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Natural resource management can struggle with increased visitation that inadvertently deteriorates the environment. In Aotearoa New Zealand, visitors to kauri forests are spreading a lethal soil pathogen resulting in cultural and conservation risk. While public awareness of kauri dieback disease is growing, compliance at hygiene stations has not similarly increased. To overcome this apparent knowledge-behaviour gap, five interventions (ambassadors, normative messaging, watching eye effect, hazard perception, and pledge board) were evaluated for their impact on visitor compliance with footwear/equipment cleaning behaviour. Behavioural observations (n = 10,536) and intercept surveys (n = 3,061) were collected. Ambassadors resulted in increased compliance for both visitors and local trail users. The pledge board resulted in increased compliance for local trail users only and normative message increased compliance at one visitor site. Hazard perception and watching eye resulted in a decrease in compliance behaviour. This research demonstrates the need for careful assessment of interventions designed to mitigate the impacts of visitors to conservation areas. The success of the ambassador intervention, the pledge board for locals and, to a lesser extent, the normative message at one location, offer field-based empirical evidence supporting the use of social norms in communication approaches aimed at influencing visitor behaviour in natural resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professor Malin Falkenmark, a renowned hydrologist, passed away in 2023 at the age of 98. She was a pioneer in the field of water science and advocated for global water stewardship and eradicating water poverty. Falkenmark challenged traditional views of the water cycle, emphasizing the importance of "green water" stored in soils and promoting a fair balance of water for humans and nature. Her work, including the development of the Falkenmark Index and the concept of green and blue water, has had a significant impact on water resource research and management. This text discusses Falkenmark's contributions and legacy, highlighting her role in advancing the understanding of water scarcity, climate change, and the importance of water management for sustainable development. Her initiatives and emphasis on building social-ecological resilience continue to inspire water professionals worldwide in finding solutions to the global water crisis. [Extracted from the article]

There exists an extensive, diverse, and robust evidence base to support complex decisions that address the planetary biodiversity crisis. However, it is generally not sought or used by environmental decision-makers, who instead draw on intuition, experience, or opinion to inform important decisions. Thus, there is a need to examine evidence exchange processes in wildlife management to understand the multiple inputs to decisions. Here, we adopt a novel approach, fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM), to examine perceptions of individuals from Indigenous and Western governments on the reliability of evidence which may influence freshwater fisheries management decisions in British Columbia, Canada. We facilitated four FCM workshops participants representing Indigenous or Western regulatory/governance groups of fisheries managers. Our results show that flows of evidence to decision-makers occur within a relatively closed governance network, constrained to the few well-connected decision-making organizations (i.e., wildlife management agencies) and their close partners. This implies that increased collaboration (i.e., knowledge co-production) and engagement (i.e., knowledge brokerage) with wildlife managers and decision-makers are needed to produce actionable evidence and increase evidence exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomonitoring of marine life has been enhanced in recent years by the integration of innovative DNA‐based approaches, which offer advantages over more laborious techniques (e.g. microscopy). However, trade‐offs between throughput, sensitivity and quantitative measurements must be made when choosing between the prevailing molecular methodologies (i.e. metabarcoding or qPCR/dPCR). Thus, the aim of the present study was to demonstrate the utility of a microfluidic‐enabled high‐throughput quantitative PCR platform (HTqPCR) for the rapid and cost‐effective development and validation of a DNA‐based multi‐species biomonitoring toolkit, using larvae of 23 commercially targeted bivalve and crustacean species as a case study. The workflow was divided into three main phases: definition of (off‐) target taxa and establishment of reference databases (PHASE 1); selection/development and assessment of molecular assays (PHASE 2); and protocol optimization and field validation (PHASE 3). 42 assays were eventually chosen and validated. Genetic signal not only showed good correlation with direct visual counts by microscopy but also showed the ability to provide quantitative data at the highest taxonomic resolution (species level) in a time‐ and cost‐effective fashion. This study developed a biomonitoring toolkit, demonstrating the considerable advantages of this state‐of‐the‐art technology in boosting the developmental testing and application of panels of molecular assays for the monitoring and management of natural resources. Once developed, this approach provides a cost and time‐effective alternative compared to other multi‐species approaches (e.g. metabarcoding). In addition, it is transferable to a wide range of species and will aid future monitoring programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife-related recreation is popular throughout the world with Americans spending over $150 billion dollars (U.S.) annually. I have conducted educational workshops (>200 events) to train U.S. landowners in natural resource enterprise management and operations offering recreational hunting, angling, and nature tourism excursions along with conservation management practices to enhance wildlife habitats on their lands. To measure impacts from these workshops, I conducted a comprehensive mail survey study with participants since 2010. Study findings revealed that private landowners who initiated wildlife-related recreational enterprises earned annual incomes and implemented conservation practices on their lands. More targeted training for landowners is recommended to enhance income diversification on privately owned lands and to increase conservation of wildlife habitats, land stewardship, and ecosystem services (i.e., clean water, biodiversity, and conservation zones) beneficial to society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas (PAs) are established to conserve wildlife habitats and biodiversity. To this end, the Chinese central government has initiated a pioneering environmental planning and management policy known as the Ecological Conservation Redline (ECR). While the ecological benefits of ECR policy have been extensively evaluated, spatially explicit assessment of the ECR remains understudied. Here, we propose an element-function-structure framework for assessing the concurrence of ECR areas and ecological conservation hotspots to further outline priority areas for conservation. Results show that 67% of existing PAs are protected by ECR areas, while that of ecological corridors is only 11%. Regional variation in the ECR representativeness can be leveraged by deliberately protecting tailored ecological conservation hotspots in specific locations and stepping stones in ecological corridors. This study highlights the substantial space for ecological management to achieve the goals of ECR policy, and discourses on the co-production of knowledge from researchers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution imagery and deep learning models have gained increasing importance in land-use mapping. In recent years, several new deep learning network modeling methods have surfaced. However, there has been a lack of a clear understanding of the performance of these models. In this study, we applied four well-established and robust deep learning models (FCN-8s, SegNet, U-Net, and Swin-UNet) to an open benchmark high-resolution remote sensing dataset to compare their performance in land-use mapping. The results indicate that FCN-8s, SegNet, U-Net, and Swin-UNet achieved overall accuracies of 80.73%, 89.86%, 91.90%, and 96.01%, respectively, on the test set. Furthermore, we assessed the generalization ability of these models using two measures: intersection of union and F1 score, which highlight Swin-UNet's superior robustness compared to the other three models. In summary, our study provides a systematic analysis of the classification differences among these four deep learning models through experiments. It serves as a valuable reference for selecting models in future research, particularly in scenarios such as land-use mapping, urban functional area recognition, and natural resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource management often co‐occurs with considerable uncertainty. One approach to mitigating uncertainty is through adaptive resource management (ARM), a specialized form of structured decision‐making that modifies management decisions or actions through monitoring and implementation.Here, we present a case study on the attempted eradication of an invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) in a 5‐ha enclosure on Guam with uncertainty in approach. We applied an ARM process across three field phases of snake removal and evaluated whether (1) eradication was achievable and (2) eradication was necessary to achieve an avian response. Field phases included the application of aerial toxic baits, toxicant baiting large mouse and birds, trapping with live mouse and bird lures and hand capture.We found that each removal technique improved control by either removing many individuals or targeting a subset of individuals that resisted prior control approaches. Although the effort did not result in eradication, the evaluation of identified indicators allowed for timely adjustments to removal using the ARM process.The snake removal efforts yielded an avian response in the treatment area after integrating live birds as snake lures, suggesting functional eradication of snakes may be possible. We also, however, observed a release of invasive rodents following snake control, with birds being more sensitive to the presence of snakes than rodents.Synthesis and applications. We suggest that using adaptive resource management to evaluate each phase of action in relation to established goals allowed us to measure outcomes and was successful in eliminating uncertainty in the application of control tools for wildlife conservation. We were able to create a documented and successful approach towards removing snakes inside a snake‐exclusion barrier by following the ARM process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust and distrust are important factors influencing the success or failure of natural resource management, yet the relationship between them is unclear. Using questionnaires and interviews with 53 knowledgeable stakeholders of Oregon's marine reserve system, we explored whether measuring trust and distrust generated similar results and how interviewees arrived at trust and distrust ratings. Paired trust-distrust ratings across eight trust targets supported a hypothesized difference in mean trust and reverse-coded distrust. However, qualitative findings provided evidence that interviewees relied on multiple conceptualizations of the relationship between trust and distrust and uncovered three critical issues. At times, trust and distrust ratings referred to different actions, individuals, and word meanings. We discuss how the relationship between trust and distrust may depend on who is asked and how they interpret the questions. However, we also note that the operationalization in this study presents a major limitation that could be overcome in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid environmental change, natural resource overconsumption and increasing concerns about ecological sustainability have led to the development of 'Essential Variables' (EVs). EVs are harmonized data products to inform policy and to enable effective management of natural resources by monitoring global changes. Recent years have seen the instigation of new EVs beyond those established for climate, oceans and biodiversity (ECVs, EOVs and EBVs), including Essential Geodiversity Variables (EGVs). EGVs aim to consistently quantify and monitor heterogeneity of Earth-surface and subsurface abiotic features, including geology, geomorphology, hydrology and pedology. Here we assess the status and future development of EGVs to better incorporate geodiversity into policy and sustainable management of natural resources. Getting EGVs operational requires better consensus on defining geodiversity, investments into a governance structure and open platform for curating the development of EGVs, advances in harmonizing in situ measurements and linking heterogeneous databases, and development of open and accessible computational workflows for global digital mapping using machine-learning techniques. Cross-disciplinary collaboration and partnerships with governmental and private organizations are needed to ensure the successful development and uptake of EGVs across science and policy. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Geodiversity for science and society'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is an integral part of natural resource management and sustainability transformations, and questions on how communication helps or hinders the development of more sustainable relationships between people and their environments have become increasingly urgent. This special issue directs our attention to the processes and outcomes of such communication and explores what a focus on communication makes visible and accessible for practical as well as academic analysis. The twelve articles collected in this issue examine a wide range of contexts and practices of environmental communication, here understood as the joint construction of meaning related to environmental and sustainability issues. In this editorial, we propose five conceptual lenses that, as we argue, are crucial for an in-depth engagement with environmental communication. Together, these provide us with an understanding of communication as arising from manifold interactions that are shaped by and shaping disagreement, power relations and, more generally, the interplay between structure and agency. We examine the contributions to this special issue in light of these conceptual lenses and highlight how the twelve articles help us to understand the role of meaning-making in environmental management and sustainability transformations. We conclude with suggestions for future work, identifying spaces for further conceptual development and empirical scrutiny as well as scope for new ideas on environmental communication to gain in importance and influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitators of collaborative governance structure communication between stakeholders. They influence the process and, in some instances, also the outcome of collaborative governance. Even so, facilitators are, in the literature and in practice, most often reduced to being neutral or seen merely as power sharers. This reductive understanding obscures facilititators' use of power. The purpose of this paper is to outline a nuanced understanding of authority in facilitation practice. We analyse a Swedish collaborative governance process where a governmental agency facilitates collaboration between actors with conflicting interests. We combine the work of Hannah Arendt and Mark Warren to study authority as relationally performed. We find that facilitators' use of power takes the form of a pendulum movement between authority and argumentation. Hence, authority and argumentation are linked, rather than incompatible, in facilitation practice. This paper sheds new light on the unrecognised, and yet influential, leadership role that facilitators play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Animal migration has fascinated scientists and the public alike for centuries, yet migratory animals are facing diverse threats that could lead to their demise. The Anthropocene is characterised by the reality that humans are the dominant force on Earth, having manifold negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. Considerable research focus has been given to assessing anthropogenic impacts on the numerical abundance of species/populations, whereas relatively less attention has been devoted to animal migration. However, there are clear linkages, for example, where human‐driven impacts on migration behaviour can lead to population/species declines or even extinction. Here, we explore anthropogenic threats to migratory animals (in all domains – aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial) using International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Threat Taxonomy classifications. We reveal the diverse threats (e.g. human development, disease, invasive species, climate change, exploitation, pollution) that impact migratory wildlife in varied ways spanning taxa, life stages and type of impact (e.g. from direct mortality to changes in behaviour, health, and physiology). Notably, these threats often interact in complex and unpredictable ways to the detriment of wildlife, further complicating management. Fortunately, we are beginning to identify strategies for conserving and managing migratory animals in the Anthropocene. We provide a set of strategies that, if embraced, have the potential to ensure that migratory animals, and the important ecological functions sustained by migration, persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), in power during 2002–2021, initiated the process of instituting community-based forest governance and building local capacity for natural resource management. These efforts coincided with the presence of international security forces and the mobilization of civil society organizations, and they were in response to community aspirations to protect and restore often degraded local forests. Legislation was passed to enable forest protection and management, including a provision to encourage participatory management by local community user groups organized as Forest Management Associations (FMAs). By the end of the GIRoA era, c. 20 registered FMAs were operating with c. 400 others in various stages of development across Afghanistan. Our analysis of relevant policy documents revealed that the policy framework developed during the GIRoA era scores favourably on the ideal criteria for community-based resource management. Despite the change in political administration with the inception of the current Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regime, the influence of the GIRoA era serves as a starting point and may have enduring influences on rural communities in Afghanistan and the natural resources that support them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that community-based forest management may persist under the current national leadership despite international isolation and funding constraints. The model developed in Afghanistan may be relevant to other fragile states, especially in contexts where rural forest-dependent communities have strong local institutions, such as shuras , and where forests are not prone to heavy extraction pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal for Limitation of Foreign Stock’s ownership to protect natural resources in Indonesia is not yet optimal because of the existence of nominee agreement. Which is a form of law smuggling. So natural resources that should be benefiting for Indonesia people’s welfare, in reality it is enjoyed by Foreign Investor. This research is a normatif juridical research using secondary data and doing inductive analysis. From the result of the research is concluded that law smuggling in stock ownership nominee agreement prohibition in mining field is still exist because there is no monitoring, control, field observation, evaluation and law enforcement for nominee agreement practices in mineral and coal mining up to beneficial ownership in establishment and operational of mineral and coal mining business. Therefore it is needed to make a regulation to monitor, supervise and doing law enforcement by The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) through Monitoring, Conrolling, Field Observation and Evaluation System (P3LE) towards stock ownership nominee agreement practices in mining business so that the management of natural resources can be benefitting for poeple’s welfare and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For natural resource management and conservation, understanding and quantifying the spatiotemporal behavior of rainfall is of paramount importance. Therefore, the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) equation has been one of the most used tools in the water resource engineering for this purpose. IDF equations are adjusted with observed rainfall data and, consequently, the lack of these data forces decision-makers to use equations that were not adjusted for the local of interest; so, making this information available is crucial for rainfall intensity-associated goals. Thus, this study aimed to model the spatial variability of IDF equation coefficients and enable their spatial interpolation to the Rio Grande do Sul State—Brazil, by Ordinary Kriging (OK) and Ordinary Cokriging (OCK) methods. IDF equations were adjusted to 258 locations with annual maximum daily rainfall (AMDR) data, recorded from 1912 to 2018. The methodology consisted of: evaluating the temporal trend of the AMDR series and adjusting the IDF equations by using trend-free series; an exploratory analysis of the IDF equation coefficients and the secondary variables (AMDRmean, AMDRmax and distance from the coast (DistC)); modeling the spatial variability structure of primary and secondary variables; and performing spatial interpolation with in SGeMS. The estimated IDF equation coefficients were assessed with cross-validation. OCK using AMDR as a secondary variable performed better in estimating IDF equation coefficients among the interpolators, since it presented the smallest errors. The good performance of this interpolator enabled generating IDF equation coefficient maps for the Rio Grande do Sul State, at the spatial resolution of 5 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant progress in our knowledge of Beringian biodiversity and in the technologies available for biodiversity research has been made in the several decades since a comprehensive biogeographic synthesis of Beringian freshwater fishes was compiled and published in 1986. Further, the fish fauna of Beringia and, more broadly, of high latitude freshwater systems of the northern hemisphere face some of the most intense well documented effects of global climate change. Here we synthesize current understanding of how the dynamic spatial and ecological landscapes of Pleistocene glaciations have shaped the distribution of taxonomic and genetic diversity in fish faunas of Beringia. Through a more complete integration of knowledge obtained in studies of fishes in Russian drainages, we aimed to identify promising strategies to test alternative biogeographic hypotheses on the roles played by the Bering land bridge, paleorivers and glacial history in intercontinental faunal movement. We focus on freshwater fishes of the Bering Strait region, which live in an environment that is premised on extreme instability and profound changes in long-term connectivity for fishes and offers opportunities to assess long-term evolutionary trends in both speciation and life history variation. Such information is critical for both our scientific understanding of evolutionary processes in fishes and valuable for those tasked with the challenges of management and conservation of natural resources in this expansive, dynamic and remote region. We provide an overview of Beringian freshwater ichthyofauna and examine genetic differentiation among population units within these lineages. We also examine evidence for how long population units have been separated based on historic glacially-related separations and the more recent marine barrier of the Bering Strait that constrains freshwater or diadromous species based on their ability to disperse in salt water. Our review concludes on how Arctic and sub-Arctic fishes may adapt and persist in their dynamic environment considering low genetic diversity, the role of adaptive introgression, and epigenetic variation. We find that Beringian fishes may poorly fit traditional taxonomic categories and the designation of conservation units below the species level may be of great practical application. Furthermore, as hybridization is documented to increase in the Arctic, the use of this process for ecological monitoring may also be of high utility with Beringian fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional pollution across Ukraine is analysed by emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, contaminated water, and waste generation. In the interests of post-war recovery, we propose integration of climate goals within all sectors of the economy and public life; minimising environmental hazards; arresting industrial pollution by introducing the polluter-pays principle; effective waste management; conservation of natural resources; restoration and development of protected areas, biodiversity conservation and increasing areas of natural ecosystems; and achievement of European standards of public administration in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1980s, Botswana has relied on community based natural resources management (CBNRM) to incentivize communities to choose environmentally beneficial behaviour to advance conservation efforts. This approach has had some success, although it has not been as successful as had been hoped. Nevertheless, it is well acknowledged that CBNRM can play an important role in advancing conservation efforts. The state is therefore working to revamp the CBNRM framework so that it consistently yields beneficial results for communities and conservation. This article relies on regulatory theory and experience with CBNRM in Botswana to identify what it would take to establish an effective CBNRM regulatory framework there. It establishes that Botswana has failed to secure effective CBNRM consistently, due to the lack of a dedicated CBNRM law and inadequately resourced institutions. It recommends the promulgation of a CBNRM law with a community-centred and / or rights-based approach, and the establishment of an adequately resourced institution, charged with regulating CBNRM in Botswana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary reflects upon the constitutional and legal foundations of management of natural resources in Australia. It is a revised version of the 2022 Annual Lecture of the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law delivered at Melbourne Law School on 3 November 2022. Natural resources have shaped Australia’s history, economy, society and environment for almost 200 years, and continue to do so. The exploitation of these resources involves governments as both proprietors and regulators, together with private enterprise as explorers and developers. The complex relationship between governments and private enterprise provides the central theme of this paper. Australia’s federal system of government adds complexity to that relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of resource curse is widely accepted in the extant literature. However, the burden of proof remains high as some resource‐rich countries experience rapid economic growth. This study examines how Nigeria's strategy for governance and management of revenue proceeds from petroleum resources has helped sustain rent‐seeking behavior, the resource curse phenomenon, and under‐development of the country. Using the theory of new institutionalism and a process‐tracing method, the article argues that political and historical dynamics in establishing legislation for governance and management of oil and gas revenues engendered path‐dependent rent‐seeking practices sustained by selfish political elites. The resource curse is not universal or inevitable in resource‐rich countries, but largely a product of institutionalization and sustenance of initial unhealthy practices. We recommend that recognizing the need for savings, stabilization, and investment, and setting clear fiscal rules to check excessive political discretion will reduce rent seeking and the resource curse in Nigeria and elsewhere. Related Articles: Ali, Hamid E., and Shahjahan Bhuiyan. 2022. "Governance, Natural Resources Rent, and Infrastructure Development: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa." Politics & Policy 50(2): 408–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12451. Ikeanyibe, Okechukwu M. 2018. "Bureaucratic Politics and the Implementation of Liberalization Reforms in Nigeria: A Study of the Unbundling and Reorganization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation." Politics & Policy 46(2): 263–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12249. Mähler, Annegret. 2011. "Oil in Venezuela: Triggering Conflicts or Ensuring Stability? A Historical Comparative Analysis." Politics & Policy 39(4): 583–611. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00305.x. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From communities rooted in place to transnational coalitions, this special feature applies concepts of collaborative care rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems to the field of environmental governance. We highlight restorative, liberatory practices rooted in caretaking ethics and reciprocal human-nature relations. Our approach also centers decision making by those most connected to a given resource and the sustenance it provides. Despite global extraction, dispossession, and other colonial legacies, these efforts build toward collective action and community self-determination, both through formal policy change and informal practices. Three facets of collaborative care in environmental governance are threaded through the special feature: (1) care in place, (2) care in power, and (3) care in commoning. These themes connect both Indigenous-led and allied scholarship from the United States to the Netherlands, Japan to Madagascar, and Aotearoa to Canada. Though diverse in their interests and challenges, the authors and communities featured in this research build toward collective action and community self-determination in caring for the places that are the source of collective abundance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assessed the impact of natural resource management technology (NRCT) on productivity and efficiency in maize production using an endogenous switching regression model in rainfed areas of Southern India. We also identified factors influencing adoption of NRCT, and technical efficiency in maize production. For this study, plot-level primary data from 303 farm households cultivating maize on 419 plots were collected. Results show that adoption of NRCT has resulted in an increase in maize productivity by 490 kg per ha and has also reduced technical inefficiency by 28% as compared to non-adopters. Furthermore, access to credit, better extension services and training on natural resource management are crucial factors positively affecting the adoption of NRCT as well as enhancing the technical efficiency of maize production. Therefore, these factors need to be considered when formulating policies and programmes that aim to improve crop productivity in rainfed areas, as well as sustaining natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For agricultural production is used almost 40% of the global land from where it dominates conventional agriculture which uses large amounts of inputs in the form of fertilizers and pesticides leading to the contamination of soil, water resources, air pollution and land erosion, affects biodiversity and extinction of many plants and animals. On the other hand, the world's population is constantly growing and currently numbers more than 8 billion people and it is estimated that food production will have to double by 2050. In order to meet the future needs of the population for food raw materials, food production must significantly increase, and at the same time, the impact of agriculture on the environment and natural resources must be drastically reduced. Sustainable agriculture is emerging as one of the solutions. This way of agricultural practice refers to the management and preservation of natural resources through organizational and technological changes in modern agricultural production in order to satisfy human needs and preserve the environment. One of the most important natural resources on which the entire agricultural production relies is land. In intensively cultivated lands, there is a noticeable trend of intense degradation, which represents a major problem facing humanity. The paper reviews the decrease in soil fertility based on the samples collected during the five-year monitoring, as well as a proposal for measures to increase fertility and future preservation of this environmental resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is paramount to address the importance of sustained conservation of natural resources in the environment as a fundamental approach to preserve biodiversity, maintain climate stability and ensure the well-being of future generations. It is important to explore strategies to achieve responsible and equitable management of natural resources, as well as the key role of environmental education and collaboration between different social actors. The promotion of effective policies, innovation and the participation of civil society and business are fundamental to achieving this objective. In a world increasingly concerned about environmental challenges, it is critical to address how we can preserve our natural resources for future generations, explore the importance of sustained conservation, its benefits and strategies to achieve this crucial goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective discusses the challenges and opportunities of single‐photon LiDAR and Raman LiDAR systems. Typical uses of LiDAR and Raman LiDAR include autonomous vehicles, mapping and surveying, environmental monitoring, archeology, and cultural heritage, meteorology and weather forecasting, defense and security, natural resource management, and infrastructure inspection. Key directions of development include sensitivity and range, spatial resolution, speed and efficiency, integration with other sensors, miniaturization and portability, and cost reduction. With a market value of 1.5 billion US$ in 2021, LiDAR systems are projected to grow to 4.83 billion US$ by 2030, at a CAGR of 13.8% during the forecast period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is an important strategic area in China. However, frequent extreme precipitation events have caused great economic losses and human casualties in this region. In this article, we explore the spatial and temporal links between extreme precipitation events and Sunspot Number (SSN), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) in this important economic belt. According to the research findings, all of the extreme precipitation indices (EPIs) except for consecutive dry days (CDD) and consecutive wet days (CWD) showed an upward trend in the YREB over the 59 years. The spatial distributions of very wet days (R95p), extremely wet days (R99p), max 1-day precipitation amount (Rx1day) and max 5-day precipitation amount (Rx5day) had similar distribution patterns, showing decreasing trends from east to west. The EPIs generally had a 2–4-year band, suggesting stronger and more elusive changes. The wavelet coherence (WTC) spectra suggested that SSN, ENSO, AO, and PDO have different effects on extreme precipitation events during different time periods. Before 1985, the SSN, ENSO, AO, PDO and extreme precipitation events shared similar oscillation periods, but after 1985, their oscillation periods were no longer consistent with each other. In addition, solar activity and the AO mainly had negative correlations with extreme precipitation events, while the ENSO and PDO had predominantly positive correlations with the EPIs. This paper provides a reference for national economic strategic planning and natural resource management in the YREB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), which is aimed at ensuring meaningful participation of rural communities in decision-making and promoting sustainable utilisation of natural resources, has been criticised for excluding local communities from decision-making. Using the concept of social exclusion and a qualitative approach, the study's main objective was to analyse the exclusion faced by the minority Doma ethnic group in the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) programme in northern Zimbabwe. Findings showed that the Doma were excluded from decision-making related to wildlife management by powerful stakeholders, who included political elites, local authority officials, government conservation authorities, and the safari operator. The crux of this exclusion revolved around the large differences between their livelihood practices and those of the other stakeholders, their low-status position and peripheral location. The Doma also participated in their exclusion as they decided to take an indifferent approach to CAMPFIRE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of large common-pool resources, like fisheries and forests, is more difficult when more people and more communities can access them—a particular problem given increased population sizes, higher mobility and globalized trade in the Anthropocene. Social relationships spanning communities, such as kin relationships, business or trade relationships and friendships, can make management even more challenging by facilitating and transmitting norms of overharvesting. However, these long-distance relationships can also bolster management by transmitting norms for sustainability, promoting interdependence and laying the groundwork for nested management systems. Here, we review the negative and positive impacts of long-distance relationships on local natural resource management (NRM), providing illustrative examples from our field research on forest and fisheries management in Tanzania. Drawing on the evolutionary literature, the development literature and our field data, we offer suggestions for how development partners can avoid the pitfalls of long-distance relationships and how they can use or even deliberately foster long-distance relationships to promote successful local NRM. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a significant demand for materials and energy throughout the manufacturing and construction of a solar power plant's component parts. Electricity and fossil fuels are used in enormous quantities during the industrial processes in the photovoltaic power plant's life cycle. It is then necessary to assess the energy needs, especially during production processes, to improve the efficiency of energy usage and management of natural resources from the global perspective. This will lead to a decrease in natural resource consumption and electricity demand. The main aim of this study was to assess the energy demand in the life cycle of the photovoltaic power plant and identify the most energy-intensive stages and components of this type of installation throughout its life cycle. The study of energy consumption in the whole life cycle was conducted for a 2 MW photovoltaic power plant situated in the northern region of Poland using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, particularly the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) method. Two post-consumer management scenarios were investigated: recycling and landfilling. It was found that the life cycle of PV panels and the inverter station had the largest energy demand among all the components. This study revealed that, compared to recycling, the life cycle involving post-consumer management in the form of landfilling had a higher total energy demand of 4.09 × 107 MJ. The results of this investigation validate the benefits of recycling. Thus, recycling ought to be commonplace to improve the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource management using appropriate management tools, is one of the critical issues in the watershed, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, land management and its associated resources will create a balance between economic and social needs and the sustainability of biological ecosystems. The present study, with the aim of watershed management and controlling sedimentation rates, evaluated socio-economic effects in the Damghan Rud watershed. The study area with an area of 5.66314 ha is located in Semnan Province. By choosing four economic and social activity variables, along with rangeland vegetation cover, were identified management options for the Damghan Rud basin. Based on the regional conditions and study objectives, four economic and social parameters the presence of surplus livestock, reliance of watershed residents on rangeland, Literacy of watershed residents' level, and their participation percentage in water and soil resource conservation were determined as effective options for rangelands vegetation cover in the region. The sediment production rate at the output site of the selected basin at the Astana hydrometric station was investigated in the statistical period of 1995-96 to 2015-16, then by using the frequency distribution diagram of observational sediment, determined its classes. Then, with the implementation of the model were calculated the probabilities associated with each variable, and were evaluated the possible effects of the implementation of managerial options on the middle and target variables. The results showed that the option of reducing the reliance of watershed residents on rangelands to the minimum level led to a 15.3% increase in vegetation cover, a 5.5% reduction in river flow rate, and a 3.6% decrease in sediment production rate. Furthermore, the results showed that the Bayesian network models had a high capability and ability to express various dimensions of the issue and handle uncertainties within the system, and making them suitable tools for watershed resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the rights and interests of the state as the owner of natural resources is pivotal throughout the pilot work of establishing a principal-agent system of national ownership of natural resource assets. It plays a key role in solving the longstanding problems of the law not being implemented in the state ownership system of natural resources, the vacancy of the owner, and the irregular use of resources. Theoretically, it is necessary to clarify the implications of 'the implementation of rights and interests,' that is, the rights and benefits protected by law that the state enjoys from its ownership of natural resource assets. This is reflected in three aspects: implementing the management and protection of natural resource assets, achieving preservation and appreciation, and safeguarding owners' rights and interests. The process of implementing rights and interests should not be profit-oriented and should focus on ensuring the public resource needs of society and the basic resource needs of the public. In terms of implementation strategies, the first step is to clarify rights and responsibilities, which includes the identification of the subject of the rights and interests through a list of rights and responsibilities, the division of labor between the government and the market, and the responsibilities between different levels of government and various functional departments of the government. The marketization of resource allocation is a core link conducive to improving the pricing mechanism and market trading mechanism of resource assets and establishing a resource development and utilization market environment with efficient regulations, fair competition, and adequate supervision. The rationalization of income distribution is a key, whose focus is the improvement of the rights and interests distribution mechanisms between the central government and local governments and between different levels of local governments. The indexation of assessment and evaluation is an important hub, which helps to achieve the implementation of index-based assessment and structured evaluation of rights and interests. The system is a fundamental guarantee for the implementation of rights and interests, and its effective connection with the national territorial spatial planning system is an inherent requirement for the implementation of rights and interests. At present, based on the timely summary of the experience of the pilot work of the principal-agent system, we should focus on the areas of rights and interests attribution, rights and interests value assessment, asset income distribution, and rights and interests assessment and evaluation, strengthen the policy support for the implementation of rights and interests, and promote the central and local legislation of rights and interests implementation in an orderly manner, thus forming a rigorous and scientifically sound system of rights and interests implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture has a great role in different applications, such as natural resource management, flood-risk prediction, irrigation development, hydrology, and climatology. The current study is focusing on investigating the spatial relationship between soil moisture and vegetation cover. The Delta index model was applied using Sentinel-1 images to estimate soil moisture, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was applied using Sentinel-2 images to assess vegetation cover. Besides, regression analysis was conducted to investigate the spatial relationship between soil moisture and vegetation cover. The derived soil moisture ranges from 0% to 48.4811%. Most areas with high elevation had high soil moisture, and low elevation had low soil moisture. In most part of the study area, vegetation cover and soil moisture have a direct relationship. Thus, higher vegetation cover was observed in areas with higher soil moisture; and lower vegetation cover was observed in areas with lower soil moisture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three decades community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) has sought to address the concurrent needs of economic development and ecological protection at the local level, but there is often strong divergence between development and conservation interests and successes. In particular, CBNRM has not always led to expected socioeconomic outcomes, while information of its impact on human well-being at household level is sparse. In Botswana, most communities do not disburse benefits from CBNRM ventures to households. This leads to an inherent scale mismatch that arises because the costs of living with wildlife are felt at the household level, while the benefits are paid out at the community or village level. We use longitudinal data from two household surveys conducted 22 years apart to assess if benefits from the Botswana model of CBNRM have increased householdlevel adaptive capacity for those living with wildlife. We take a livelihoods capital approach to develop indicators of adaptive capacity and measure how livelihood diversity, inequality, and adaptive capacity have changed in five communities in northern Botswana between 1995 and 2017. Our analyses confirm the findings of qualitative reviews and suggest that CBNRM is under-performing in its contribution to improved household-level adaptive capacity. CBNRM cannot be said to benefit communities if the majority of community members do not experience increased well-being. We therefore recommend restructuring the governance models of CBNRM and other community conservation approaches to ensure that benefits are more directly targeted to actively participating households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land use and land cover, water systems, and climate are inextricably linked, and their combined stresses have had severe impacts in many regions worldwide. Integrated adaptation planning can support adaptive capacity by helping institutions manage land and water resources at regional to local scales. Linkages between these stressors mean that planners are often faced with potential trade-offs, and how to couple social and environmental sustainability remains a key question. We explore these questions in California's Central Coast, a region that is already experiencing serious water shortages, housing shortages, rapid expansion of perennial agriculture, and severe droughts that are projected to become worse with climate change. Linked models of land use change (the Land Use and Carbon + Water Simulator [LUCAS-W]), water resources (LUCAS-W), and climate (the Basin Characterization Model [BCM]) produced forecasts of exposure to regional changes at 270-m resolution. We worked with regional stakeholders to develop a matrix of nine vulnerability measures that assessed key sensitivities to these changes. Each vulnerability measure combined one of the three exposure projections with spatial datasets representing one of three sensitivity communities (agricultural, domestic, or ecological). We assessed how five scenarios of land-use and water management strategies under consideration by regional planners could provide institutional, top-down adaptive capacity, and whether there were trade-offs in sustainable development goals for these communities. We found that specific land and water management strategies could greatly reduce regional vulnerability, particularly programs to cap water extractions to sustainable levels. The most dramatic trade-off was between the strategy of water demand caps that increased risk of habitat loss and ecosystem preservation that increased water vulnerability. However, trade-offs were usually limited and spatially localized, suggesting local tailoring of the strategies we assessed could reduce them. Trade-offs were more frequent across exposure classes (land use vs. water vs. climate changes) rather than sensitivity classes (agricultural vs. domestic vs. ecological communities), suggesting win-win opportunities for natural resource management. Our vulnerability maps can inform prioritization efforts for local adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the relationship between land-use and land-cover changes, the ecosystem services (ES) offered, and the farmers' perception about these services is essential for designing adequate strategies in the management and conservation of natural resources. Therefore, this research aims to describe the evolution of the land use and land cover, and the farmers' perceptions of ES at Diamante Negro Jutaí settlement, in the Monção municipality, Maranhão state, Eastern Amazon, Brazil. The data were collected through a mapping of use units and land cover, and 130 structured questionnaires. Farmers recognize ES as highly important for their well-being and livelihood. Food (agriculture and livestock), fish, fresh water, and lakes were perceived by farmers as highly important. Fishing, however, is the most relevant ES. In contrast, it is also the most threatened because of land-use alteration. In the period from 1995 to 2015, overall natural ground cover was reduced. Water bodies were the most highly affected with an 85 percent decrease in relation to the total area of the analysis period. The decrease in secondary forest areas (4.3 percent) and water bodies are reflections of climate change, which also has a direct impact on forms of use. Farmers' perceptions of ES can be used to formulate policies for conservation of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predation by native predators can hinder the success of an invasive species. Bythotrephes, an invasive zooplankton species, established in Trout Lake, Vilas County, Wisconsin, USA, in 2014. However, by 2020, Bythotrephes densities dropped to densities where they were barely detectable. Cisco (Coregonus artedi), a native zooplanktivore, is an abundant fish species in Trout Lake and has been shown to significantly prey on Bythotrephes. Given the decline in Bythotrephes, we asked whether Cisco predation could have played a role in the observed decline in Bythotrephes densities. We modeled Cisco consumption of Bythotrephes using bioenergetic modeling and Bythotrephes production from a production to biomass model. The model results suggested that Cisco consumption was lower than Bythotrephes production during the early years of the invasion, but since 2017 Cisco consumption exceeded Bythotrephes production and has likely played a role in the observed Bythotrephes density declines. Our study provides quantitative context for predation on Bythotrephes, and alongside other studies, suggests native predators can control Bythotrephes densities. Leveraging predation by native species could be an invasive species management tool, so it is important to synthesize and document cases in which predation may control or reduce impacts of invasive species. Invasive species can have severe impacts on freshwater ecosystems and will continue to spread across the landscape. When species do invade, invasive species management tools are incredibly important as they can mitigate impacts. However, successful management of invasive species often goes undocumented. Predation by native species can be an invasive species management tool to mitigate impacts of invasions. Leveraging native species to reduce the abundance of an invasive species can be difficult and requires thorough consideration of indirect impacts. There have been some cases where predation by native species has been attributed to controlling the abundances of invasive species. In such cases, promoting native species abundances can reduce the abundance of invasive species. This can be highly advantageous for lake managers, however, natural resource management includes many different stakeholders and therefore decisions regarding invasive species management can be complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing apprehension surrounding the sustainable governance of natural resources in South Asian nations, where the economy's progress is significantly dependent on these resources. Financial inclusion is a vital determinant in promoting sustainable practices as it pertains to the accessibility and utilization of financial services by all population sectors. Moreover, the field of human development, which encompasses various indicators, including education, healthcare, and living standards, exerts a substantial influence on the formation of societal behaviour and attitudes towards the conservation of resources. This research investigates the correlation between financial inclusion, natural resource management, and human development in South Asian nations from 2008 to 2020. Panel data modelling is used in this study to examine the relationship between the abovementioned variables and evaluate human development's influence on sustainability practices. This study utilizes panel data analysis to examine the complex association between financial inclusion and natural resource management. This study examines the relationship between different levels of human development and adopting sustainable practices within the region. Using the panel data framework facilitates the analysis of both idiosyncratic country‐specific effects and shared patterns observed among the South Asian countries under consideration. The findings of this research offer valuable perspectives on the intricate relationship between financial inclusion, human development, and natural resource management. The results of this study make a valuable contribution to the current body of literature by emphasizing the importance of inclusive financial systems in fostering sustainable practices. Furthermore, these findings provide insight into the influence of human development on the formation of individuals' attitudes and behaviours about the conservation of resources. The implications of these findings are relevant for policymakers and stakeholders who aim to improve sustainability initiatives and promote inclusive economic development in South Asian nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some scholars have drawn associations between Australian environmentalism and racism. Others have argued that natural resource management policies go beyond the science in justifying policies that have their real foundation in Australian nationalism. Yet applying semiotic analyses to focus upon such associations can risk obscuring efforts to actively loosen the nature–culture binary. Australia has a unique history of three decades of national environmental youth training programs such as Green Corps and Green Army. This environmental workfare engages a diverse range of actors: from university-qualified scientists to unemployed urban and rural youth. If any workplace culture is likely to generate a naïve environmentalist eco-nationalism, then the pseudo-military setting of national environmental workfare programs would be worthy of close examination. Based upon data collected from participants in Australian environmental workfare programs, this article explores how young workers display critical reflexivity, engaging creatively and ironically, embracing the more obscure Others. While attempting to generate cultural capital, particularly in the field of environmental science, they actively spurn naïve environmentalism. From the midst of the Australian bush, young people are answering Haraway's call to "make kin in the Chthulucene". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between biodiversity and the stability of ecosystem functioning over time has been widely studied. The current global context has refloated this topic for biodiversity's role in buffering the effects of different disturbances. In general, the results of these studies show that ecosystem functioning is more stable over time in more diverse systems. However, these results are derived from empirical research on small‐scale studies, where species and disturbances conditions are manipulated. In this work, we used climate and floristic information data obtained from surveys over an extended period on Flooding Pampa grasslands (Argentina) with a remotely sensed indicator of the stability of net primary productivity at a regional scale over a broad temporal range to evaluate the relationship between species diversity and the stability of ecosystem functioning under different water conditions. We found a close correlation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index responses of natural grasslands and climate variability in the study area. Besides, grasslands with higher species richness and diversity showed greater stability in ecosystem functioning at different water conditions. The results obtained could be relevant in natural resource management for the close relationship between diversity–stability in a local and regional productive context characterized by a simplified landscape of space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparency initiatives are frequently proposed to enhance citizen participation in natural resource management and ensure that resource revenue spending meets its economic and social goals. Many transparency initiatives, however, have failed in achieving their goals. This article develops an analytical framework emphasizing information disclosure, citizen action, and state response in making transparency initiatives effective in promoting change. We portray these three dimensions in the transparency cube to illustrate their simultaneous roles and the different aspects of these dimensions. The article applies the framework to analyse a subnational revenue transparency initiative designed and implemented by the oil-rich Bojonegoro District of Indonesia. We find that the initiative's strengths were its requirements to disclose information related to the petroleum sector and its establishment of avenues for engagement. The information, however, did not address the public's needs and preferred ways of receiving information and engaging with their leader. Consequently, citizens did not actively seek to express their concerns about oil revenue management. The article concludes that transparency initiatives need to include context-specific measures to disclose relevant and actionable information and promote active citizenry and consider local political dynamics to sustain government responsiveness as part of its design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking environmental change is important to ensure efficient and sustainable natural resources management. East Africa is dominated by arid and semi-arid rangeland systems, where extensive grazing of livestock represents the primary livelihood for most of the human population. Despite several mapping efforts, East Africa lacks accurate and reliable high-resolution rangeland health maps necessary for management, policy, and research purposes. Earth Observations offer the opportunity to assess spatiotemporal dynamics in rangeland health conditions at much higher spatial and temporal coverage than conventional approaches that rely on in-situ methods, while complimenting their certainty. Using machine learning-based classification and linear unmixing, this paper produced Landsat-based time series at 30 m spatial resolution for mapping of land cover classes (LCC) and vegetation fractional cover (VFC, including photosynthetic vegetation PV, non-photosynthetic vegetation NPV, and bare ground BG), two major data assets to derive metrics for rangeland health in East Africa. Due to scarcity of in-situ measurements in a large, remote and highly heterogeneous landscape, an algorithm was developed to combine very high-resolution WorldView-2 and -3 satellite imagery at < 2 m resolutions with a limited set of ground observations to generate reference labels across the study region. The LCC analysis yielded an overall accuracy of 0.856 using our validation dataset, with Kappa of 0.832; VFC, yielded R² = 0.801, p < 2.2e-16, normalized root mean squared error (nRMSE) = 0.123. Our products represent the first multi-decadal high-resolution dataset specifically designed for mapping and monitoring rangelands health in East Africa including Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, covering a total area of 745,840 km², dominated by arid and semi-arid extensive rangeland systems. These data can be valuable to a wide range of development, humanitarian, and ecological conservation efforts and are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7106166 (Soto et al., 2023) and Google Earth Engine (GEE; details in data availability section). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation canopy height mapping is vital for forest monitoring. However, the high cost and inefficiency of manual tree measurements, coupled with the irregular and limited local-scale acquisition of airborne LiDAR data, continue to impede its widespread application. The increasing availability of high spatial resolution imagery is creating opportunities to characterize forest attributes at finer resolutions over large regions. In this study, we investigate the synergy of airborne lidar and high spatial resolution USDA-NAIP imagery for detailed canopy height mapping using an image-to-image deep learning approach. Our main inputs were 1 m NAIP image patches which served as predictor layers and corresponding 1 m canopy height models derived from airborne lidar data, which served as output layers. We adapted a U-Net model architecture for canopy height regression, training and validating the models with 10,000 256-by-256 pixel image patches. We evaluated three settings for the U-Net encoder depth and used both 1 m and 2 m datasets to assess their impact on model performance. Canopy height predictions from the fitted models were highly correlated (R2 = 0.70 to 0.89), precise (MAE = 1.37–2.21 m), and virtually unbiased (Bias = −0.20–0.07 m) with respect to validation data. The trained models also performed adequately well on the independent test data (R2 = 0.62–0.78, MAE = 3.06–4.1 m). Models with higher encoder depths (3,4) and trained with 2 m data provide better predictions than models with encoder depth 2 and trained on 1 m data. Inter-comparisons with existing canopy height products also showed our canopy height map provided better agreement with reference airborne lidar canopy height estimates. This study shows the potential of developing regional canopy height products using airborne lidar and NAIP imagery to support forest productivity and carbon modeling at spatially detailed scales. The 30 m canopy height map generated over Texas holds promise in advancing economic and sustainable forest management goals and enhancing decision-making in natural resource management across the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study endeavors to produce a comprehensive land cover map for Morocco, addressing the absence of such a detailed map in the country. Our research encompasses ecological and climatic aspects specific to Morocco, while the methods used can be adapted to various regions and countries, considering their unique climatic conditions and land cover types. A combination of MODIS and Landsat datasets was employed to create a 5 km resolution Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) map for the entire nation. The process involved the aggregation and advanced processing of these datasets using surface processes algorithms. The resulting LULC map is the first of its kind for Morocco, shedding light on land cover distribution nationwide. It shows that approximately 13.5% of the country is covered by forests, predominantly in the Atlas and Rif mountains, Rabat–Sale, and the southern regions. Grasslands occupy over 16% of the study area, mainly in the north-east and west. Urban areas, including major cities like Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech, span nearly 3400 km². Moreover, large areas of shrublands and bare lands are evident across the country, while agricultural lands account for almost 20% of the national territory, mainly in the interior plains and north-western Atlantic coast. This study forms a crucial basis for ecological and climatic research in Morocco and serves as a valuable reference for various disciplines such as agriculture, natural resource management, and climate modeling. The mapping of biophysical parameters for each land cover class is a key feature of our research, and these parameters will be instrumental in a subsequent study examining the impact of urban development on surface climate in Morocco. Overall, our study underscores the importance of understanding biophysical parameters in addressing environmental and societal challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]