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Water quality modelling in Water Distribution systems (WDS) is frequently affected by uncertainties in input variables such as base demand and decay constants. When utilizing simulation tools like EPANET, which necessitate exact numerical inputs, these uncertainties can result in inaccurate simulations. This study proposes a novel framework that leverages unsupervised machine learning, specifically a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMMs), to represent and integrate these uncertainties in the simulation. By classifying historical water demand into fuzzy clusters, the framework allows for certain linguistic inputs (e.g., "high" or "low" demand) to be used in water quality simulations. The framework also incorporates representative hourly demand patterns and temperature-dependent chlorine decay constants based on historical data correlations. Validations were conducted on the Anytown network using WNTR-EPANET, comparing simulated chlorine residuals with Validation data from 181 steady-state simulations. The simulation through the framework achieved a Jensen-Shannon Divergence (JSD) of <0.008 across all demand clusters, indicating high similarity between predicted and actual probability distributions . In comparison to other simulation scenarios tested, which exhibited increased variability (JSD > 0.18), the proposed framework demonstrated improved accuracy in representing chlorine residual distributions. The methodology is adaptable to other systems, if similar historical datasets containing key variables, such as flow rates and temperature, are provided. While the framework offers a more flexible and accurate approach to handling uncertainties in WDS, its effectiveness is contingent upon the availability of robust historical demand and temperature data for decay constant calibration., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Nicolas M Peleato reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This review is aimed at assessing and compiling the different ethnomedicinal studies in different parts of Ethiopia used to treat respiratory diseases. The data were collected from different published research papers through searching the web sources such as PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and other related websites. The important search terminologies included ethnobotany, respiratory diseases, medicinal plants, and Ethiopia. For this, a total of 65 articles of recent publications (from 2000 to May 2021 years) that provided full information about the use of medicinal plant species to treat respiratory disorder diseases in Ethiopia were consulted. Based on this, a total of 96 medicinal plants belonging to 57 families were reviewed. The commonly recorded families used to manage respiratory problems were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Solanaceae, and Fabaceae. Herbs and shrubs were the dominant plant growth forms. Due to the easiest form of their preparation for treating respiratory disorders, leaves are the most cited plant parts followed by roots. Crushing and pounding are useful methods of remedy preparation to treat respiratory diseases. This review concluded that different medicinal plants have a significant contribution in combating serious respiratory problems in Ethiopia. Hence, the complied review of medicinal plants on the treatment of respiratory problems would play a great role in further pharmacological and phytochemical investigations in developing new drugs used for the treatment of respiratory problems and in the conservation of these important medicinal plants., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Abebe Ayele Haile et al.)

On-farm tree plantation is a form of land use where trees are planted at the edge or interspersed with crops. It has been practiced in different parts of Ethiopia due to its contribution to the household economy and soil fertility. This study was carried out to evaluate the variation in tree/shrub plantations along altitudinal gradients and plantation niches, and farmers' on-farm tree plantation practices at Kobo and Guba Lafto districts, North-eastern Ethiopia. Transect walks and semi-structured questionnaire were administered to appraise farmers' tree/shrub plantation practices and compositions between August and December 2020. A total of 135 plots along altitudinal gradients (Forty-five sample plots per altitude) and 135 retrieved questionnaires (45 per altitude) were analyzed. At each plot, tree/shrub richness, diversity, stem density, and important value index (IVI) were computed. Multivariate analysis, descriptive statistics, and preference rankings were used to evaluate vegetation data and farmers' perceptions on tree/shrub plantations. The results showed that most farmers (78.5 %) integrate trees with their crops for household use and soil fertility maintenance. The multivariate analysis revealed a significant reduction in the number of taxa, stem density, richness, and diversity with increasing elevation, from homestead to the boundary and on-farm plantation niches. Ziziphus spina-christi and Cordia africana were the most preferred tree species; Fabaceae was the dominant family representing 18.9 % of the species. The results emphasized considerable variations in relative density, relative dominance, and important value index (IVI) across altitudinal gradients and plantation niches. Acacia seyal and Z. spina-christi contributed the highest IVI at lower and middle elevations, whereas Eucalyptus globulus had high IVI at a higher elevation. In the study districts, the distribution of multifunctional indigenous tree plantations gradually decreases with the entire altitudinal gradients compared to exotic trees/shrubs. This calls for substantial efforts on the propagation and conservation of native tree and shrub genetic resources., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Background: The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has an enormous effect on human lives and the global environment. This review aimed to assess the global scientific evidence on the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on natural resources using international databases and search engines. Thus, the unprecedented anthropause due to COVID-19 has positive and negative effects on natural resources., Main Body: This review showed that the unprecedented pandemic lockdown events brought a negative impact on the physical environment, including pollution associated with a drastic increase in person protective equipment, deforestation, illegal poaching and logging, overfishing, disruption of the conservation program and projects. It is noted that the spread of pandemic diseases could be aggravated by environmental pollution and a rapid increase in the global population. Despite these negative impacts of COVID-19, the anthropause appear to have also several positive effects on natural resources such as short term reduction of indoor and outdoor environmental pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO 2 , SO 2 , CO, and CO 2 ), reduction in noise pollutions from ships, boats, vehicles, and planes which have positive effects on aquatic ecosystems, water quality, birds behaviour, wildlife biodiversity, and ecosystem restoration., Conclusion: Therefore, governments and scientific communities across the globe have called for a green recovery to COVID-19 and implement multi-actor interventions and environmentally friendly technologies to improve and safeguard sustainable environmental and biodiversity management and halt the next pandemic., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

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Land-use change can have profound effects on forest communities, compromising seedling recruitment and growth, and long-term persistence of forests on the landscape. Continued forest conversion to agriculture causes forest fragmentation which decreases forest size, increases edge effects and forest isolation, all of which negatively impact forest health. These fragmentation effects are magnified by human use of forests, which can compromise the continued persistence of species in these forests and the ability of the forests to support the communities that depend on them. We examined the extent and influence of human disturbance (e.g. weedy taxa, native and exotic tree plantations, clearings, buildings) on the ecological status of sacred church forests in the northern highlands of South Gondar, Ethiopia and hypothesized that disturbance would have a negative effect. We found that disturbance was high across all forests (56%) and was negatively associated with tree species richness, density, and biomass and seedling richness and density. Contrary to expectation, we found that forests < 15.5 ha show no difference in disturbance level with distance from population center. Based on our findings, we recommend that local conservation strategies not only protect large forests, but also the small and highly used forests in South Gondar which are critical to the needs of local people, including preserving large trees for seed sources, removing exotic and weedy species from forests, and reducing clearings and trails within forests., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Sustainable use of natural resources is one of the leading agenda because anthropogenic activities are leading to the depletion of these resources. Ethiopia is one of the biodiversity reach areas in the world, but the floral diversity is being threatened before they are fully explored. In line with this, very little is known about the flora of Sesa Mariam monastery, found in northwest Ethiopia. The area is one of the few remnant monastery forests in the country with old aged tree species. The aim of the study was to explore and document the floristic composition, density and regeneration status of perennial plant species in order to provide base line information for the sustainable utilization and management of the forest resources., Methodology: Fifty-one (51) quadrats (20 m × 20 m each) were laid along established transect lines for census of perennial plant species. Two nested quadrats (2 m × 10 m) were also used at the beginning and at the end of every main quadrat for the assessment of seedlings and saplings. All woody plant species in each quadrat were counted and identified. Species diversity, richness and evenness were measured., Results: One hundred and thirteen (113) plant species belonging to 89 genera and 54 families were identified. Moreover, there were 7 more species outside the study quadrats. Of these plant species 10 were endemic, 92 were indigenous, and the remaining 11 were exotic cultivated trees and shrubs. Fabaceae is the most dominant family with 14 species followed by Euphorbiaceae and Rutaceae, each with 6 species. The total basal area of the matured woody plants of the forest was 94.81 m(2) ha(-1) and the density was 1960.78 individuals ha(-1). The overall diversity and evenness of woody species were 3.81 and 0.85, respectively. When compared to other forests found in Ethiopia, it is better protected., Conclusion: The data from this study showed a relatively good conservation status. However, analysis from individual woody plant structure, and count of seedlings and saplings showed a need for conservation. Stopping or minimizing grazing by livestock and selective tree cuttings are the first measures to be taken for conservation.