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Strengthening community engagement in stewardship can help to improve management of coastal and freshwater environments (blue spaces). Research suggests that recreational users of natural areas may be more willing to engage in stewardship. However, little research at a population scale has examine how recreation experiences shape psychological ingredients for stewardship.We surveyed 3271 residents of South East Queensland, Australia and quantified willingness to engage in blue space stewardship. We then quantified frequency of different types of blue space recreation, perceptions about threats to blue spaces (threat appraisal) and protective actions (coping appraisal), and satisfaction with blue spaces. We then examined pathways from recreation to stewardship intentions using mediation analysis.Results show that many types of recreation were associated with stewardship intentions. Specifically, higher frequency of social activities and nature‐appreciation activities were associated with greater intentions for individual stewardship (e.g. picking up litter, reducing use of household chemicals). Higher frequency of social activities, nature appreciation, exercise and fishing/boating was associated with stronger intentions for collective stewardship (e.g. attending a public meeting or riparian management event)Mediation analysis showed that most forms of recreation did not influence perceptions about severity of threats to blue spaces. Rather, the relationships between recreation and stewardship were mediated by greater place satisfaction, perceived vulnerability to blue space degradation, and feeling more able to contribute to waterway protection (efficacy).These findings indicate that many types of recreation (not just nature appreciation activities) can be a foundation for engaging in nature stewardship, and reinforce the importance of building efficacy when promoting stewardship. The finding that both place satisfaction and perceived vulnerability to environmental degradation suggests that there may be an optimal motivational window for stewardship: people need to connect a place with positive experiences, and have some recognition of a potential threat, but where the potential threat has not yet eroded the natural values of a place. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural soundscapes experienced in parks are increasingly recognised as a valuable ecosystem service, yet urban parks soundscapes also commonly contain anthropogenic noise.While studies show bird calls can promote psychological restoration, the factors that might influence actual experiences of these sounds by individuals in urban parks are less clear. Equally, continual exposure to anthropogenic noise, such as vehicle traffic, is associated with negative health outcomes, but determinants influencing negative experiences of such sounds within a park soundscape are poorly understood.To address this gap we used an ex situ survey of over 4000 Australian residents and examined a range of spatial and social factors in influencing perceptions towards noticing and pleasantness of bird sounds and traffic noise within urban parks.The results indicate older age, recent park use, and valuing parks for uses such as exercising, socialising and to hear nature, were positively associated with pleasant bird sound experiences in parks. For traffic sounds, we found indicators of disadvantage, such as renting a home were associated with a higher likelihood of unpleasant experiences of traffic noise within parks. Notably, individuals using parks for social activities were still positively associated with pleasant bird sound experiences and less likely to perceive traffic sounds as unpleasant. Conversely, whilst those with greater nature‐relatedness had a strong positive association with pleasant bird sound experiences, they were more likely to perceive traffic as unpleasant.Overall, these findings suggest that whilst many types of park users can potentially experience the beneficial effects from bird sounds, the detrimental effects of traffic noise may constrain these benefits in certain social groups, particularly those of greater socio‐economic disadvantage. We discuss strategies to promote greater equity of therapeutic experiences of bird sounds in parks, whilst outlining traffic mitigation measures within urban parks. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The positive influence of urban green spaces on human health and well‐being is well known while the pathways are little understood. Past research has largely focused on visual stimuli, yet the auditory pathway is also an important means for contact with nature.The sonic environments of urban green spaces, however, are rarely entirely natural and many differ in their composition of natural sounds and anthropogenic noise. Few studies have investigated how these differences may impact the restorative potential of these soundscapes and, in particular, how the presence of traffic noise may constrain the benefits of natural sounds.To address this gap, we examined differences in the perceived restorativeness and perceived restorative outcomes across a gradient of eight park soundscapes that differed in bird and traffic sounds. In a laboratory setting, 162 participants listened to sound samples and reported on perceptions of the soundscapes and restorative potential and outcomes.The results strongly indicate that park soundscapes with a rich array of perceived bird sounds and minimal perceived traffic noise offer the greatest perceived restoration. Traffic noise was found to moderate the positive effect of bird sounds. The duration of time lived in the city and noise sensitivity were also positively associated with greater perceived restorative benefits while noise‐sensitive people were also more negatively affected by traffic noise.The promotion of highly natural soundscapes in urban green spaces and the reduction of traffic noise can provide nature‐based solutions to human health and well‐being in urban areas. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large areas of rainforests in Australia and other tropical regions have been extensively cleared since the mid-19th century. As abandoned agro-pastoral land becomes increasingly prominent, there is an ongoing need to identify cost-effective approaches to reinstate forest on these landscapes. Assisted regeneration is a potentially lower cost restoration approach which aims to accelerate forest recovery by removing barriers to natural regeneration. However, despite being widely used its ecological benefits are poorly quantified, particularly on long cleared and grazed land. This study quantified the benefits of assisted regeneration on previously cleared land in a subtropical rainforest ecosystem within eastern Australia. Three different site types were used (grazed, grazing excluded and grazing excluded plus assisted regeneration, each with a maximum distance of 120 m to remnant forest) to compare forest recovery up to 10 years after grazing was relieved with and without 4-6 years of assisted regeneration. Assisted regeneration sites showed a threefold increase in canopy cover, fourfold increase in native tree and shrub species richness and over 40 times greater native stem density compared to nonassisted regeneration sites. Stimulation of native recruitment appears dependent on the simultaneous removal of multiple barriers to regeneration, with the exclusion of grazing alone insufficient. This demonstrates the additional ecological benefits arising from investment in assisted regeneration. It offers considerable promise as a cost-effective tool for accelerating and improving reinstatement of forest on retired agro-pastoral land in the humid subtropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of advances in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) reactive flow predictions together with mature, robust optimization techniques provides the opportunity to evolve promising design development methods. A quench conversion reactor concept has been chosen to perform a CFD-based multi-objective optimization on the basis of an optimization concept for turbulent, reactive flows using a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA-II). The study includes the pre-optimization of the numerical setup as well as the reduction of a detailed chemical mechanism to reduce computation time and also fit the specific quench concept syngas and reaction conditions. Geometric and process parameters have been defined as control parameters to maximize the H 2 /CO ratio in the syngas and minimize the corresponding exit temperature. To achieve this, three cases with different optimization strategies, including a Pareto optimization, are investigated and discussed. Optimized, feasible design options for the quench reactor were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syntheses downstream of coal gasifiers face specific requirements regarding syngas quality. High syngas H 2 /CO ratios are a typical requirement. A new quench concept for entrained-flow gasifiers has been developed in order to increase the H 2 /CO ratio within the quench vessel and thereby minimize efforts in the subsequent catalytic water–gas shift reaction (WGSR). To achieve this target, steam instead of water will be injected into the quench chamber to realize CO conversion via homogeneous WGSR. The concept allows a flexible mode of operation, such as full or partial water quenching with subsequent waste heat utilization for high and medium-pressure steam production. This allows self-sufficiency in terms of steam and additionally offers the potential to increase the overall plant efficiency. To test the concept, three different syngases from various feedstock and two inlet design configurations will be investigated using CFD and compared to one other. The numerical setup has been validated against gasification reactor measurements and simulation, respectively. A sensitivity analysis shows the performance and flexibility of the proposed concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]