Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Natural Resources and Conservation
Groundwatersheds of protected areas reveal globally overlooked risks and opportunities
Published: 2022-09-23
Subjects: Natural Resources and Conservation, Water Resource Management
Protected areas are a key tool for conserving biodiversity, sustaining ecosystem services and improving human well-being. Global initiatives that aim to expand and connect protected areas generally focus on controlling ‘above ground’ impacts such as land use, overlooking the potential for human actions in adjacent areas to affect protected areas through groundwater flow. Here, we assess the [...]
Fighting symptom or root cause? - The need for shifting the focus in climate politics from greenhouse gases to environmental protection
Published: 2022-08-16
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability
Addressing the environmental crisis requires a substantial change of our current lifestyle. Yet, in media coverage and political communication, climate change has taken the lead over other aspects such as biodiversity loss and one may sometimes get the impression that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is fighting the root cause itself. The atmosphere, however, does not respond linearly to our [...]
An Artificial Neural Network Emulator of the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model
Published: 2022-06-17
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Dynamic Systems, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation
Machine learning (ML) is becoming an ever more important tool in hydrologic modeling. Many studies have shown the higher prediction accuracy of the ML models over traditional process-based ones. However, there is another advantage of ML which is its lower computer time of execution. This is important for the applications such as hydraulic soil erosion estimation over a large area and at a finer [...]
Contemporary Remote Sensing Tools for Integrated Assessment and Conservation Planning of Ice-free Antarctica
Published: 2022-06-17
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Natural Resources and Conservation, Remote Sensing
Monitoring and understanding Antarctica is critical for conservation of its values. Remote sensing has been increasingly employed to observe large areas at higher frequency than traditional monitoring methods, enabling systematic assessments at low cost. However, currently there are limitations in the ability of the available remote sensing tools to answer the most pressing scientific, [...]
PING-Mapper: open-source software for automated benthic imaging and mapping using recreation-grade sonar
Published: 2022-06-14
Subjects: Environmental Monitoring, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation
The characterization of benthic habitats is essential for aquatic ecosystem science and management, but is frequently limited by waterbody visibility and depth. Recreation-grade side scan sonar systems are increasingly used to aid scientific inquiries in shallow water due to their relative low-cost, ease of operation, low-weight, and ease of mounting on a variety of vessels. However, existing [...]
The historical impact of anthropogenic air-borne sulphur on the Pleistocene rock art of Sulawesi
Published: 2022-05-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Natural Resources and Conservation
The Maros-Pangkep karst in southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, contains some of the world’s oldest rock art. However, the Pleistocene images survive only as weathered patches of pigment on exfoliated limestone surfaces. Salt efflorescence underneath the case-hardened limestone substrate causes spall-flaking, and it has been proposed that the loss of artwork has accelerated over recent decades. Here, [...]
Paleoclimate controls on lithium enrichment in Great Basin Pliocene-Pleistocene lacustrine clays
Published: 2022-05-29
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Environmental Sciences, Sedimentology
Terminal lakes are important archives of continental hydroclimate and in some cases contain important economic resources. Here, we present an ∼2.9 m.y. lacustrine carbonate carbon and oxygen stable isotope record from a Great Basin continental drill core. We paired these measurements with bulk lithium concentrations to reveal a relationship between past climate and lithium enrichment in [...]
Groundwater connections and sustainability in social-ecological systems
Published: 2022-04-08
Subjects: Dynamical Systems, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
Groundwater resources are connected with social, economic, ecological, and Earth systems. We introduce the framing of groundwater-connected systems to better represent the nature and complexity of these connections in data collection, scientific investigations, governance and management approaches, and groundwater education. Groundwater-connected systems are social, economic, ecological, or Earth [...]
Reproducibility in subsurface geoscience
Published: 2021-10-27
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Mineral Physics, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Sustainability, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology, Water Resource Management
Reproducibility, the extent to which consistent results are obtained when an experiment or study is repeated, sits at the foundation of science. The aim of this process is to produce robust findings and knowledge, with reproducibility being the screening tool to benchmark how well we are implementing the scientific method. However, the re-examination of results from many disciplines has caused [...]
Safety and Belonging in the Field: A Checklist for Educators
Published: 2021-08-19
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Biogeochemistry, Climate, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Fresh Water Studies, Geochemistry, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Higher Education, Human Geography, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Meteorology, Mineral Physics, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Geography, Other Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Planetary Sciences, Outdoor Education, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Planetary Biogeochemistry, Planetary Geochemistry, Planetary Geology, Planetary Geomorphology, Planetary Geophysics and Seismology, Planetary Glaciology, Planetary Hydrology, Planetary Mineral Physics, Planetary Sciences, Planetary Sedimentology, Remote Sensing, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Spatial Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Sustainability, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology, Water Resource Management
Ensuring taught fieldwork is a positive, generative, collective, and valuable experience for all participants requires considerations beyond course content. To guarantee safety and belonging, participants’ identities (backgrounds and protected characteristics) must be considered as a part of fieldwork planning and implementation. Furthermore, getting fieldwork right is an important step in [...]
Ten Simple Rules for Researchers Who Want to Develop Web Apps
Published: 2021-07-18
Subjects: Agricultural Science, Agriculture, Applied Statistics, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering, Computer Sciences, Databases and Information Systems, Environmental Monitoring, Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces, Natural Resources and Conservation, Software Engineering, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management
Growing interest in data-driven, decision-support tools across the life sciences and physical sciences has motivated development of web applications, also known as web apps. Web apps can help disseminate research findings and present research outputs in ways that are more accessible and meaningful to the general public--from individuals, to governments, to companies. Specifically, web apps enable [...]
LPDynR: a new tool to calculate the Land Productivity Dynamics indicator
Published: 2021-04-23
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy
As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land), the indicator 15.3.1 is adopted to measure the Land Degradation Neutrality. Land Degradation Neutrality is addressed as stable —or increasing— state in the amount and quality of land resources required to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security during a certain period of time. It is a binary indicator [...]
High resolution, annual maps of field boundaries for smallholder-dominated croplands at national scales
Published: 2021-03-12
Subjects: Agriculture, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Spatial Science, Sustainability
Mapping the characteristics of Africa's smallholder-dominated croplands, including the sizes and numbers of fields, can provide critical insights into food security and a range of other socioeconomic and environmental concerns. However, accurately mapping these systems is difficult because there is 1) a spatial and temporal mismatch between satellite sensors and smallholder fields, and 2) a lack [...]
Temporal monitoring of vast sand mining in NW Turkey: Implications on environmental/social impacts
Published: 2021-01-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Sedimentology
Loose sand has a wide variety (over 200) of industrial usage where most of the sand is used in infrastructure. Due to its low cost / high benefit nature and international high demand, worldwide examples of excessive sand mining caused complete destruction of habitats and forcing natives change living practices or even to migrate. Sand mining is one of the most controversial and rapidly growing [...]
A comprehensive study to understand the relationship of urbanization and population density with GRACE ΔTWS for selected study regions in India during 2003-2017
Published: 2020-10-24
Subjects: Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Planetary Hydrology, Remote Sensing, Sustainability, Water Resource Management
This work investigates the relationship between urbanization, population density and meteorological variables (temperature & precipitation) on groundwater storage in India during the period January'2003 to January'2017. Variations in groundwater storage have been analysed using Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) derived variations of Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS). In the first part [...]