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The Okavango River Basin (ORB), including the World Heritage site Okavango Delta, is a region of high biodiversity projected to suffer increased early summer drying under climate change. Little work has been done on drought over this sensitive region. Here, various drought metrics are analysed over the ORB. These include a cumulative drought intensity index, based on the product of maximum temperature anomaly and maximum duration of a dry spell, and the Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index. Strong gradients in dry spell and hot day frequencies shift south over the ORB from August to November as the tropical rain‐belt moves increasingly south of the equator, the Congo Air Boundary declines and the Botswana High strengthens and moves southwestwards. By December, the tropical gradient in dry spell frequencies has vanished while that across the Limpopo River and southern ORB region, where the Botswana High is centred, is prominent. sub‐seasonal analyses highlight October–November 2013–2021 as particularly dry and hot over the Okavango Delta region. This dry and hot epoch appears related to a stronger and southward shifted Botswana High and reduced low‐level moisture convergence. On interannual scales, strong relationships were found with the Botswana High and El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The early summer shows a strong drying‐warming trend, related to a significant strengthening of the Botswana High. These trends, together with the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 projected early summer drying over southern Africa, may impact severely on the sensitive ecosystems of the ORB and on agriculture, with important implications for the management of agricultural activities, water resources and biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of four dimensions on Generation Z's intentions to work in the tourism industry in their hometown of Antequera (Malaga, Spain) within the specific tourism context of World Heritage Sites (WHSs). We estimate the influence of young residents' perceptions toward tourism development through WHS recognition, community involvement, and place attachment on this variable, following the theory of planned behavior (TPB). A structural equation model based on variance by partial least squares, PLS-SEM, has been proposed. The results show that Generation Z's community involvement, place attachment, and positive perceptions toward tourism development directly influence their intentions to work in their WHS hometown; meanwhile, the negative perceptions toward tourism development have no direct impact on these intentions to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Earth's polar regions are low rates of inter‐ and intraspecific diversification. An extreme mammalian example is the Arctic ringed seal (Pusa hispida hispida), which is assumed to be panmictic across its circumpolar Arctic range. Yet, local Inuit communities in Greenland and Canada recognize several regional variants; a finding supported by scientific studies of body size variation. It is however unclear whether this phenotypic variation reflects plasticity, morphs or distinct ecotypes. Here, we combine genomic, biologging and survey data, to document the existence of a unique ringed seal ecotype in the Ilulissat Icefjord (locally 'Kangia'), Greenland; a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is home to the most productive marine‐terminating glacier in the Arctic. Genomic analyses reveal a divergence of Kangia ringed seals from other Arctic ringed seals about 240 kya, followed by secondary contact since the Last Glacial Maximum. Despite ongoing gene flow, multiple genomic regions appear under strong selection in Kangia ringed seals, including candidate genes associated with pelage coloration, growth and osmoregulation, potentially explaining the Kangia seal's phenotypic and behavioural uniqueness. The description of 'hidden' diversity and adaptations in yet another Arctic species merits a reassessment of the evolutionary processes that have shaped Arctic diversity and the traditional view of this region as an evolutionary freezer. Our study highlights the value of indigenous knowledge in guiding science and calls for efforts to identify distinct populations or ecotypes to understand how these might respond differently to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire, is considered one of the most important monuments of Iran. Its advanced state of deterioration motivated the need to carry out a study focused on analyzing the possible damage caused by the presence of soluble salts, and to assess the suitability of an electrokinetic treatment for their extraction. Preliminary diagnostics carried out on stone samples taken from the tomb confirmed that it is affected by the action of soluble salts, and especially by the presence of nitrates and sulfates. The effectiveness and possible harmful effects caused by electrokinetic treatment were evaluated, under laboratory conditions, using the same limestone that makes up the tomb. The obtained results show that this treatment, in a short period of time, reduces the ionic content, reaching high percentages of anion extraction, without causing any damage, which indicates that it is suitable for this type of stone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between archaeological tourism, UNESCO World Heritage designation, and the social value attached to archaeological sites in China. It aims to provide novel insights into such connections by examining the impact of archaeological tourism on the social values that local communities place on archaeological sites that are in the process of becoming World Heritage Sites. In recent decades, the increasing commercialization of archaeological sites for tourism, combined with the growing influence of the World Heritage listing process, has had a significant impact on the lives of communities in close proximity to archaeological sites. One way to comprehend such an effect is to examine changes in the social values assigned to those sites by their local residents. This is due to the ability of tourism development to (re)create and modify such values attributed to archaeological sites by changing their function, capacity, quality, and meaning. The World Heritage listing process, particularly during the pre-nomination period, plays an important role in shaping the tourist transformation of these sites in preparation for World Heritage inscription. Against this backdrop, this article focuses on two archaeological sites that have recently obtained the World Heritage status: the Daming Palace archaeological site and the Huashan rock art area. By applying ethnographic approaches, the article illustrates the complex influence of tourism development and the World Heritage Convention on contemporary Chinese society, in order to encourage further reflection on the existing management and development mechanisms of archaeological sites in China and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Valley of the Kings (KV) is located within a large funerary landscape called the Theban Necropolis, in Luxor, Egypt. In 2018, our team started to monitor the transient conditions of a 15 m rock column of micritic limestone above the tomb KV42 and a fracture located at the west end of the column (lateral fracture), registering thermo-mechanical displacements with a crack metre, infrared thermographic sensor, and a weather station. The data from April 2018 to May 2021 showed seasonal fluctuations in the rock surface temperature (RST) from 12°C (winter) to 45°C (summer), as well as an average reversible fracture opening (FO) rate of 1 mm/year. The measured average thermo-mechanical ratio of FO to RST was 0.05 mm/°C. Data collected at the site were used to calibrate a finite difference model in FLAC®8.0 for thermo-mechanical simulations. The results showed a correlation (R2) of 0.8 between measured data and elastic isotropic mechanical constitutive model results, with a ratio of FO to RST equal to 0.03 mm/°C and rates of reversible displacements of 0.8 mm/year, whereas the average irreversible displacement for the monitored period of 2018–2021 was 0.2 mm/year. The insights from this study can help provide a preservation approach for this area of the UNESCO World Heritage site and also enhance our understanding of environmentally driven long-term fracture growth mechanisms, such as thermo-mechanical fatigue. In the future, such insights could become more important as the global and local magnitude of daily and annual temperature fluctuations continue to increase. Highlights: Our team conducts fieldwork in the Valley of the Kings (Luxor, Egypt), monitoring a rock column of 15 m which is attached at the bottom to the adjacent cliff. Cyclic behaviour of temperature and fracture opening were registered between April 2018 and May 2021, at a ratio of 0.05 mm/°C. The fracture opening trend increased throughout the monitored period at rates of 0.2 mm/year, showing irreversible deformation of the rock column. Thermo-mechanical numerical model in FLAC (R) software intended to fit the observed data, under elastic conditions with an R2 of 0.8. The thermal inputs showed that thermal regions change in extension, associated to the shading patterns from the cliffs and hills around the rock column. For FLAC simulations, the ratio between fracture opening and rock surface temperature is 0.03 mm/°C. Because of the cyclic nature of the displacement with the rock temperature, thermally assisted deformations are relevant to determine stability of the rock mass. This is impacted by the presence of joints, affecting the stability and the heat transfer process inwards the column. This could explain differences between observed and simulated data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous knowledges play a critical role in addressing the environmental crisis, and the United Nations system has adopted a suite of international treaties to protect and strengthen Indigenous peoples' rights, which are often described as biocultural rights. Because World Heritage Areas are nominated and monitored by UNESCO, an initial hypothesis in this study was that such areas would be subject to higher than normal standards in regard to Indigenous people's biocultural rights. By reference to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia, this research examined how the international legislative framework influences conservation practices. We held semi‐structured interviews with conservation and Indigenous local experts and compared park management practices in the Area against those used in an Indigenous Protected Area. Findings align with the literature and suggest that Indigenous and scientific knowledge systems can generate new insights for the Area and other sites. Yet, Indigenous knowledges are only marginally applied in practice. Some barriers to full participation of Indigenous people are specific to the colonial history of the area. Yet, findings point to a lack of action by Australian governments and UNESCO, and that needs to be redressed. The study calls attention to the need to support and resource Indigenous people to enable collaborative partnerships to yield significant benefits for biodiversity and protection of Country. Using interviews, we engaged with experts and Indigenous peoples in the Blue Mountains to identify how Indigenous biocultural rights could be improved for park management, biodiversity conservation, and caring for Country. We consider some of the shortcomings of the UNESCO World Heritage guidelines and implementations in the Blue Mountains. The Australian government needs to better resource and support Indigenous leadership and co‐management in the park. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This review gives panorama of heritage digitization in China and categorizes digital twin techniques into six levels to address three specific tasks. • Terrestrial LiDAR and VR are the most prevalent digital twin technologies for decades, while sensor-based monitoring is recently prompted by policy incentives and legislations. • Most digital twin projects are dominated by public sectors, i.e., cultural management authorities, universities, and research institutes. • Efficient data utilization and the seamless integration of diverse data sources within cross-disciplinary collaborations are still challenging. Recent decades have witnessed digital twin as a toolkit to collect, process, and utilize graphical, spatial and other attribute data of cultural heritage. It has been widely applied on cultural world heritage sites in China, which have significant differences in ages, types, materials, and history of maintenance and conservation. Although specific cases are reported previously, a comprehensive overview is still lacking. This paper explores the association between digital twin and heritage conservation, classifying digital twin techniques into six levels to tackle three tasks: data acquisition, visualization and application. It systematically reviews Chinese heritage digitization practices, considering variations in complexity and purposes, and demonstrates typological and chronological characteristics as well as the composition of stakeholders. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of a review of the bird species historically observed in Niokolo-Koba National Park, a World Heritage Site and 913 000 ha natural protected area in southeastern Senegal. In carrying out this work we consulted both formal and informal literature, and contacted the original observers whenever possible to try to verify unusual observations. We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to support the historical presence of 400 bird species in or just outside the park, although two species can be considered as locally extinct. We also list 19 additional bird species whose presence can be considered as possible or probable. The historical patterns of the observations are briefly discussed. If only those species observed after 1992 are counted, 333 bird species would be considered as present in Niokolo-Koba National Park. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eurema brigitta (Stoll, 1780) is one of the few butterfly species distributed in most of the Old World tropics. In 2017, we documented its occurrence in Socotra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now, we clarify the origin of this specimen and further describe a phylogeographic pattern of this species by comparing Afrotropical, Malagasy and Oriental‐Australian populations using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I marker. We found a deep split between the Afrotropical and Oriental‐Australian populations of this taxon, which are separated by the Indian Ocean and dry eremic habitats on the northern coasts. A less deep but significant split also exists between E. b. brigitta (Stoll, 1780) from mainland Africa and E. b. pulchella (Boisduval, 1833) from Madagascar and surrounding islands. The individual from Socotra clearly originates from Africa. In addition, in accordance with the genetic pattern and the known morphological evidence, we propose to transfer the Oriental‐Australian populations into a separate species, Eurema drona (Horsfield, 1829) reinst. stat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural hazards pose a significant threat to historical cities which have an authentic and universal value for mankind. This study aims at codifying a multi-risk workflow for seismic and flood hazards, for site-scale applications in historical cities, which provides the Average Annual Loss for buildings within a coherent multi-exposure and multi-vulnerability framework. The proposed methodology includes a multi-risk correlation and joint probability analysis to identify the role of urban development in re-shaping risk components in historical contexts. The workflow is unified by exposure modelling which adopts the same assumptions and parameters. Seismic vulnerability is modelled through an empirical approach by assigning to each building a vulnerability value depending on the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) and modifiers available in literature. Flood vulnerability is modelled by means of stage-damage curves developed for the study area and validated against ex-post damage claims. The method is applied to the city centre of Florence (Italy) listed as UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982. Direct multi-hazard, multi-vulnerability losses are modelled for four probabilistic scenarios. A multi-risk of 3.15 M€/year is estimated for the current situation. In case of adoption of local mitigation measures like floodproofing of basements and installation of steel tie rods, multi-risk reduces to 1.55 M€/yr. The analysis of multi-risk correlation and joint probability distribution shows that the historical evolution of the city centre, from the roman castrum followed by rebuilding in the Middle Ages, the late XIX century and the post WWII, has significantly affected multi-risk in the area. Three identified portions of the study area with a different multi-risk spatial probability distribution highlight that the urban development of the historical city influenced the flood hazard and the seismic vulnerability. The presented multi-risk workflow could be applied to other historical cities and further extended to other natural hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of cultural and tourism public services in tourism destinations exerts a substantial influence on visitor experience and their overall quality of life. The current study applied structural equation modeling to empirically investigate the relationship between perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors and their quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effects of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction in the above-mentioned influence relationship was also explored. In order to collect data, a field survey was conducted in a world heritage site located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. A total of 550 questionnaires were delivered, out of which 518 valid questionnaires were retained for subsequent analysis. The results demonstrate that perceived cultural and tourism public services of visitors have significant and positive influence on their perceived value, and visitors' perceived value has a positive effect on their expectancy disconfirmation. Moreover, there is a strong and positive relationship between visitors' expectancy disconfirmation and their satisfaction and quality of life. Additionally, the mediating effect of perceived value, expectancy disconfirmation, and satisfaction exist, and these three mediating variables serve as full mediators. The present study addresses the theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and potential areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the spatial pattern of land use are inextricably linked to the ecosystem environment, and the assessment of regional eco-environment quality can help provide sustainable and healthy development strategies for heritage management organizations. In this study, based on RS and GIS technologies, we quantitatively analyzed the characteristics of land use changes in the Shibing Karst World Natural Heritage site from 2000 to 2020, and introduced the regional eco-environment quality assessment index for quantitative factor analysis. The results show that: (1) The heritage site is mainly dominated by forest and shrub, with more aggregated cropland, and impervious surfaces in the buffer zone. The area of shrub has increased during the 20-year period, occupying 12.63% of the total transferred area. Cropland has been basically converted to forest, accounting for more than 60% of the total transferred area, followed by shrubs, which have been basically transferred to ecologically better land types. (2) By analyzing the attitude of motivation, forest, shrub, and water have positive values, while cropland, grassland, and impervious surfaces have negative values. Grassland has the largest absolute value of kinetic attitude, and the smallest is for water. The integrated dynamic attitude is basically maintained at 24%, showing a state of rapid and then stable land category conversion. (3) Over the past 20 years, the regional eco-environment quality index has been stable between 0.68 and 0.71, and shows a trend of rapid growth and stabilization, which is consistent with the comprehensive attitude. The conversion between cropland, forest, and shrubs is the main cause of ecological improvement and deterioration. Overall, the relevant conservation measures at the site and China's corresponding responses to global climate change have led to a stabilization and increase in the regional ecological quality of the site. The management measures of the relevant authorities have begun to bear fruit, but further promotion of the sustainable development of the site is needed to provide a scientific model for the conservation of other karst heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis is the property of Editorial Office of Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis 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.)

Osun River, a UNESCO heritage site is currently under threat to unregulated mining activity along its course. Through remote sensing techniques, this study aimed to evaluate mining severity (number and size of mine pits) which was acquired and used to quantify landscape changes and degradation in water quality (turbidity) along the river. Studies were carried out using data for years 2020–2022 covering 2-km and 5-km buffer areas of the river's watershed. High-resolution Google Earth imagery and Landsat 8 imagery (OLI) were used for land-use land-cover assessment and computation of the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) respectively. The mining severity assessment for 2022 revealed a total of 32 mining pits within the 5-km buffer zone, where 21 mining pits (65.63%) of the total mining activities occurred within the 2-km buffer zone. The severity assessment in terms of both the number of mines and the land area covered revealed an extensive physical mining activity, with severe impacts on surface water quality. The predominantly irregular shapes of the mine pits, indicated by the mean perimeter-to-area ratio (X̅=0.22), linear regression (y = 0.1351x + 0.6102), and coefficient of determination (R2=0.88), portend challenges for post-mining reclamation, including erosion control and terrain stabilization. The declining trend in the upper limit NDWI values over the 3 years, 2020, 2021, and 2022 (0.053, 0.017, and −0.084476 respectively), indicates a significant reduction in water quality, plausibly associated with the heightened mining activity within the 2-km buffer areas of the river. The escalating habitat degradation and imminent effects on drinking water quality and biodiversity health underscore the pressing implications of unchecked mining, eroding the ecological and cultural significance of the Osun-Oshogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Urgent governmental action is crucial to enforce mining regulations, curbing these threats, and preserving the site's ecological and cultural importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape heritage is frequently contested as perspectives on heritage and landscape may vary across stakeholders. The present article makes a novel contribution by examining pathways to landscape heritage contestation. We propose a distinction between (a) heritage as object in matterscape, being the physical landscape out-there, (b) heritage as meaning in mindscape, being the landscape as experienced by a subject, and (c) heritage as political act in powerscape, being the landscape as rules that organise behaviour. Contestation, then, might originate in matterscape, mindscape, or powerscape. We illustrate these pathways to contestation upon analyses of semi-structured interviews among stakeholders of Schokland, The Netherlands, a World Heritage site. Findings reveal contestation about matterscape pertaining to the issue whether a water system leads to wet spots on adjacent agricultural land, about mindscape pertaining to the beauty of new nature developed around Schokland, and powerscape pertaining to the rules associated with the World Heritage status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the economic and socio-cultural effects of tourism on the Jatiluwih Village in Bali, which is designated as a World Cultural Heritage site. The study examines the challenges faced by the Operations Management in managing the tourist attraction while preserving the cultural heritage. It finds that tourism has brought increased income and modernization to the village, but also highlights issues such as income inequality and a decrease in mutual cooperation. The article suggests management programs to address these challenges and emphasizes the importance of balancing economic activities with the preservation of traditional social activities. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature 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.)

Although the ecological impacts of recreational activities in clear tropical streams are occasionally acknowledged and addressed, frequently they remain unmanaged, despite the fact that such streams are highly sought-after destinations for leisure pursuits. Here, we provide a case study on the ecological characteristics of the Indo-Pacifc freshwater pipefsh Microphis leiaspis Bleeker, 1854, which is a habitat specialist with little available information aside from its reproductive biology and the downstream migration patterns of its larvae. Drawing from our collective experiences, we describe the distribution and habitat of Microphis leiaspis and examine the potential impacts of various small-scale human activities on its livelihood, including those occurring within protected areas. In particular, we document incidental observations of human disturbances to adult Microphis leiaspis habitat in clear freshwater streams located within the Australian Wet Tropics (AWT) World Heritage Area. Using these observations as a foundation, we conceptualize human interactions with this species in the AWT streams and more broadly across the tropical Indo-Pacifc Ocean. Microphis leiaspis occurs in the lower-mid course of short-steep-coastal-streams, in association with pebble felds, where it feeds on microscopic benthic invertebrates. We observed three distinct human behaviours in the pipefsh habitat within the AWT, including stone-stacking, the construction of boulder-cobble dams, and stone-skimming. Additionally, we report on other small-scale human activities that may potentially impact this pipefsh species in streams across Pacifc Island nations and select coastal regions of continents. Our recommendation is to promote a 'leave no trace' approach to the public, which can be effectively communicated by key individuals such as indigenous custodians, national park managers, locals, and tourism operators. This approach aims to minimize rock movement by people, thereby aiding in the protection of diadromous pipefsh and other aquatic species residing in short-steep-coastal-streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diyarbakır City Walls, one of the longest defensive structures in the world, following the Great Wall of China, the walls of Antakya, and the walls of Istanbul, is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015. With a history of approximately 5000 years, the Diyarbakır City Walls have been affected by consecutive earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş in 2023, resulting in damages to various sections. Urgent restoration and repair interventions are needed for these sections of the Diyarbakır City Walls due to earthquake-induced damages. Although there are limited studies presenting stone analysis of the Diyarbakır City Walls in the literature, no studies focusing on mortar analysis have been found. The objectives of this study are as follows: (I) to identify the mechanisms and factors of earthquake damages in the Diyarbakır City Walls, (II) to conduct necessary analyses for the selection of mortar materials for post-earthquake repairs, and (III) to provide restoration and strengthening recommendations to ensure the sustainability of the original structure. Observational, petrographic, chemical, and SEM analysis techniques were used, and the findings were interpreted comparatively. The results demonstrate that the most severe damages after the earthquake in the Diyarbakır City Walls were caused by the inadequate adhesion of missing mortar joints and different types of materials used between double-walled structures. Additionally, the presence of clay minerals identified in the mineralogy of the mortar through experimental analysis was defined as an internal issue causing the loss of mortar due to osmotic pressure created by water absorption. Another factor causing the loss of mortar is the presence of chloride-type salts, which were found to be present in a significant amount in all samples and were attributed to the use of Portland cement in previous faulty repairs. It was also determined that recent faulty repointing works contributed to the loss of mortar. Finally, this article presents original restoration and strengthening recommendations to repair the earthquake-induced damages and prevent their reoccurrence in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Natural World Heritage site (NWH) has a dual role of protection and utilization. The buffer zone of the South China Karst (SCK) World Heritage (WH) site is scattered with village dwellings, which adds pressure to preserve the outstanding universal value (OUV) and integrity protection of the WH site. The development of agroforestry is an essential means to maintain rural livelihoods, protect the ecological environment, and realize the protection and development of the heritage site. Studying the synergy and regulation of the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development is essential. This study takes the Shibing and Libo–Huanjiang karst WH as the study areas and administrative villages as the evaluation unit. From 2020 to 2023, through data methods such as remote sensing data interpretation, information data survey and collection, comprehensive index analysis, coupling coordination degree model, and GIS spatial analysis, a systematic study was conducted on the basic frontier research, synergy relationship, and regulation of the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development. The results demonstrate that the Shibing and Libo–Huanjiang karst WH sites integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone have a high coupling degree and a good coupling coordination relationship. This reveals that the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development are an interconnected and mutually influential whole, which the synergistic relationship between them is developing in a positive direction; The buffer zone agroforestry development lags behind the heritage site integrity protection, based on which proposed the regulatory measures for the synergy development of the heritage site integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone. The findings in this study provide references for the synergies development of the WH karst site integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The ancient city of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley (Israel), which lasted from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, has been continuously excavated since 1903 and is now recognized as a World Heritage Site. The site features multiple ruins in various areas, including temples and stables, alongside modern constructions, and public access is allowed in designated areas. The site has been studied extensively since the last century; however, its microbiome has never been studied. We carried out the first survey of the microbiomes in Tel Megiddo. Our objectives were to study (i) the unique microbial community structure of the site, (ii) the variation in the microbial communities across areas, (iii) the similarity of the microbiomes to urban and archeological microbes, (iv) the presence and abundance of potential bio-corroding microbes, and (v) the presence and abundance of potentially pathogenic microbes. Methods: We collected 40 swab samples from ten major areas and identified microbial taxa using next-generation sequencing of microbial genomes. These genomes were annotated and classified taxonomically and pathogenetically. Results: We found that eight phyla, six of which exist in all ten areas, dominated the site (>99%). The relative sequence abundance of taxa varied between the ruins and the sampled materials and was assessed using all metagenomic reads mapping to a respective taxon. The site hosted unique taxa characteristic of the built environment and exhibited high similarity to the microbiome of other monuments. We identified acid-producing bacteria that may pose a risk to the site through biocorrosion and staining and thus pose a danger to the site's preservation. Differences in the microbiomes of the publicly accessible or inaccessible areas were insignificant; however, pathogens were more abundant in the former. Discussion: We found that Tel Megiddo combines microbiomes of arid regions and monuments with human pathogens. The findings shed light on the microbial community structures and have relevance for bio-conservation efforts and visitor health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a number of years, heritage resources have suffered the negative effects of tourist pressure. Overtourism has been generating a wide-ranging debate on this issue. This work focuses on the strategies and measures adopted to address overtourism during the last 30 years at heritage attractions, which are much less studied than urban heritage centres. Specifically, it analyses measures relating to the management of site capacities based on the concept of tourist carrying capacity, using content analysis as a methodology. We have used the Alhambra in Granada as a case study as one of the most visited Spanish World Heritage Sites. The results obtained reflect a strong consensus on the need to introduce measures to restrict tourist activity, although these measures imply a great effort in terms of management and tend to be taken advantage of by some stakeholders for their own benefit. The extensive time frame of the measures adopted allows us to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of dealing with overtourism by using capacity management strategies and to extract useful conclusions for other heritage sites with similar problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World heritage sites are monuments and natural landscapes recognised by all humanity as being of outstanding significance and universal value. Spatial technology provides new ideas for the conservation and sustainable development of world heritage sites. Using a bibliometric analysis, this study extracted 401 relevant documents from the Web of Science database from 1990–2022. Meta information, such as abstracts, keywords of the papers were extracted and cleaned using bibliometric package and analysed the applications, partnerships and development trends of existing spatial technologies for world heritage sites. The results of the study show the "4D" characteristics of space technology in world heritage sites: (1) Development: Spatial applications in world heritage sites have gradually developed with an annual growth rate of 10.22% during the period 1990–2022. (2) Discrepancy: More than 70 per cent of countries have not been able to fully apply space technology on the ground at world heritage sites. (3) Desirability: Shared exchanges between research institutions are rare, and more cooperation and exchanges are expected, especially between transnationals. (4) Diversity: The future outlook for technology will be multidisciplinary, multi-method integrated research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of West Lake, in Hangzhou, China, also is a human-made lake managed since the ninth century CE to maintain selected ecological functions and visual integrity. Using perspectives of cultural and political ecology to examine historical data, we explore the ecosystem services of West Lake and management strategies to maintain these services at different governance levels over five broad periods. Results indicate that West Lake provided varying key ecosystem services to Hangzhou over time. Cultural services, such as recreation and tourism, began to replace provisional services and today are the most important contributions of the site. National, regional, and local policies directly and indirectly enhanced and undermined different ecosystem services over time. The perspectives of cultural and political ecology help understand strategies of creating and guiding long-term change of a managed landscape, providing important implications for sustaining future ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A standout feature of this book on the social life of antiquities in Greece and, in one case, Cyprus is the range of subjects, issues, approaches, and disciplines covered under the rubric of "contested antiquity." In chapter 1, "Hellas I Mon Amour i : Revisiting Greece's National "Sites of Trauma" " (53-79), Dimitris Plantzos identifies how the power imbalance between the West and Greece informs exhibition practices at museums and archaeological sites in Athens, which tend to replicate - without offering space for reflection or healing - the painful history of Greece's difficult relationship with ancient materials. Solomon has herself been part of the Archaeological Dialogues, a multidisciplinary collectivity formed in Athens to undertake a "critical and reflective dialogue about antiquities and archaeology in contemporary society" ([1]). But what are antiquity's connections with Greece's Cold War international politics, Thessaloniki's memory wars, or a former prison site?. [Extracted from the article]

Protected areas (PA) are one of the primary tools for conserving and protecting biodiversity, but their goals have evolved overtime beyond nature conservation to include supporting human communities within and adjacent to the PA. UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) offer a unique perspective on the success of PAs as they fall under three categories, cultural, natural, and mixed heritage sites. The nature of these categories encapsulates the inclusion of human communities in the goals of the WHS. To understand the impact and relationship the WHS has with its surrounding landscape, we assessed changes in three indicators, land use and land cover (LULC), human footprint (HF), and forest landscape integrity index (FLII), across three spatial scales, 1, 10, 100 km from the WHS boundary. We found that there is a conservation spillover effect at least within 1 km of the WHS boundary. In this buffer zone, HF was low and FLII was high. FLII was lower and HF was higher at larger spatial scales. The relationship between the WHS and its surrounding landscape is one reason to support the WHS network, however, management of PAs should be more explicit about this relationship as well as relationships between individual PAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to study the factors affecting the decision of international tourists to choose a tourism destination at Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Site. Based on the theory of intended behavior integrates new factors: Tourism products; Destination image; and Perceived risk. The research results show that: Using the Theory of Intended Behavior (TPB) with integration with 03 new components in the study of destination choice decisions of international visitors at the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Site is appropriate; The model achieves composite reliability, discriminant, and extracted variance. The empirical model reached a high level of explaining the variation of variance and the predictive power reached a medium level; Two intermediate structures have been identified in the model, namely Attitude and Destination Image; Affirming the importance of structures has a strong influence on the decision structure of tourist destination selection, namely, perceived risk, social influence, image, and tourism product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is conducted to find out the effect of Word-of-Mouth, Destination Image, and Tourist Satisfaction on the tourist's intention to revisit. The World Heritage site of Petra has been selected as a study site. The descriptive quantitative research design is employed; visitors of Petra were the target population and the convenience sampling method has been calculated using the G*Power software (version 3.1.9.7). Results reveal a strong relationship between e-WOM, destination image, tourist satisfaction, and revisit intention. Meanwhile, results show that destination image doesn't have any impact or relationship on tourist revisit intention. The study has a practical and theoretical importance that helps in managing the heritage site and enables researchers to address more critically the strength and weaknesses of Petra's marketing locally and globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visitor crowding issues caused by over-tourism at World Heritage Sites (WHS) are increasingly prominent. However, related studies and management give less consideration to the uneven tourist spatial-temporal distribution within micro-attractions, ignoring the detrimental impacts of local crowding on WHS' sustainable development. Aimed at exploring local crowding within heritage attractions from a perspective of time-space, this study used video-based computer vision technology to analyze tourist spatial-temporal distribution, density, and carrying capacity at stationary points (spatial locations where visitors stay and gather), taking a case study of the Master-of-Nets Garden, a World Cultural Heritage Site. The results indicated that although the total visitor number was below the attraction's carrying capacity, visitors repeatedly and quickly crowded at stationary points and formed high-density clusters, exceeding stationary points' space capacity and causing spatial local crowding. When visitors' dwell time was 5, 12, and 20 seconds, the crowding index K of stationary points was 3.4∼108.5, 1.7∼42.9, and 0.5∼33, indicating the spatial local crowding effect was negatively correlated with the length of visitors' dwell time at stationary points. Our contribution provides an accurate understanding of local crowding in WHS by highlighting the impact of tourist spatial-temporal distribution on carrying capacity and spatial crowding and suggests visitor management recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity conservation and management requires surveillance that captures the full spectrum of taxa. Here, we showcase the potential for a portfolio of visual, extractive, and molecular methods for detecting previously hidden components of tropical fish biodiversity in an economically and culturally valuable marine site that spans a tropical‐temperate ecotone—the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area. With scale and practicality in mind, we demonstrate how environmental DNA (eDNA) methods deployed in a stratified sampling design can yield a more comprehensive monitoring program for species presence than current alternatives (e.g., extractive sampling via anesthetic). eDNA from filtered water samples detected up to six times as many cryptobenthic fish species per site than samples collected with anesthetic, indicating it is a potentially powerful tool for assessing biodiversity of tropical fishes. However, there were also species that were only found when using anesthetic and the contribution of cryptobenthic species to overall diversity of the fish assemblage was unexpectedly low, suggesting not all cryptobenthic fish species have been detected with eDNA. There were also distinct differences in cryptobenthic assemblages both among sites and sample depths (2–3 m) when using eDNA from filtered water, suggesting this technique may be able to identify fine scale spatial differences in cryptobenthic fish assemblage. eDNA collected from water detects the most cryptobenthic species and is therefore an efficient tool for rapidly assessing biodiversity, but extractive techniques may still be required for biological and monitoring studies, and when combined with eDNA sampling provides the most comprehensive assessment of cryptobenthic fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The primary factors(s) responsible for the maintenance of Alternative biome states (ABS) in world forest biomes remains unclear and debatable, partly due to insufficient long-term ecological data from suitable ecosystem sites. The occurrence of moorland in southern and western Tasmanian wet temperate forest presents a suitable setting to test for ABS and understand the main stabilizing factors of ABS. Objectives: We use a palaeoecological approach to test for ABS and identify the degree of vegetation change and the effect of climate change and fire occurrence associated with ABS in southern Tasmania. Methods: Sediment sequence from sink-hole lake in a forest and nearby pond in southern Tasmania were analysed for pollen and charcoal to reconstruct histories of forest, moorland and fire in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). Reconstructions were compared to palaeoclimate record. Results: Moorland and forest in southern Tasmania have occupied the same habitat for at least the last 2600 years, and neither past climate change nor fire occurrence affected the stability of the vegetation mosaic. We suspect that localized environmental settings, such as topography and edaphic conditions are the primary stabilizing factors of the forest-moorland mosaics. Conclusions: The observed stable vegetation mosaics in our study is contrary to the dominant ecological paradigm of landscape dynamics currently used to manage the TWWHA, and there is a need to refine the ecological basis of fire management in the area. Similar targeted palaeoecological studies are needed to fully understand the underlying factors responsible for the persistence of treeless vegetation in world forest biomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As two of the most complete existing examples of royal architecture and cultural World Heritage Sites in China, the Beijing Forbidden City and the Shenyang Imperial Palace are distinctive in terms of their spatial organization. This study used the relational diagram method of space syntax theory to quantitatively analyze the spaces of these two palaces. Furthermore, the characteristics of these spaces were explored by comparing the integration and depth value of each palace space, as well as the differences in architectural culture between the different times and nationalities that they reflect. The results show that in the Forbidden City, office space had the lowest degree of spatial enclosure (depth value), while living space had the highest spatial enclosure. Moreover, there was little difference in accessibility (integration value) among office space, living space, and recreation space. In the Shenyang Imperial Palace, the accessibility of office space, living space, and recreation space showed a decreasing trend, while their spatial enclosure showed an increasing trend. The depth values of office space, living space, and recreation space were higher in the Beijing Forbidden City than in the Shenyang Imperial Palace by 245%, 109%, and 35%, respectively. The integration value of office space was 22.2% higher in the Shenyang Imperial Palace than in the Forbidden City, while the integration values of living space and recreation space were higher in the Forbidden City than in the Shenyang Imperial Palace by 13.9% and 49.2%, respectively. The degree of enclosure of the recreation spaces in both palaces was very strong, indicating that the royal family paid attention to privacy during their leisure activities. In the process of use, the functional conversion of different palaces in the Forbidden City significantly improved the accessibility of both the emperor's living space and the minister's office space and simultaneously strengthened the connection between these two spaces. Factors in the construction sequence led to the unreasonable accessibility of recreation space in the Shenyang Imperial Palace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Home Beyond the House: Transformation of Life, Place, and Tradition in Rural China" by Wei Zhao is a book that explores the impact of urbanization and development on traditional rural homes in China. The author, an architect and cultural preservationist, is concerned about the destruction of old houses and the loss of cultural traditions and rural lifestyles. The book focuses on a village called Yanxia in Zhejiang and examines the villagers' conceptions of home, which go beyond the physical boundaries of their dwellings and encompass their connection to the land and local traditions. The author also discusses the challenges faced by rural residents when their homes are destroyed and offers recommendations for preserving traditional settlements while modernizing them. The book provides valuable insights into the factors that shape the sense of home and serves as a useful reference for understanding the renovation, modernization, relocation, and urbanization of rural architectural environments. [Extracted from the article]

In the book "Sultanahmet, Istanbul's historic peninsula: musealization and urban conservation" by Pinar Aykaç, the author explores the transformation of the Sultanahmet district in Istanbul into a tourist destination. Aykaç examines the concept of "musealization" and its application to historic districts, arguing that entire areas are being converted into objects of touristic consumption. The book covers the historical development of Sultanahmet, the secularization efforts during the Republican period, changes in urban management and planning, the transformation into a global heritage site, and the impact of the Justice and Development Party's rule since 2002. Aykaç's work provides a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between power dynamics and historic urban spaces, offering historical insights into the consequences of musealization. [Extracted from the article]