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Currently, air pollution is one of the main environmental problems, and urbanization is considered one of the most dangerous changes that an ecosystem can undergo. Biological monitoring of urban habitats is needed to determine both atmospheric pollutants and their effects on organisms. Biomonitoring is a common and feasible method for air quality assessment in different environments. Plants are organisms constantly exposed to air, thus they are the primary receptors of all particles and pollutants in the atmosphere. In monitoring plants in urban environments, it is essential to identify and evaluate the right parameters to give us a complete and detailed picture of their state of health and evolution. This review paper aims to mention the parameters that respond as bioindicators in the monitoring of plant organisms to reveal relevant data regarding the environmental quality of their habitat, considering both invasive and non-invasive methods. Biomonitoring techniques using nondestructive methods are becoming increasingly important due to their advantages over chemicalanalytical methods. In vivo methods, which are based on both imaging and spectroscopic approaches, are recently increasingly optimized due to the advantages they offer in the field. In order to achieve the most exhaustive classification of plant parameters, various evaluable plant characteristics, morphological, morphometric, biochemical, and physiological aspects were considered, thus providing a solid basis for data analysis and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of optimising the location of crops/plots in protected areas, national parks, farmland or forests involves trying to reconcile their proper functioning with nature conservation, the preservation of unique ecosystems or sustainable development. Such areas are crucial for the preservation of biodiversity and wildlife. This paper examines and discusses the impact of land consolidation in rural areas using GIS (Geographic Information System) tools. It performs a series of network analyses to determine the real distances (following the road network) and linear distances (rectilinear distances) between habitats and farmland. A tool was also developed to automate this process. The results obtained were visualised using map compositions, tables and graphs. The implemented project had a significant beneficial effect on the change in the land structure in the analysed village. The number of registered plots decreased by 40% (from 1,189 to 711) due to the consolidation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulated degree-days are among the most significant indicators in ecological and geographical modeling of the distribution of biological objects. The present paper analyzes several existing methods for calculating accumulated degree-days, proposes an improved calculation method, and presents a set of the global maps of accumulated degree-days constructed using the improved method. The produced maps are publicly available and can be used for ecological and geographical analysis and modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality remote sensing images play important roles in the development of ecological indicators' mapping, urban-rural management, urban planning, and other fields. Compared with natural images, remote sensing images have more abundant land cover along with lower spatial resolutions. Given the embedded longitude and latitude information of remote sensing images, reference (Ref) images with similar scenes could be more accessible. However, existing traditional super-resolution (SR) approaches always depend on increases in network depth to improve performance, which limits the acquisition and application of high-quality remote sensing images. In this paper, we proposed a novel, reference-image-based, super-resolution method with feature compression module (FCSR) for remote sensing images to alleviate the above issue while effectively utilizing high-resolution (HR) information from Ref images. Specifically, we exploited a feature compression branch (FCB) to extract relevant features in feature detail matching with large measurements. This branch employed a feature compression module (FCM) to extract features from low-resolution (LR) and Ref images, which enabled texture transfer from different perspectives. To decrease the impact of environmental factors such as resolution, brightness and ambiguity disparities between the LR and Ref images, we designed a feature extraction encoder (FEE) to ensure accuracy in feature extraction in the feature acquisition branch. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed FCSR achieves significant performance and visual quality compared to state-of-the-art SR methods. Explicitly, when compared with the best method, the average peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) index on the three test sets is improved by 1.0877%, 0.8161%, 1.0296%, respectively, and the structural similarity (SSIM) index on four test sets is improved by 1.4764%, 1.4467%, 0.0882%, and 1.8371%, respectively. Simultaneously, FCSR obtains satisfactory visual details following qualitative evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental degradation is a global ecological concern, and land use transitions play a critical role in a region's ecological well-being and long-term sustainability. In this paper, indicators related to land use transitions, including the regional eco-environmental quality index (EV), the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), and soil erosion, are selected to analyze the eco-environmental quality of Erhai Lake Basin from 2000 to 2020. The results showed that (1) from 2000 to 2020, forestland, grassland, and cultivated land were the major land use types in the study region, and also the land use types where land use transition was notable; (2) over the 20 years of study, the EV value of Erhai Lake Basin increased by 0.003, its average RSEI increased by 0.14, and the average soil erosion modulus there decreased by 15.48 t/(km2·a), indicating that the eco-environment of the Erhai Lake Basin was improving. Evaluation based on multiple ecological indicators was superior to assessment relying on single indicators; (3) all three ecological indicators showed that the ecological environment of the basin was improving, but with significant regional differences. Forestland had the best ecological quality, while unused land and built-up land had the worst. RSEI was more regionally adaptable than the other two indices. (4) The transition of cultivated land into other land use types was the main reason for the improved ecological quality in the basin, while tourism had accelerated land use transformation. Compared with assessment based on single ecological indicators, evaluation based on a combination of multiple ecological indicators can more accurately reflect the ecological condition of the study area and provide a basis for eco-environmental protection in Erhai Lake Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban agglomeration at the Yangtze River Delta is one of the six most developed and populated urban agglomerations in the world. In recent years, with accelerating urbanization, the land use has changed significantly. Excessive construction aggravates ecological fragility. In this context, this paper first investigates the evolutionary processes and layout of the ecological space in the Yangtze River Delta. The root causes of various problems are then analyzed. Finally, suggestions for further improvement in both detailed tasks and governance aspects are proposed. The applied methods included use of remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS) and statistical analysis. Main results indicate that from 1990 to 2018, the ecological space of the Yangtze River Delta shrank, especially in the city of Shanghai. Ecological space is insufficient in the area, unevenly distributed and fragmented. The major root causes include rapid urbanization without overall planning, regional population surge and improper industrial structure. Suggestions for improvement include overall planning and integrated management, control of population size, active industry structure upgrade, land-use efficiency balanced with ecological indicators, and multiple integrated strategies encouraging application of new energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic eutrophication is one of the consequences of human activities observed from the beginning of urbanization processes and is now a widespread problem around the globe. Mitigation of eutrophication directly corresponds to the achievement of at least three main Sustainable Development Goals. Due to the complexity of eutrophication mechanisms, there are still many issues with managing this process and its consequences, that complicate the achievement of the above-mentioned objectives. So far, there is no universal definition of eutrophication and there is no unified methodological approach to surface water trophic status assessment. In connection with the above, a need arises for the development of scientifically and economically justified methods of reliable trophic state assessment, useful for solving application and engineering tasks. This paper presents a new approach to trophic state assessment based on the innovative universal trophic index (UTI), which can be used for fresh, brackish and saltwater bodies. The proposed UTI index was developed and verified using an extensive database of the Baltic Sea monitoring data for over 100 years. The elaborated method is a reliable tool for the assessment of water trophic status, which also allows for the development of predictive mathematical models as the basis for effective eutrophication management. In addition, the method is simple to use and enables the trophic state assessment at low cost, time and effort. The above-mentioned features make the proposed indicator meet the requirements set for modern ecological indicators and determine the advantage of the proposed methodological approach over other currently used methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long term monitoring programs (LTMPs) are increasingly demanded for investigating relationships between ecosystem dynamics and climate change. Most of active LTMPs are focussed on abiotic parameters and vegetation, being animals rarely included in continuous samplings. In this paper we described the results of the first two years of a LTMP involving nocturnal macrolepidoptera (including Cossoidea and Hepialoidea) started in 2019 in a suburban area of the Crati Valley, Calabria, South Italy. In the experimental farm of the Research Centre for Forestry and Wood two light traps were settled up, running about every night. During the first two years of monitoring, a total of 12,164 individuals belonging to 297 taxa were counted, showing a community similar to those observed in other Calabrian sites with Mediterranean climate and cultivated areas. The presence of small remnants of riparian forests significantly contributed to the community composition as the observation of hygrophilous species demonstrated. Among them, Xanthia ocellaris and Leucania obsoleta were never found before in the Calabria region. Furthermore, 177 species were added to the poorly investigated Crati Valley fauna. The results presented pose a solid baseline for investigating ecosystem changes of an area submitted to short term anthropic pressures and to long term climate driven changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately one-quarter of the CO 2 emitted to the atmosphere annually from human activities is absorbed by the ocean, resulting in a reduction of seawater pH and shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. This multi-decadal process, termed "anthropogenic ocean acidification" (OA), has been shown to have detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems. Recent years have seen a globally coordinated effort to measure the changes in seawater chemistry caused by OA, with best practices now available for these measurements. In contrast to these substantial advances in observing physicochemical changes due to OA, quantifying their biological consequences remains challenging, especially from in situ observations under real-world conditions. Results from 2 decades of controlled laboratory experiments on OA have given insight into the likely processes and mechanisms by which elevated CO 2 levels affect biological process, but the manifestation of these process across a plethora of natural situations has yet to be fully explored. This challenge requires us to identify a set of fundamental biological and ecological indicators that are (i) relevant across all marine ecosystems, (ii) have a strongly demonstrated link to OA, and (iii) have implications for ocean health and the provision of ecosystem services with impacts on local marine management strategies and economies. This paper draws on the understanding of biological impacts provided by the wealth of previous experiments, as well as the findings of recent meta-analyses, to propose five broad classes of biological indicators that, when coupled with environmental observations including carbonate chemistry, would allow the rate and severity of biological change in response to OA to be observed and compared. These broad indicators are applicable to different ecological systems, and the methods for data analysis suggested here would allow researchers to combine biological response data across regional and global scales by correlating rates of biological change with the rate of change in carbonate chemistry parameters. Moreover, a method using laboratory observation to design an optimal observing strategy (frequency and duration) and observe meaningful biological rates of change highlights the factors that need to be considered when applying our proposed observation strategy. This innovative observing methodology allows inclusion of a wide diversity of marine ecosystems in regional and global assessments and has the potential to increase the contribution of OA observations from countries with developing OA science capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic disturbances and climate change are expected to reorganize biodiversity on multiple ecological levels from populations to ecosystems, especially in arid and semiarid regions due to environmental filtering imposed by water stress. This paper examines the individual and combined effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance and increased aridity on the structure of fruit-feeding butterfly assemblages in a human-modified landscape of Caatinga dry forest, in the northeast of Brazil. Butterflies were recorded monthly across old-growth forest stands and their assemblages were described in terms of taxonomic and functional community-level attributes confronted to different levels of chronic disturbance and aridity. Butterfly assemblages were species-poor but had high species replacement (turnover) along both the chronic disturbance and aridity gradients. We observed a negative effect of aridity on alpha and beta diversity of butterfly assemblages. Butterfly assemblages across forest stands exposed to high levels of chronic disturbance and aridity had a nested structure. Functional diversity (Rao's Q) and the community-weighted means (CWM) of ocellus-bearing species and monocot-feeding larvae were negatively and positively affected by increased aridity and chronic disturbance, respectively. Our findings suggest that aridity and its combination with chronic disturbance have a drastic effect on the structure of butterfly assemblages in the Caatinga dry forest. These findings highlight that rainfall and chronic disturbances as major drivers of biological reorganization in human-modified landscapes. As aridity increases, Caatinga tends to support taxonomically and functionally impoverished and highly distorted assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the 4E assessment (Energetic, Exergetic, Exergoeconomic and Exergoenvironmental) of a low-temperature ORC activated by two different alternatives is presented. The first alternative (S1) contemplates the activation of the ORC through the recovery of waste heat from a flash–binary geothermal power plant. The second alternative (S2) contemplates the activation of the ORC using direct heat from a geothermal well. For both alternatives, the energetic and exergetic models were established. At the same time, the economic and environmental impact models were developed. Finally, based on the combination of the exergy concepts and the economic and ecological indicators, the exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental performances of the ORC were obtained. The results show higher economic, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental profitability for S1. Besides, for the alternative S1, the ORC cycle has an acceptable economic profitability for a net power of 358.4 kW at a temperature of 110 °C, while for S2, this profitability starts being attractive for a power 2.65 times greater than S1 and with a temperature higher than 135 °C. In conclusion, the above represents an area of opportunity and a considerable advantage for the implementation of the ORC in the recovery of waste heat from flash–binary geothermal power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the susceptibility of indicator bacteriophages towards γ-radiation to evaluate their appropriateness as viral indicators for water quality control. The effects of γ-radiation on naturally occurring somatic coliphages, F-specific coliphages and Escherichia coli were examined in raw sewage and sewage sludge. As well, the effects of radiation on bacteriophages ΦX174 and MS2, and E. coli all grown in the laboratory and seeded in distilled water, autoclaved raw sewage and a 1% peptone solution were evaluated. The inactivation of E. coli was fairly similar in all matrices. In contrast, inactivation of bacteriophages was significantly greater in distilled water than in the other matrices. These results showed the great influence of the matrix characteristics on virus inactivation. Somatic coliphages in raw sewage and sewage sludge and ΦX174 in autoclaved sewage were inactivated similarly and were far more resistant than F-specific coliphages, MS2 and E. coli. As well, F-specific RNA bacteriophages in raw sewage and sewage sludge and MS2 in autoclaved sewage were inactivated similarly and were more resistant than E. coli. In contrast, MS2 was more susceptible to γ-radiation than E. coli in distilled water. Our results showed that ΦX174 is a suitable indicator for estimating virus inactivation by γ-irradiation and corroborate the use of somatic coliphages to survey the viral quality of treated water and sludges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Featured Application: The LUPLES method, explained in this paper, allows for the estimation of the level of pressures to which lentic waterbodies are exposed from land uses in the catchment area and direct alterations in their basin. The method can be used to approach the intensity of pressures and the possible effects of land uses in the catchment (and its changes) on the ecological status of lentic waterbodies, as having being validated by the correlation of the LUPLES estimated pressure levels with the metrics measuring impacts according to the Water Framework Directive. The features of lentic waterbodies largely depend on the surrounding environment. Mediterranean coastal lagoons have been historically altered, with their catchment being highly modified for agricultural, livestock, or urban uses. Changes in land uses induce pressures that impact the waterbodies and alter their ecological status. The objectives of this paper were: to develop a methodological approach (LUPLES: Land Uses for estimating Pressure Levels to approach the Ecological Status), to quantify the main pressures on the waterbodies and to forecast the possible impacts of these pressures on their ecological status. Corine-Land Cover maps and Geographic Information System technics were used to delineate and identify land uses in the catchments. Specific algorithms were created to quantify the main pressures from land uses in the catchment and hydro-morphological alterations in the immediate basin. The values of the estimated pressure levels were correlated with ecological status indicators using metrics developed for the European Water Framework Directive. Data were obtained from European and River Basin Authorities databases. Results showed statistically significant correlations between the pressure levels quantified by the LUPLES method and the impact level detected by biological, physical and chemical metrics. This method provides a useful approach to estimate the pressure levels affecting lentic waterbodies and could be applied to approach how they could affect their ecological status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated crop–livestock–forest is a promising strategy to improve soil quality. It comprises four different integrated farming systems: crop–livestock, crop–forest, forest–livestock and crop–livestock–forest. This work systematically reviewed studies about integrated crop–livestock–forest systems and soil quality. A total of 92 papers were retrieved from the Web of Science—Clarivate Analytics platform, and the following information was analysed: publication year, institution, region of the studied site, type of integrated system, soil type, tillage system, maximum soil depth and the soil quality indicators assessed. Most studies were published in the second half of the 2010s. Brazil is a prominent focus of research about soil quality and integrated crop–livestock–forest systems, with significant contribution from its central and southern regions. The Embrapa was the main publishing institution, present in over one‐third of the studies. Crop–livestock was the most common integrated system, Ferralsols was the most common soil group, and most of the studied soils were clayey. No tillage was the main tillage system. Most studies focused on the topsoil, assessing physical and/or chemical soil quality indicators. More emphasis on biological indicators of soil quality is required, as well as assessments integrating biological, physical and chemical indicators of soil quality. Future works should compare different integrated systems, including assessments deeper in the soil profile, especially in systems with the forest component, and also in sandy and silty soils. Soil quality indicators that have been rarely used should be further tested. Novel indicators should be added to better understand the promotion of soil quality by integrated crop–livestock–forest systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mammal Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with the acute toxicity of distillery wastewater on freshwater catfish, Mystus vittatus (Bloch), at different concentration and duration of exposure on the mortality and ethological alterations. The LC50 for 96 hours of treated distillery effluent for Mystus vittatus was 3.38 % (v/v). The result revealed that mortality rate depends upon concentrations of distillery wastewater and duration of exposure. The effluent exposed test fish showed alterations in behavioural responses viz., hyperactivity (jumping and surface activity), convulsion, somersaulting activity, eye and fin movement and equilibrium status. It was observed that with the increasing concentration and exposure period these activities were relatively increased, expressing the sign of distress. Thus, the result of present study revealed that fish, Mystus vittatus are sensitive to distillery wastewater and can be used as biological indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ingeniería y Universidad is the property of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Raptors are a diverse avian guild distributed worldwide and adapted to different environments. At a global scale, many raptors are considered umbrella species of particular importance in conservation. Birds of prey play a crucial role in the conservation of ecosystems and are assumed as flagship species in relation to other taxa. [Extracted from the article]

The paper presents the results of the study of Karginsky and Sartansky deposits of the Kolyma Lowland, synchronous with marine isotope stages (MIS) 3 and 2, and microphytofossils from them. During the accumulation of Karginsky deposits, various landscapes existed in this territory: communities of humid and dryish tundras, larch sparse forests, and tundra swamps, including habitats occupied by pioneer and steppe vegetation. The Sartansky deposits were formed under more uniform, cold and dry conditions. The results of the microbiomorphic study indicate the predominance of tundra herbaceous, mainly cereal associations in combination with the moss cover. Satisfactory preservation of microphytofossils from these strata is due to the specificity of the cryolithozone with a predominance of low temperatures throughout the year and low microbiological activity. The presence of spores and pollen with physical damage (ruptures and cracks) and corroded forms of phytoliths can be associated with their presence in the seasonally thawed layer during alternating freezing and thawing cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban ecology is a promising research field in limnology, but we still need to evaluate how urban waterbodies can sustain biodiversity. In this paper, we present a comprehensive foodweb perspective of urban waterbodies in the city of Montréal (Québec, Canada). The research goals are to evaluate if biodiversity and community structure of foodweb components (phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates) are valuable tools for assessing the ecological status of urban waterbodies and examine how they are controlled by multiple factors related to trophic status and habitat complexity (origin, water residence, macrophyte cover, fish, and management practices). Multiple factor analysis, correlations, and non-parametric tests were used to examine the relationships between the environmental factors and foodweb biological variables. Our case study confirms that urban waterbodies are important sources of biodiversity and reveals that foodweb-based biological indicators are reliable tools for the biomonitoring of urban waterbodies. Foodweb biodiversity and community structure were more influenced by habitat complexity than by trophic status. The key determinants of variation were the differences in water regime, management of temporary and permanent waterbodies, and contrasts in habitat complexity depending on pond origin (artificial or natural) and macrophyte cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Benthic macroinvertebrates of inland waters, including running waters and lakes, are frequently used in biomonitoring. Sometimes, environmental data associated with species lists are not available; in this situation traits or functional adaptations of species to environment can be considered as a tool to translate the list of species into a useful index to evaluate the environmental quality a body of water. Chironomids are the species-richest family among macroinvertebrates and are often used as indicators of ecological conditions in inland waters. High taxonomic expertise is needed for identification and new species are still being described even in the well-known West Palearctic region. Our Microsoft Access relational database comprises data on Chironomid species collected in rivers and lakes in Italy and some other European countries over a period of about 50 years, often associated with physical-chemical data, but in some cases, only data on Chironomids are available with no associated environmental data. The aim of the present paper was to propose the calculation of ecological traits of Chironomid species as a tool to derive information on water quality, when only data on Chironomid species composition are present, while environmental data are lacking. Traits summarizing the species' response to environmental variables were evaluated, with emphasis on natural and man-influenced factors: current velocity, water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients. Traits calculations were carried out in the R environment using a subset of our data, including both environmental data and Chironomid abundances. The relations between sites, Chironomid, species and traits were evaluated using correspondence analysis and other multivariate methods. The response of species showed an interaction among different factors, with the possibility of ordering species along a single environmental gradient, extending from cold running waters to warm standing waters, with few exceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately one quarter of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere annually from human activities is absorbed by the ocean, resulting in a reduction of seawater pH and shifts in seawater carbonate chemistry. This multi-decadal process, termed "anthropogenic ocean acidification" (OA) has been shown to have detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems. Recent years have seen a globally coordinated effort to measure the changes in seawater chemistry caused by OA, with best practices now available for these measurements. In contrast to these substantial advances in observing physico-chemical changes due to OA, quantifying their biological consequences remains challenging, especially from in-situ observations under real-world conditions. Results from two decades of controlled laboratory experiments on OA have given insight into the likely processes and mechanisms by which elevated CO2 levels affect biological process, but the manifestation of these process across a plethora of natural situations has yet to be explored fully. This challenge requires us to identify a set of fundamental biological and ecological indicators that are i) relevant across all marine ecosystems, ii) have a strongly demonstrated link to OA, and iii) have implications for ocean health and the provision of ecosystem services with impacts on local marine management strategies and economies. This paper draws on the understanding of biological impacts provided by the wealth of previous experiments, as well as the findings of recent meta-analyses, to propose five broad classes of biological indicators that, when coupled with environmental observations, including carbonate chemistry, would allow the rate and severity of biological change in response to OA to be observed and compared. These broad indicators are applicable to different ecological systems, and the methods for data analysis suggested here would allow researchers to combine biological response data across regional and global scales by correlating rates of biological change with the rate of change in carbonate chemistry parameters. Moreover, a method using laboratory observation to design an optimal observing strategy (frequency and duration) and observe meaningful biological rates of change highlights the factors that need to be considered when applying our proposed observation strategy. This innovative observing methodology allows inclusion of a wide diversity of marine ecosystems in regional and global assessments and has the potential to increase the contribution of OA observations from countries with developing OA science capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data compilation for invertebrates and protists indicator taxa of organic pollution and trophic state of continental waters. Information was collected from research papers, monographs, electronic resources, and our own research. Altogether 1732 indicator taxa of Kingdoms Protista, Protozoa, Chromista, and Animalia from 19 taxonomical Phyla are represented with ecological preferences for saprobity with saprobity index (S) and trophic state. This comprehensive data can be used for the purpose of aquatic ecosystem assessment and monitoring of water quality based on bioindication methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents recent data on the demographic structure and population size of C. calceolus in European Russia. The assessment of the species distribution and population size is based on the global classification of terrestrial ecoregions. The long-term dynamics of the number and age structure (150 populations) of C. calceolus were revealed for the 20-year research period, 1997–2020. It has been reliably determined that the number of reproductive plants is positively related to temperature indicators, while the number of pre-reproductive individuals depends on humidity factors and negatively on temperature. Three types of basic age spectra were identified: (1) centered 3:10:47:40 (juvenile (j): immature (im): virginal (v): reproductive (g)), the most common in the European part of the Russian Federation (RF); (2) bimodal 15:26:33:26 (j:im:v:g), mainly found in the western regions; (3) right-hand 0:3:13:82:2 (j:im:v:g:s), which steadily appears in the continental climate of eastern regions of European Russia. The current baseline spectra of C. calceolus populations differ from the baseline spectrum of the species given in the 20th century. The base spectra significantly depends on ecological-phytocoenotic plant community structure and abiotic features of habitats, it shown using the ecological indicator values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecologia Austral is the property of Asociacion Argentina de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The most frequent thyroid cancer is Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC) representing more than 95% of cases. A suitable choice for the treatment of DTC is the systemic administration of 131-sodium or potassium iodide. It is an effective tool used for the irradiation of thyroid remnants, microscopic DTC, other nonresectable or incompletely resectable DTC, or all the cited purposes. Dosimetry represents a valid tool that permits a tailored therapy to be obtained, sparing healthy tissue and so minimizing potential damages to at-risk organs. Absorbed dose represents a reliable indicator of biological response due to its correlation to tissue irradiation effects. The present paper aims to focus attention on iodine therapy for DTC treatment and has developed due to the urgent need for standardization in procedures, since no unique approaches are available. This review aims to summarize new proposals for a dosimetry-based therapy and so explore new alternatives that could provide the possibility to achieve more tailored therapies, minimizing the possible side effects of radioiodine therapy for Differentiated Thyroid Cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current trend of continuous biodiversity loss resulted in several international and national regulations and funding schemes to target biodiversity protection and halt its loss. Conceiçao et al. ([3]) use niche-based models to predict changes in ostracod diversity in South America as a result of future climate change in order to formulate evidence-based management plans for aquatic ecosystems. Guest editors: Koen Martens, Sidinei M. Thomaz, Diego Fontaneto & Luigi Naselli-Flores / Emerging Trends in Aquatic Ecology IV Our understanding of aquatic ecology and ecosystem functioning continuously improves. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Proceedings of the Faculty of Economics in East Sarajevo / Zbornik Radova Ekonomskog Fakulteta u Istočnom Sarajevu is the property of University of East Sarajevo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Public management service is the key to urban intelligent construction. This paper proposes an analysis method and model based on Spark big data framework and takes resident income, happiness index, urban planning, and ecological environment as the indicators of Spark big data. From the high difficulty of Spark big data cluster analysis of urban public management, we build the index weight by the entropy weight method, optimize the similarity calculation, and achieve the rapid understanding of urban public management. Subsequently, the Spark big data public management platform is applied to the public management of Beijing. The results indicate that the public management platform based on Spark big data framework can improve the public management level of the city and help to build an intelligent city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlation coefficient can calculate paired correlations among different ecological indicators as a whole, but it cannot calculate the specific interval association and the correlation among multiple indicators. This paper proposed an interval association (IA) method of the remote sensing ecological index (RSEI), based on the concept lattice and frequent closed itemset. In the IA method, the ecosystem was viewed as a complex system with a hierarchical structure, and the association among multiple indicators was calculated using the information granulation of RSEI. The interval association support degree (IASD) could measure the association clustering strength of these IA concepts. Calculation of MODIS data compiled by Google Earth Engine (GEE) showed that the IA concepts of RSEI in China were primarily composed of selected middle indicator intervals in 2017. The overall eco-environmental condition in China was general when assessed through IA. The spatial distribution of the remote sensing eco-environment in China displayed strong spatial association clustering. Furthermore, the IA of RSEI focused on the first few concepts with high IASD values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gross ecosystem product (GEP) is the gross value of all ecosystem products and services provided by ecosystems for human society. In practice, GEP measures the ecosystems' contributions to human well-being and constitutes one of the core issues in the construction of ecological civilization systems. Currently, GEP accounting faces a series of problems, such as the inconsistency of accounting subjects and a lack of accounting standards, the result of which is the non-reproducibility and weak applicability of accounting results. In this paper, mainstream models for ecosystem service valuation are summarized in a systematic manner. On this basis, eight basic principles are established for screening accounting indicators: biological productivity, human benefits, production territoriality, current increment, actual effectiveness, physical metrizability, data availability, and harmlessness. Next, a series of ecosystem service subjects are identified that need to be excluded from accounting, and the detailed reasons for their exclusion are presented. Finally, three ideas for improving GEP accounting are offered from the perspectives of the relationship between biological production and human production, the circulation-transport relationship and spatial differences, and harms to the ecosystem carrying capacity. The purpose is to provide positive considerations aimed at promoting the socio-economic applications of accounting and to contribute to the scientific quantification of the values of ecological products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Ecological data often contain spatial structures that are latent indicators of ecological processes of interest. The emergence of spatial pattern analysis has advanced ecological studies by identifying spatial autocorrelation and testing its relationship to underlying processes. Spatial point pattern tests such as Ripley's K function were designed for identifying spatial patterns, however they are not without their limitations. Objectives: Recently another graphical technique, AG-curve, was proposed. This paper examines its suitability for classifying disturbance patterns in remote sensing scenery containing tens of thousands of pixels. Methods: To answer the question, Is there a significant pattern of disturbance or decline present?, landscapes that were subject to disturbance from mining, wildfire and logging activities were analyzed and compared using the AG-curve technique, which classifies spatial patterns in a window as either random, aggregated, or regular (dispersed). 40 × 40 km windows of NDVI data covering the three prototypical disturbance landscapes and one undisturbed landscape were analyzed for the presence of patterns. Results: From a raster representing the net change in NDVI spanning 18 years, the AG-curve correctly classified the spatial pattern of disturbance in the three disturbance landscapes as a pattern of aggregation among the net-loss in NDVI pixels. In contrast, the undisturbed landscape was classified as random. Conclusion: The AG-curve is a descriptive classification technique useful for identifying spatial patterns in remote sensing imagery and discerning clustered from dispersed patterns. Results highlight that information about the spatial scale of the pattern is also apparent when interpreting the AG-curve graph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two sides to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which appear at risk of contradiction. One calls for humanity to achieve "harmony with nature" and to protect the planet from degradation, with specific targets laid out in Goals 6, 12, 13, 14, and 15. The other calls for continued global economic growth equivalent to 3% per year, as outlined in Goal 8, as a method for achieving human development objectives. The SDGs assume that efficiency improvements will suffice to reconcile the tension between growth and ecological sustainability. This paper draws on empirical data to test whether this assumption is valid, paying particular attention to two key ecological indicators: resource use and CO2 emissions. The results show that global growth of 3% per year renders it empirically infeasible to achieve (a) any reductions in aggregate global resource use and (b) reductions in CO2 emissions rapid enough to stay within the carbon budget for 2°C. In other words, Goal 8 violates the sustainability objectives of the SDGs. The paper proposes specific changes to SDG targets in order to resolve this issue, such as removing the requirement of aggregate global growth and introducing quantified objectives for resource use per capita with substantial reductions in high‐income nations. Scaling down resource use is also the most feasible way to achieve the climate target, as it reduces energy demand. The paper presents alternative pathways for realizing human development objectives that rely on reducing inequality—both within nations and between them—rather than aggregate growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of a rare fly in a North London cemetery marks my entry point into a wider reflection on the value and significance of urban biodiversity. Using different indices of ecological endangerment, along with a critical reading of new materialist insights, this paper explores the cultural, political, and scientific significance of saproxylic (rotten wood) invertebrate communities in an urban context. The paper brings the fields of urban ecology and post‐humanism into closer dialogue to illuminate aspects to urban nature that have not been systematically explored within existing analytical frameworks. We consider a series of intersecting worlds, both human and non‐human, as part of a glimpse into saproxylic dimensions to urban nature under a putative transition to a new geo‐environmental epoch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information from the International Society of Environmental Bioindicators (ISEBI). Results of the first successful e-ballot elections for new officers and brief biographical information on the newly elected officers are presented, including the election of Diane Henshel as President, Michel Warnau as Europe-Africa Vice President, and Rudolf Wu as Asia-Pacific Vice President. The ten best papers voted for by the journal and ISEBI and a conference announcement are mentioned.

Environmental sustainability is increasing emphasis on global environmental concerns at the forefront of public policy debate. This paper investigates the relationship between energy investments and environmental sustainability in China from 1980 to 2018 while considering the moderating effect of international trade and economic growth under the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. We apply advanced econometric modeling for empirical analysis. Our findings show that energy investment and economic growth are positive, while international trade is negatively associated with ecological footprints. Moreover, economic growth and energy investment deteriorate, while international trade improves environmental sustainability. This empirical evidence suggests the improvements in cleaner energy infrastructure with the participation of the private sector to promote clean energy investment. We argue that policymakers should ensure environmental provisions in the regional and bilateral trade agreements to harmonize the environmental regulations, and develop crucial trade and ecological policy indicators to monitor policy consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the research study is analyses and assessment of the Ecological Indicators of Energy Management in The Transition to Sustainability and measure the current state by devising a software system to do so. The global community is using natural resources very intensely – at rates exceeding nature’s ability to regenerate their productivity potential. Economically developed countries throughout the whole world should prepare a new sustainable development strategy including the marked development of renewable natural resource production, as well as the effective implementation of various environmental protection measures. The goal of this paper is to assess the Ecological Indicators of Energy Management in The Transition to Sustainability and realize a review, and synthesis of opportunities for future research. There is a gap in published research regarding current Ecological Indicators of Energy Management in The Transition to Sustainability and what are the required for achieving sustainability. The research aims to approach the analysis of the emerging trends in Ecological Indicators of Energy Management in The Transition to Sustainability and comparison using qualitative method and questionnaire as well as two focus groups. The research methodology used is triangulation technique which combines qualitative and quantitative methodology. The issues, findings as well as recommendations are discussed and argumented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the acute toxicity of Sugar factory effluent on freshwater catfish, Mystus vittatus (Bloch), at different concentration and duration of exposure on the mortality and ethological alterations. The LC50 for 96 hours of sugar factory effluent for Mystus vittatus was 3.10% (v/v). The result also revealed that mortality rate depends upon concentrations of effluent and duration of exposure. The effluent exposed test fish showed alterations in behavioural responses. The behavioural alterations of Mystus vittatus during the present experiment was found to depend on both duration of exposure and increase in concentration of the effluent and duration of exposure. The mortality rate was found to be directly proportional to the concentration of effluent. Thus, the present revealed that fish, Mystus vittatus are sensitive to distillery wastewater and can be used as biological indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes and presents the results from our years-long in situ analyses of the populations of the Marsh frog P. ridibundus and the Green toad B. viridis inhabiting freshwater ecosystems in South Bulgaria with different degrees of anthropogenic transformation. It covers the period 2009-2017 with tests of the application of fluctuating asymmetry in meristic morphological traits as a marker for deviation assessment of the developmental stability of individuals of both species as well as for parallel and independent from physicochemical analyses assessment of the quality of their living environment. The analyses held on the territory of South Bulgaria are divided into three phases: first (2009-2010), second (2011-2015) and third (2016-2017). The results of our investigations conducted over a period of 9 years, show that changes in asymmetry levels in meristic morphological traits in adult and sexually mature representatives of P. ridibundus and B. viridis are a very good bioindication method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The periodically detached and regenerated antlers are a diagnostic trait of deer (family Cervidae) and represent the most rapidly growing bones of mammals. During their species-specific and seasonally fixed growth period of a few months, antlers can accumulate large amounts of 'bone-seeking' elements that are incorporated into the bone mineral. This makes antlers 'naturally standardised' environmental samples that can be used to monitor environmental pollution of deer habitats by these elements. The present contribution reviews studies utilising hard antlers as environmental archives to reconstruct temporal and spatial variation of contaminant levels in different geographic regions. We further discuss the use of lead isotope signatures in antlers for source apportionment of environmental lead and the impact of excess fluoride uptake on antler mineralisation. In addition, promising areas for future research using antlers as bioindicators are discussed. Antlers are a unique trait of deer and can be used as 'naturally standardised' environmental samples for monitoring ambient levels of bone-seeking pollutants. The present paper reviews basic aspects of antler growth and the history of using antlers as monitoring units in environmental research. Furthermore, we identify promising approaches for future studies using antlers as bioindicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Semayang is a floodplain lake with an area of ±13,000 ha. Over time, this lake has experienced a lot of ecological pressure due to anthropogenic changes that have an impact on the condition of the waters in it. Water quality is highly dependent on the presence of aquatic biota. One of the aquatic biotas that are very important in determining the condition of the waters is the benthos, namely animals that live on the bottom of the waters and are bioindicators from a biological point of view. The methodology is by taking benthic samples in the field using the Ekman Grab, identifying, and analyzing the calculation of abundance, diversity, and looking at the condition of the surrounding waters. This paper describes the presence of benthic macroinvertebrate communities as bioindicators of aquatic health. The research was conducted from March to October 2018 at five observation stations with purposive sampling. The results showed that the highest macrozoobenthos communities were in the families Tubificidae and Thiaridae, namely Branchiura sowerbyi and Melanoides sp. The presence of B. sowerbyi and Melanoides sp indicates that the condition of the waters is still in the good category with moderate diversity values, rich in organic matter with low dissolved oxygen (DO) conditions, and high suspended particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]