scholarly journals Holocene fire and occupation in Amazonia: records from two lake districts

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1478) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark B Bush ◽  
Miles R Silman ◽  
Mauro B de Toledo ◽  
Claudia Listopad ◽  
William D Gosling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Body ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Terra Firme ◽  
Ecological Disturbance ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Open Water Body

While large-scale pre-Columbian human occupation and ecological disturbance have been demonstrated close to major Amazonian waterways, less is known of sites in terra firme settings. Palaeoecological analyses of two lake districts in central and western Amazonia reveal long histories of occupation and land use. At both locations, human activity was centred on one of the lakes, while the others were either lightly used or unused. These analyses indicate that the scale of human impacts in these terra firme settings is localized and probably strongly influenced by the presence of a permanent open-water body. Evidence is found of forest clearance and cultivation of maize and manioc. These data are directly relevant to the resilience of Amazonian conservation, as they do not support the contention that all of Amazonia is a ‘built landscape’ and therefore a product of past human land use.

scholarly journals Environmental Differences between Migratory and Resident Ungulates—Predicting Movement Strategies in Rocky Mountain Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) with Remotely Sensed Plant Phenology, Snow, and Land Cover

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 1980
Author(s):  
Benjamin Robb ◽  
Qiongyu Huang ◽  
Joseph Sexton ◽  
David Stoner ◽  
Peter Leimgruber
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mule Deer ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Odocoileus Hemionus ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Land Use Impacts ◽  
Human Land Use

Migration is a valuable life history strategy for many species because it enables individuals to exploit spatially and temporally variable resources. Globally, the prevalence of species’ migratory behavior is decreasing as individuals forgo migration to remain resident year-round, an effect hypothesized to result from anthropogenic changes to landscape dynamics. Efforts to conserve and restore migrations require an understanding of the ecological characteristics driving the behavioral tradeoff between migration and residence. We identified migratory and resident behaviors of 42 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) based on GPS locations and correlated their locations to remotely sensed indicators of forage quality, land cover, snow cover, and human land use. The model classified mule deer seasonal migratory and resident niches with an overall accuracy of 97.8% and cross-validated accuracy of 81.2%. The distance to development was the most important variable in discriminating in which environments these behaviors occur, with resident niche space most often closer to developed areas than migratory niches. Additionally, snow cover in December was important for discriminating summer migratory niches. This approach demonstrates the utility of niche analysis based on remotely sensed environmental datasets and provides empirical evidence of human land use impacts on large-scale wildlife migrations.

scholarly journals Natural history features of the high-country and drylands of the South Island, New Zealand

2018 ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
William G Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The South ◽  
Agricultural Impacts ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Environmental Limits

The high-country and dryland zone of the South Island of New Zealand includes the Southern Alpsand eastern mountains and basins. Formed by post-Pliocene tectonic, glacial and alluvial processes, theseareas contain a range of landforms across extreme climatic gradients. Diverse habitats support plantsand animals which have a distinctive and long natural history. New Zealand’s short (c. 700 years) historyof human land use has been highly disruptive for indigenous biodiversity. We have misunderstood theeco-evolutionary vulnerabilities of the native biota, the extent of environmental limits, and the impacts ofintroduced weeds and pests. Recent large-scale capture of water and addition of nutrients for agriculture areexcluding indigenous biodiversity in many ecosystems. Predicted climate change and competition for waterresources will exacerbate agricultural impacts, but the remaining indigenous biodiversity can be resilient ifrepresentative areas are protected.

scholarly journals Biological and Reproductive Indices of Mystus bleekeri (Day, 1877) in Open Water Body (Dekhar Haor) of Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
Sabuj Mazumder ◽  
Mohammad Salam ◽  
Arifur Khan ◽  
Sarker Khalil ◽  
Tawheed Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Water Body ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Open Water Body ◽  
Reproductive Indices

scholarly journals Spatial Heterogeneity of Driving Factors of Wind Erosion Prevention Services in Northern China by Large-Scale Human Land-Use Management

Land ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Jinfeng Ma ◽  
Ruonan Li ◽  
Yanzheng Yang ◽  
Yue Hai ◽  
Tian Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Driving Factors ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Land Use Management ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Western Division ◽  
Erosion Prevention

Large-scale human land-use management is an effective method for ecosystem restoration and wind erosion prevention service (WEPS) improvement. However, the spatial differences of driving factors and the feedback in subsequent management have received less attention. This study analysed the temporal and spatial changes in the WEPS in northern China from 2000 to 2015, classified the driving modes between the WEPS and environmental factors, distinguished the main driving factors, and proposed suggestions for successive projects. The results showed that, compared with 2000, the amount of WEPSs in 2015 increased by 12.60%, and forest and grassland in the WEPS-increased area was 1.34 times that in the declining area. There were east–west differences in the driving mechanism of WEPS improvement. In addition to climatic and topographic factors, the western division was mainly affected by changes in vegetation quality, whereas the eastern division was affected by the combined influence of vegetation quality and quantity. This study shows the necessity of land-use management and project zoning policies, and provides a reference for policy formulation and management of large-scale ecological projects.

scholarly journals A Comparison of Australian Open Water Body Evaporation Trends for Current and Future Climates Estimated from Class A Evaporation Pans and General Circulation Models

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Johnson ◽  
Ashish Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Vapor Pressure ◽  
Water Body ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Vapor Pressure Deficit ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Pan Evaporation ◽  
Warming World ◽  
Open Water Body

Abstract Trends of decreasing pan evaporation around the world have renewed interest in evaporation and its behavior in a warming world. Observed pan evaporation around Australia has been modeled to attribute changes in its constituent variables. It is found that wind speed decreases have generally led to decreases in pan evaporation. Trends were also calculated from reanalysis and general circulation model (GCM) outputs. The reanalysis reflected the general pattern and magnitude of the observed station trends across Australia. However, unlike the station trends, the reanalysis trends are mainly driven by vapor pressure deficit changes than wind speed changes. Some of the GCMs modeled the trends well, but most showed an average positive trend for Australia. Half the GCMs analyzed show increasing wind speed trends, and most show larger changes in vapor pressure deficit than would be expected based on the station data. Future changes to open water body evaporation have also been assessed using projections for two emission scenarios. Averaged across Australia, the models show a 5% increase in open water body evaporation by 2070 compared to 1990 levels. There is considerable variability in the model projections, particularly for the aerodynamic component of evaporation. Assumptions of increases in evaporation in a warming world need to be considered in light of the variability in the parameters that affect evaporation.

scholarly journals Societal breakdown as an emergent property of large-scale behavioural models of land use change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calum Brown ◽  
Bumsuk Seo ◽  
Mark Rounsevell
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
System Development ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Land System ◽  
Behavioural Aspects

Abstract. Human land use has placed enormous pressure on natural resources and ecosystems worldwide, and may even prompt socio-ecological collapses under some circumstances. Efforts to avoid such collapses are hampered by a lack of knowledge about when they may occur and how they may be prevented. Computational models that illuminate potential future developments in the land system are invaluable tools in this context. While such models are widely used to project biophysical changes, they are currently less able to explore the social dynamics that will be key aspects of future global change. As a result, strategies for navigating a hazardous future may suffer from blind spots at which individual, social and political behaviours divert the land system away from predicted pathways. We apply CRAFTY-EU, an agent-based model of the European land system, in order to investigate the effects of human-behavioural aspects of land management at the continental-scale. We explore a range of potential futures using climatic and socio-economic scenarios, and present a coherent set of cross-sectoral projections without imposed equilibria or optimisation. These projections include various behavioural responses to scenarios including non-economic motivations, aversion to change, and heterogeneity in decision-making. We find that social factors and behavioural responses have dramatic impacts on simulated dynamics, and can contribute to a breakdown of the land system's essential functions in which shortfalls in food production of up to 56 % emerge. These impacts are largely distinct from, and at least as large as, those of projected climatic change. We conclude that the socio-economic aspects of future scenarios require far more detailed and varied treatment. In particular, the extent of economic irrationality at individual and aggregate scales may determine the nature of land system development, with established pathways being highly vulnerable to deviation from this theoretical optimum.

scholarly journals Effects of Water Level Fluctuation on Waterbirds Distribution and Aquatic Vegetation Composition at Natural Wetland Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia

ISRN Ecology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nawaz Rajpar ◽  
Mohamed Zakaria
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Water Body ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Sampling Point ◽  
Vegetation Composition ◽  
Natural Wetland ◽  
Open Water Body

The effects of water level fluctuations on waterbirds distribution and aquatic vegetation composition was determined using distance sampling point count method and direct visual observation at Paya Indah Natural Wetland Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 2563 waterbird individual of 28 species and 8 families were detected in three habitats, that is, marsh swamp (68.59%), open water body (18.42%), and lotus swamp (12.99%). Porphyrio porphyrio was the most dominant species in marsh swamp (45.39%), and lotus swamp (23.42%), whereas Dendrocygna javanica (42.16%) was the most abundant in open water body. The highest water level for marsh swamp (2.313 m) and lotus swamp (2.249 m) was recorded in January, 2008 and for open water body (2.572 m) in January and April, 2008. In contrast, the lowest water level for marsh swamp (2.048 m) and lotus swamp (1.834 m) was determined in October, 2008 and for open water body (2.398 m) in January, 2009. Pearson test indicates weak linear correlationship between water level and waterbird abundance in lotus swamp habitat (r2=0.120,P>0.05) and in marsh swamp (r2=0.100,P>0.05) and negative linear correlationship (r2=−0.710,P>0.05) in open water body habitat. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated strong correlationship between waterbird abundance and vegetation (73.0%) in open water body, and weaker association (29.8%) in lotus swamp. The results of this study indicate that water level is a major factor that influences the relative abundance and distribution of ducks, swamphen, crakes, herons, jacanas, and moorhens directly and indirectly. In addition, it also effects on the dynamics of aquatic vegetation composition such as, emergent, submerged, and grasses in this wetland reserve.

scholarly journals A millennium of increasing ecosystem diversity until the mid-20th century

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês S. Martins ◽  
Maria Dornelas ◽  
Mark Vellend ◽  
Chris D. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Global Land ◽  
Ecosystem Diversity

AbstractLand-use change is widely regarded as a simplifying and homogenising force in nature. In contrast, analysing global land-use reconstructions from the 10th to 20th centuries, we found progressive increases in the number, evenness, and diversity of ecosystems (including human-modified land-use types) across the globe. Ecosystem diversity increased more rapidly after ∼1700CE, then slowed or partially reversed (depending on the metric) following the mid-20th century acceleration of human impacts. Differentiation also generally increased across space, with homogenization only evident in the presence-absence analysis of ecosystem types at the global scale. Our results suggest that human land-use changes have primarily driven increases in ecosystem diversity over the last millennium.

scholarly journals Inhabiting the World’s Largest Tropical Delta: Understanding Human-Environment Relationship from a Century-Long Archaeological Quest in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Rifat Ur Rahman ◽  
Abu B. Siddiq
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Livelihood Strategies ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Systematic Survey ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Ancient People ◽  
Land Water

Due to the exceptionally rich tropical resource, the Lower Ganges-Brahmaputra basins have attracted people of diverse ethnic and geographical backgrounds for millennia. So far 524 protected sites in present Bangladesh indicate the busy human occupation in the world’s largest delta at least from 5th century BCE. Although systematic archaeology began in the 1870s there is still a paucity of knowledge about past human land use and livelihood strategies across this area, which is especially prone to floods, cyclones, and river migrations. Here we attempt a systematic survey of human-environment interactions in ancient deltaic Bangladesh. Revisiting the fragmentary information from archaeological records and epigraphic references produced through over a century-long archaeological legacy, this study is the first attempt at a synthesis of the changing relationships between ancient people and their environment elements including land, water bodies, flora and fauna.

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