-tech sector in the economy of the Russian Federation as a result of the organization of an ecosystem in agriculture.

Combining seascape connectivity with cumulative impact assessment in support of ecosystem‐based marine spatial planning

Abstract Cumulative impact assessment (CIA) is a promising approach to guide marine spatial planning (MSP) and management. One limitation of CIA is the neglect of seascape connectivity, which may spread the impact of localized pressures to ambient areas, e.g. through lost dispersal and recruitment of organisms. We here, for the first time, incorporate seascape connectivity into a traditional CIA model using a connectivity matrix, exemplified by dispersal of propagules estimated through biophysical modelling. Two connectivity impacts are identified: the source impact represents downstream areas losing recruits because of reduced larval dispersal from sites affected by the pressure, and the sink impact represents loss of recruits originating from upstream areas prevented from settlement in the site affected by the local pressure. By including seascape connectivity in the Swedish MSP‐guiding CIA tool Symphony we demonstrate how to practically account for remote effects of local environmental impact. Our example on blue mussel shows how reducing mussel fitness in a given area may have impacts on mussels far from the acting pressures. Overall, results indicate that connectivity impact for blue mussels plays a minor role in most areas, <10% of the ordinary cumulative impact. However, in some smaller areas, e.g. on offshore banks and the Danish Straits, seascape connectivity may increase ordinary cumulative impact with 20%–30%. In an example of scenario‐based CIA analyses of MSP projections, we demonstrate how impacts of particular management actions, e.g. shipping rerouting and wind power developments, can be tracked far from the original area of influence. Depending on the dispersal ability of ecosystem components, a local pressure may impact a considerable area through seascape connectivity, transgressing management units and national borders. Although the mean connectivity impact may be modest for a single ecosystem component, the consideration of seascape connectivity across multiple ecosystem components may significantly alter the mapping of cumulative impact and the assessment of different MSP scenarios. Synthesis and applications. Our extension of Cumulative Impact Assessment offers a new method for mapping and practically integrating seascape connectivity with ecosystem‐based MSP and other spatial instruments for policy making, such as marine protected areas.

Does biochar improve all soil ecosystem services?

AbstractBiochar is considered to sequester C and deliver other soil ecosystem services, but an overview that synthesizes the current knowledge of biochar implications on all essential soil ecosystem services is difficult to find in the ample biochar literature. Most previous research and review articles on this topic focused on a single ecosystem service and did not integrate all essential soil ecosystem services. This overview paper (1) synthesizes the impacts of biochar on water and wind erosion, C sequestration, soil water, nutrient leaching, soil fertility, crop yields, and other soil ecosystem services based on published literature and (2) highlights remaining research areas. Literature indicates that, in addition to sequestering C, biochar can reduce N2O emissions, nitrate leaching, and runoff; increase soil microbial biomass, plant available water, and crop yields (particularly in tropical regions), and CO2 emissions; and have small or no effects on water and wind erosion. Biochar benefits can be in this order: C sequestration > N2O emissions > Nitrate leaching > Available water > Soil biology > Soil fertility > Crop yields > Runoff. However, literature also indicates that biochar does not always improve all ecosystem services. Its benefits depend on biochar feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, application rate, biochar properties, soil properties, climate, and other factors. For example, biochar can enhance crop yields more in degraded and low fertility soils than in highly fertile and fine‐textured soils. Long‐term (>3 years) field‐scale studies under different soil types, management conditions, and climates are needed for a determination of optimum levels of application, comprehensive life‐cycle analysis, and assessment of agronomic and environmental tradeoffs. Overall, biochar can improve most soil ecosystem services, but the extent of such improvement is highly dependent on biochar properties and soil and climatic conditions.

Multifunctionality of an Urbanized Coastal Marine Ecosystem

Coastal marine ecosystems provide numerous invaluable services and benefits to humankind. However, urbanization of coastal areas has homogenized and reduced the biodiversity of the surrounding marine environment and the sustainability of the multiple ecosystem services it provides. Studies have focused on single ecosystem functions despite human populations relying on several functions being delivered at once (known as multifunctionality). This study investigates five ecosystem functions (primary productivity, herbivory, predation, organic matter decomposition and carbon sequestration) and overall multifunctionality in four sites along a gradient of 16 environmental parameters. Ecosystem function varied significantly between sites that were farthest apart. In determining factors that drove ecosystem functioning, we found a positive relationship between coral cover and primary productivity but negative relationships between coral cover and levels of herbivory and predation intensity. Higher temperatures and greater concentrations of chlorophyll-a had a positive impact on predation and herbivory, respectively. Notably, we found a significant negative impact of total inorganic nitrogen and significant positive impact of total Kjeldahl nitrogen on carbon sequestration. Further, individual functions were compared with fish abundance (obtained from seawater eDNA), and benthic community composition (obtained from plate % coverage of autonomous reef monitoring structures). Increasing herbivorous fish abundance had a positive impact on Ulva mass loss. Overall, relative abundance of predatory, omnivorous and planktivorous fish exerted overriding influences on primary productivity and predation intensity, implying that fishing pressure and marine protected area status are important factors. Importantly, we found significant effects from environmental parameters indicating that reliably predicting the effects of future anthropogenic impacts will not be straightforward as multiple drivers are likely to have complex effects. Taken together, urbanized coastal ecosystems exhibit varying levels of multifunctionality depending on the extent of human impact, and the functional diversity of the benthic community present.

What's hot and what's not: Making sense of biodiversity 'hotspots'.

Conserving biogeographic regions with especially high biodiversity, known as biodiversity ‘hotspots’, is intuitive because finite resources can be focussed towards manageable units. Yet, biodiversity, environmental conditions and their relationship are more complex with multidimensional properties. Assessments which ignore this risk failing to detect change, identify its direction or gauge the scale of appropriate intervention. Conflicting concepts which assume assemblages as either sharply delineated communities or loosely collected species have also hampered progress in the way we assess and conserve biodiversity. We focus on the marine benthos where delineating manageable areas for conservation is an attractive prospect because it holds most marine species and constitutes the largest single ecosystem on earth by area. Using two large UK marine benthic faunal datasets, we present a spatially gridded data sampling design to account for survey effects which would otherwise be the principal drivers of diversity estimates. We then assess γ‐diversity (regional richness) with diversity partitioned between α (local richness) and β (dissimilarity), and their change in relation to covariates to test whether defining and conserving biodiversity hotspots is an effective conservation strategy in light of the prevailing forces structuring those assemblages. α‐, β‐ and γ‐diversity hotspots were largely inconsistent with each metric relating uniquely to the covariates, and loosely collected species generally prevailed with relatively few distinct assemblages. Hotspots could therefore be an unreliable means to direct conservation efforts if based on only a component part of diversity. When assessed alongside environmental gradients, α‐, β‐ and γ‐diversity provide a multidimensional but still intuitive perspective of biodiversity change that can direct conservation towards key drivers and the appropriate scale for intervention. Our study also highlights possible temporal declines in species richness over 30 years and thus the need for future integrated monitoring to reveal the causal drivers of biodiversity change.

A Educação de Surdos em Paralaxe: O Desenvolvimento de um Modelo Colaborativo de Aprendizagem

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar o desenvolvimento do primeiro ambiente virtual de aprendizagem bilíngue para educação de surdos, a partir da descrição de diversas ferramentas específicas para esse público, bem como a construção de um modelo de ensino inovador, capaz de gerar um ecossistema de aprendizagem que integra estudantes surdos e ouvintes em todo o Brasil. Com o propósito de colocar os estudantes surdos na vanguarda da aprendizagem, foi desenvolvida uma proposta metodológica pioneira mediante o uso de uma plataforma totalmente navegável por meio da Língua de Sinais, incluindo ferramentas como Mapa Mental, Fórum Bilíngue, Ambiente Pessoal de Aprendizagem, Repositório Digital, dentre outras. Passado mais de um ano de utilização da plataforma por estudantes das cinco macrorregiões do Brasil, é possível concluir que a gama de recursos descritos neste trabalho potencializa variados procedimentos didático-pedagógicos nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem de estudantes surdos e ouvintes.