scholarly journals Devising a method to remotely model and map the distribution of natural landscapes in Europe with the greatest recreational amenity value (cultural services)

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Long ◽  
Sandra Nogué ◽  
David Benz ◽  
Katherine J. Willis
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. A. Didur ◽  
Yu. L. Kulbachko ◽  
V. Y. Gasso

<p>The problem of transformation of natural landscapes resulted from the negative technogenic impact is highlighted. It is shown that mining enterprises are powerful anthropo-technical sources of organic and inorganic toxicants entering the environment. Their wastes pollute all components of the ecosystems and negatively influence human health by increasing a risk of disease. The nature of the accumulation of trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, and Pb) by invertebrate animals of various functional groups under conditions of anthropo-technogenic pressure was studied. The sample plots were located on self-overgrowing sites with ruderal vegetation located in the immediate vicinity of the Mangan ore-dressing and processing enterprise (Dnipropetrovsk region). It is quite naturally that among the studied biogenic microelements (Fe, Cu, Zn and Ni), the phyto-, zoo-, and saprophages in the investigated zone of technogenic pollution most actively accumulate Fe:<em> </em>22758, 17516 and 18884 mg/kg dry weight on average, respectively. There are significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in the content of studied microelements between saprophages and phytophages. The saprophages accumulate such trace metals as Mn, Cu, Zn and Cd in high quantities, but Ni and Pb – in smaller ones. The saprophagous functional group of invertebrates is an active agent of detritogenesis, in the conditions of modern nature management it acts as a powerful element of ecosystem engineering (habitat transformation), the main ecological role of which is to modify the habitat of other soil biota. In addition, the saprophages fulfil their concentrating geochemical function. They actively participate in the most important soil biochemical process: the formation of humus, the migration of microelements along trophic chains, the biological cycle in general, and provide such supporting ecosystem services as increasing soil fertility and nutrient cycling.</p>


Author(s):  
Karen J. Esler ◽  
Anna L. Jacobsen ◽  
R. Brandon Pratt

Extensive habitat loss and habitat conversion has occurred across all mediterranean-type climate (MTC) regions, driven by increasing human populations who have converted large tracts of land to production, transport, and residential use (land-use, land-cover change) while simultaneously introducing novel forms of disturbance to natural landscapes. Remaining habitat, often fragmented and in isolated or remote (mountainous) areas, is threatened and degraded by altered fire regimes, introduction of invasive species, nutrient enrichment, and climate change. The types and impacts of these threats vary across MTC regions, but overall these drivers of change show little signs of abatement and many have the potential to interact with MTC region natural systems in complex ways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3912
Author(s):  
Bikila Jabessa Bulitta ◽  
Lalisa A. Duguma

Coffee is among the most popular commodity crops around the globe and supports the livelihoods of millions of households along its value chain. Historically, the broader understanding of the roles of coffee has been limited to its commercial value, which largely is derived from coffee, the drink. This study, using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, explores some of the unrevealed socio-cultural services of coffee of which many people are not aware. The study was conducted in Gomma district, Jimma Zone, Oromia National Regional state, Ethiopia, where arabica coffee was first discovered in its natural habitat. Relying on a case study approach, our study uses ethnographic study methods whereby results are presented from the communities’ perspectives and the subsequent discussions with the communities on how the community perspectives could help to better manage coffee ecosystems. Coffee’s utilities and symbolic functions are numerous—food and drink, commodity crop, religious object, communication medium, heritage and inheritance. Most of the socio-cultural services are not widely known, and hence are not part of the benefits accounting of coffee systems. Understanding and including such socio-cultural benefits into the wider benefits of coffee systems could help in promoting improved management of the Ethiopian coffee forests that are the natural gene pools of this highly valuable crop.


Author(s):  
S.B. Chistyakova ◽  

The article has been prepared on the basis of many years of research at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Urban Development in the 1970s and 1990s and later works, including those carried out at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Construction of the Ministry of Construction of Russia. The ecological prerequisites of urban planning and the principle of the formation of the natural-ecological frame of the territories of cities as a planning basis for their improvement and landscaping are considered. Taken into account studies of 2019-2020. Since the beginning of the new century, the professional environment has been discussing the negative trends of modern urban planning and urban improvement, accompanied by the loss of their individual appearance. This takes place in the conditions of a market economy and world processes of globalization, which in our subject area are usually called "urbanism". This situation is typical for most cities, and not only for megalopolises, but also for small historical cities. It is shown that excessive unification and depersonalization of the urban environment can be overcome by relying on the fundamental achievements of domestic science and practice. It is also necessary to use systemic, socially oriented and environmentally oriented approaches to the planning and improvement of cities with the formation of interconnected systems of natural and green areas. They should include historical buildings, architectural ensembles and architectural monuments, valuable natural landscapes, historical gardens and parks.


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