Preprints

Filtering by Subject: Natural Resources and Conservation

Social as much as environmental: the drivers of tree biomass in smallholder forest landscape restoration programmes

Geoff Wells

Published: 2020-04-13
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A major challenge for forest landscape restoration initiatives is the lack of quantitative evidence on how social factors drive environmental outcomes. Here we conduct a transdisciplinary quantitative analysis of the environmental and social drivers of tree biomass accumulation across 639 smallholder farms restoring native tree species in Mexico, Uganda and Mozambique. We use environmental and [...]

Saturation excess overland flow accelerates the spread of a generalist soil-borne pathogen

Jean V Wilkening, Enrique Cardillo, Enrique Abad, et al.

Published: 2020-03-27
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Plant pathogens are a major agent of disturbance in ecosystems worldwide. Disturbance by disease can alter the hydrological function of affected ecosystems. However, many plant pathogens are also sensitive to soil moisture and can be propagated by the transport of infectious tissue or reproductive structures in surface flow, so that hydrological processes can drive pathogen infection. These [...]

Use of geochemical fingerprints to trace sediment sources in an agriculture catchment of Argentina

Romina Torres Astorga, Yanina Garcias, Gisela Borgatello, et al.

Published: 2020-03-04
Subjects: Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Soil erosion and associated sediment redistribution are key environmental problems in Central Argentina. Specific land uses and management practices, such as intensive grazing and crop cultivation, are considered significantly driving and accelerating these processes. This research focuses on the identification of suitable soil tracers from hot spots of land degradation and sediment fate in an [...]

Feedback between drought and deforestation in the Amazon

Arie Staal, Bernardo M. Flores, Ana Paula Aguiar, et al.

Published: 2020-01-09
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Hydrology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability

Deforestation and drought are among the greatest environmental pressures on the Amazon rainforest, possibly destabilizing the forest-climate system. Deforestation in the Amazon reduces rainfall regionally, while this deforestation itself has been reported to be facilitated by droughts. Here we quantify the interactions between drought and deforestation spatially across the Amazon during the early [...]

Lower threshold for marsh drowning suggests loss of microtidal marshes regardless of sediment supply

Orencio Duran Vinent, Ellen Herbert, Matthew L Kirwan

Published: 2019-10-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Salt marshes are simultaneously among the most valuable and vulnerable ecosystems in the world. We use a simplified formulation for sediment transport across marshes to explain why marshes are most vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR) in microtidal environments. We find inorganic sediment decay length scales with tidal range so that inorganic deposition is very low in the interior of microtidal [...]

Information-theoretic Portfolio Decision Model for Optimal Flood Management

Matteo Convertino, Antonio Annis, Fernando Nardi

Published: 2019-06-26
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computational Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering, Other Engineering, Other Environmental Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Probability, Risk Analysis, Statistics and Probability, Sustainability, Systems Engineering, Water Resource Management

The increasing impact of flooding urges more effective flood management strategies to guarantee sustainable ecosystem development. Recent catastrophes underline the importance of avoiding local flood management, but characterizing large scale basin wide approaches for systemic flood risk management. Here we introduce an information-theoretic Portfolio Decision Model (iPDM) for the optimization of [...]

Characterising Land Cover Change in Brunei Darussalam’s Capital District

Matthew Kok Ming Ng, Zahratu Shabrina, Boyana Buyuklieva

Published: 2019-06-03
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

In fast-developing regions, like Southeast-Asia, monitoring urban areas presents a challenge given the lack of publicly available data. This is an issue that precludes the nuances of a citys growth and undermines the way land-use is considered with respect to planning. The issue of data availability is very much present in the small nation of Brunei. Little is still known about the spatiotemporal [...]

Dispersion, accumulation and the ultimate fate of microplastics in deep-marine environments: A review and future directions

Ian Kane, Michael Andrew Clare

Published: 2019-04-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability

An estimated 8.3 billion tonnes of non-biodegradable plastic has been produced over the last 65 years. Much of this is not recycled and is disposed into the sedimentary system, has a long environmental residence time and accumulates in sedimentary systems worldwide, posing a threat to important ecosystems and potentially human health. We synthesise existing knowledge of seafloor microplastic [...]

A macroscale hydrogeological numerical model of the Suio hydrothermal system (central Italy)

Michele Saroli, Matteo Albano, Gaspare Giovinco, et al.

Published: 2019-04-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management

The complex behaviour of the Suio hydrothermal system (central Italy) and its potential exploitation as a renewable energy source are still unclear. To quantitatively evaluate the geothermal resource, the Suio hydrothermal system has been investigated with a hydrogeological numerical model that couples fluid flow, thermal convection, and transport of diluted species inside a hybrid [...]

Agriculture-aquaculture transitions on the lower Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, 1972-2017

Daniel Sousa, Christopher Small

Published: 2019-03-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability

Recent decades have seen a considerable increase in shrimp aquaculture in tropical and subtropical developing countries. This practice is controversial due to its potential for serious economic, food security, and environmental impacts. Of particular concern is the widespread practice of intensive aquaculture in and near mangrove ecosystems where many shrimp species spawn. However, while [...]

Effectiveness of the Geospatial Data Processing and Use of Statistical Information for Proper Environmental Planning and Zoning: Example of the Šumava National Park, Czech Republic

Polina Lemenkova

Published: 2019-01-28
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biodiversity, Cell and Developmental Biology, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Educational Methods, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Forest Biology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Geography, Geomorphology, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Soil Science, Sustainability, Wood Science and Pulp, Paper Technology

Current paper details methodology and principles of the zoning and ranging of the nature reserve area of Sumava National Park (Czech Republic) aimed at the effective planning and monitoring special nature areas.Methodology includes complex geoecological assessment of the territory, GIS application and processing of statristical data. The specific case study includes unique nature area of the [...]

Sustainability of the Marine Environment Towards the Anthropogenic Impacts in the Ecosystem of the Barents Sea

Polina Lemenkova

Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Nature and Society Relations, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management

Among all Arctic seas, the Barents Sea is characterized by its unique environment and high level of the biodiversity. At the same time the Gulf Stream waters transport large amounts of pollutants in the Barents Sea bringing various contaminants and substances from the North Sea. Nowadays, there are in Timan Pechora-Carboniferous basin located in the Barents Sea with 76 oil and gas subsidies, [...]

Geo-Information Technologies of Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) for Urban Mapping

Polina Lemenkova

Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical and Environmental Geography, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Sustainability

Current work is aimed at the deriving of information from the remote sensed VHR data using a priori knowledge in the Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) approach. OBIA technology is new and effective tool for urban mapping, as it enables dealing with raster images for detailed and precise cartography. Specific focus of this study is selected urban areas of the city of Brussels, Belgium. The study [...]

The Use of Satellite Images for Assessment of Environmental Vulnerability and Resilience of the Arctic Wetlands

Polina Lemenkova

Published: 2019-01-25
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geographic Information Sciences, Geography, Geomorphology, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Remote Sensing, Science and Mathematics Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Spatial Science, Water Resource Management

The research paper focuses on the environmental problem of Yamal region, geographically located in the Russian Yamal-Nenets autonomous region, northern-central Russia. This region is characterized by the unique nature and environmental conditions, combining two physical-geographical regions: sub-Arctic and Arctic moss-lichen tundra and permafrost conditions. The recent changes in global climate [...]

Spectral Mixture Analysis as a Unified Framework for the Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration

Daniel Sousa, Christopher Small

Published: 2018-10-25
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management

This analysis proposes a unified framework for estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) using spectral mixture analysis (SMA) based on globally standardized substrate, vegetation, and dark (SVD) endmembers (EMs). Using all available Landsat 8 scenes from a month in the peak growing season (June) in a diverse 90 x 120 km region in northern California, we characterize the relationship between each of [...]

search

You can search by:

  • Title
  • Keywords
  • Author Name
  • Author Affiliation