scholarly journals Introducing Nature into Cities or Preserving Existing Peri-Urban Ecosystems? Analysis of Preferences in a Rapidly Urbanizing Catchment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 587
Author(s):  
Cécile Hérivaux ◽  
Philippe Le Coent
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Ecosystems ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Quality Regulation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Environmental Inequalities ◽  
Heterogeneity Of Preferences

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted as a means to address societal and environmental challenges, especially flood risk reduction. In the context of rapidly urbanizing catchments, NBS can take part of the development of sustainable cities, either by conserving peri-urban ecosystems from urban sprawl or by developing green infrastructure in the cities. Both can provide a wide range of co-benefits (e.g., climate regulation, air quality regulation), but also generate some negative effects (e.g., mobility issues, unsafety, allergens). We develop and implement a Discrete Choice Experiment survey to analyse people’s perception of co-benefits and negative effects, and associated preferences for the two types of NBS at a catchment scale. The results obtained from 400 households living in a French Mediterranean catchment highlight that people associate numerous co-benefits to NBS, but also negative effects. Our estimations reveal that resident households are ready to contribute large amounts through a tax increase for the development of NBS (from 140 to 180 EUR/year, on average). There is however a strong heterogeneity of preferences at the catchment scale influenced by income, location of the respondent along an urban–rural gradient, and perception of the importance of ecosystem services. These differences may reflect urban environmental inequalities at the catchment scale, which are important to take into account in order to avoid distributive inequalities.

Green and sustainable plasma-based water pollution control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasool Erfani ◽  
Lena Ciric ◽  
Tohid Erfani
Keyword(s):  
Pollution Control ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Barrier Discharge Plasma ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Efficient Alternative

<p>Sustainable urbanisation relies on green infrastructure (GI) for its successful delivery. GI includes a network of environmental features that delivers a range of services including water purification and pollution treatment (WPPT) as measures for health and disease mitigation and adaptation for recovery. Recently wide range of innovative approaches for WPPT are introduced. This study shows how plasma engineering can be considered as a cheap and efficient alternative for WPPT in context of GI. We present, in particular, Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma actuator features and its integration in current infrastructure. We investigate its beneficial point of use application for delivery of a promising resilient method in responding to urban public health emergency. In particular, we show how this can be advantageous for pollution control in both city- and catchment-scale studies without reliance on additive chemicals.</p>

scholarly journals ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE MID-HILL FOREST OF WESTERN NEPAL: A CASE OF PANCHASE PROTECTED FOREST

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Ananta Ram Bhandari ◽  
Udhab Raj Khadka ◽  
Keshav Raj Kanel
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Climate Regulation ◽  
Quality Regulation ◽  
Landscape Integrity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Erosion Prevention

This paper identified ecosystem services of Panchase Protected Forest (PPF) in the mid-hills of western Nepal using the Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB) framework. Transect walk, focus group discussion, key informants interview and expert’s consultation were used. This study revealed that PPF offered wide range of ecosystem services including provisioning, regulating habitat, and cultural and amenity services. Provisioning services offered by PPF included food (35 species), raw materials (22 species), energy (17 species), medicines (40 species), ornamental resources (3 species) and water resources. The forest was also a source of water for irrigation and domestic consumption. The regulating services offered by PPF included water flow regulation, erosion prevention, water purification, soil fertility maintenance, air quality regulation and climate regulation. PPF provided habitat for 589 species of flowering plants, 24 species of mammals and 262 species of birds maintaining life cycles and genetic diversity. By maintaining landscape integrity and heritages, PPF provided opportunities for recreation and tourism. A total of 3,600 tourists and 25,340 pilgrims visit PPF every year. The beneficiary of ecosystem services from PPF ranged from local level to sub-national, national and global levels.

scholarly journals Re-Interpreting the Imrahor Valley (Ankara-Turkey) in Terms of Green Infrastructure Directing Urban and Rural Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
Nilgül Karadeniz ◽  
Esra Şenoz Orsan ◽  
Rüveyda Akman Taskin ◽  
Zekiye Cetinkaya
Keyword(s):  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Urban Ecosystems ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Metropolitan City ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The City

AbstractThe earth is rapidly urbanizing. One of the most effective means of dealing with the emergency caused by rapid urbanization is green infrastructure now. Ankara as a metropolitan capital city is also rapidly losing its urban-rural integrity due to rapid urbanization. Although different spatial plans have been made since the declaration of the Republic, the city continued oil-stain expansion and the green area system could not be protected. The Imrahor Valley, which is of ecologically vital importance in the urban-rural integrity, is one of the valuable areas under threat. The valley is an ecotone between the rural and urban ecosystems, southeast of Ankara city center. The valley has come to the point of losing its natural and rural character, especially with the urban transformation practices on the valley floor, slopes and surrounding areas. In this context, the ecological processes to which the Imrahor Valley is connected and dependent and human interventions in these processes are examined in three layers at different levels initially: the province, the city containing the central districts and the basin containing Lake Mogan-Eymir Lake-Imrahor Valley. Then, we focus on the transformation of the Imrahor Valley, one of the most important ecological components of the metropolitan city of Ankara, between 2003–2020. All transformational interventions in the Imrahor Valley affect all natural processes of the Valley irreversibly. It is necessary to re-read and interpret the Imrahor Valley landscape within the framework of the green infrastructure approach in all spatial planning studies and plan changes to be made regarding the metropolitan city.

Brief history and ways of further development of the department of hydraulic engineering and hydraulics FSBI «VNIIGiM named after A.N. Kostyakov»

2020 ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
Alexey Shcherbakov ◽  
Valentin Zhezmer
Keyword(s):  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Hydraulic Engineering ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Safety Level ◽  
Theoretical Substantiation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Construction Operation

Department of hydraulic engineering and hydraulics FGBNU «VNIIGiM them. A.N. Kostyakova «has a long history. For many years, the department’s staff has been such scientists and water engineers with extensive experience as M.A. Volynov, V.S. Verbitsky, S.S. Medvedev, N.V. Lebedev, B.C. Panfilov, T.G. Voynich-Syanozhentsky, V.A. Golubkova, G.V. Lyapin and others. The department solved a wide range of tasks, the main areas of research were the following: – theoretical and applied hydrodynamics and hydraulics, with reference to the open channel flows that affect the state and level of safety of the hydraulic structures; – integrated use and protection of water bodies – water sources and water sources of water resources used in land reclamation; – development of measures and technical solutions for the protection of objects from the negative effects of water; – theoretical substantiation of works to improve the safety level of the GTS (declaration); – development and implementation of digitalization methods for solving design, construction, operation and control of landreclamation facilities. Currently, promising areas of research is the development of a decision-making algorithm in the designation of measures to rationalize the provision of resources to water amelioration. The algorithm is developed on the basis of a detailed study, systematization and processing of data both on safety and on the efficiency of systems and structures, ensuring the delivery of irrigation water of the required quality and in sufficient quantity from a water source to the field.

OCCURRENCE OF THE RISKS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RESPIRATORY DISEASES IN CHILDREN EXPOSED TO THE CHEMICAL FACTORS OF THE EXPOSURE OF ALUMINA REFINERY- ASSOCIATED BUSINESS ACTIVITY

2019 ◽  
pp. 42-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Zemlianova ◽  
I.V. Tikhonova
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Allergic Inflammation ◽  
Respiratory Morbidity ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chemical Factors ◽  
Chronic Lymphoproliferative Diseases

Alumina refineries are among the leading sources of atmospheric air pollution with a wide range of pollutants hazardous to human respiratory organs. It is relevant to study and evaluate the occurrence of the risks for development of respiratory diseases in children living in the area affected by the emission components of an alumina refinery. We assessed air quality of the area under observation and comparison according to monitoring observations, risk of non-carcinogenic effects from the respiratory organs. The content of chemicals in the blood and urine adequate to risk factors was quantified. The structure of individual groups of respiratory diseases was analyzed. The causal relationships of violations of laboratory parameters with an increased content of chemicals in biological media were evaluated. It was found that an aerogenic exposure of chemical pollutants is formed on the territory with the production of metallurgical alumina. It determines the risk for development of respiratory diseases, exceeding an acceptable level up to 49.9 times. In the exposed children, the content of manganese, chromium, nickel, copper, xylenes, formaldehyde and aluminum, fluoride ion in the urine was increased to 4.2 times in relation to the indices in the comparison group. A high level of additional respiratory morbidity(1.8 times) was revealed. Chronic lymphoproliferative diseases of the nasopharynx and inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract (up to 6.6 times more often), inflammatory diseases with a predominance of the mechanism of allergic inflammation ( up to 2.1 times more often)are more often detected in the framework of the respiratory diseases. Negative effects on the part of the respiratory system in the form of activation of antioxidant processes, the development of an inflammatory reaction, local, general and specific sensitization of the respiratory tract were established. It confirms the occurrence of the risks for the development of respiratory diseases in children in the exposure area of the chemical factors of alumina refinery-associated economic activity.

The Cities on the Hill

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas K. Ogorzalek
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Social Difference ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Invaluable Tool ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The Hill ◽  
The New Deal

Recent electoral cycles have drawn attention to an urban–rural divide at the heart of American politics. This book traces the origins of red and blue America. The urbanicity divide began with the creation of an urban political order that united leaders from major cities and changed the Democratic Party during the New Deal era. These cities, despite being the site of serious, complex conflicts at home, are remarkably cohesive in national politics because members of city delegations represent their city as well as their district. Even though their constituents often don’t see eye-to-eye on important issues, members of these city delegations represent a united city position known as progressive liberalism. Using a wide range of congressional evidence and a unique dataset measuring the urbanicity of U.S. House districts over time, this book argues that city cohesion, an invaluable tool used by cities to address their urgent governance needs through higher levels of government, is fostered by local institutions developed to provide local political order. Crucially, these integrative institutions also helped foster the development of civil rights liberalism by linking constituencies that were not natural allies in support of group pluralism and racial equality. This in turn led to the departure from the coalition of the Southern Democrats, and to our contemporary political environment. The urban combination of diversity and liberalism—supported by institutions that make allies out of rivals—teaches us lessons for governing in a world increasingly characterized by deep social difference and political fragmentation.

scholarly journals Responses to Ecopollutants and Pathogenization Risks of Saprotrophic Rhodococcus Species

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 974
Author(s):  
Irina B. Ivshina ◽  
Maria S. Kuyukina ◽  
Anastasiia V. Krivoruchko ◽  
Elena A. Tyumina
Keyword(s):  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Resting Cells ◽  
Organic Substrates ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollutants ◽  
Rhodococcus Species ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Rigid Cell Wall

Under conditions of increasing environmental pollution, true saprophytes are capable of changing their survival strategies and demonstrating certain pathogenicity factors. Actinobacteria of the genus Rhodococcus, typical soil and aquatic biotope inhabitants, are characterized by high ecological plasticity and a wide range of oxidized organic substrates, including hydrocarbons and their derivatives. Their cell adaptations, such as the ability of adhering and colonizing surfaces, a complex life cycle, formation of resting cells and capsule-like structures, diauxotrophy, and a rigid cell wall, developed against the negative effects of anthropogenic pollutants are discussed and the risks of possible pathogenization of free-living saprotrophic Rhodococcus species are proposed. Due to universal adaptation features, Rhodococcus species are among the candidates, if further anthropogenic pressure increases, to move into the group of potentially pathogenic organisms with “unprofessional” parasitism, and to join an expanding list of infectious agents as facultative or occasional parasites.

scholarly journals TOPOI RESOURCES: Quantification and Assessment of Global Warming Potential and Land-Uptake of Residential Buildings in Settlement Types along the Urban–Rural Gradient—Opportunities for Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4099
Author(s):  
Ann-Kristin Mühlbach ◽  
Olaf Mumm ◽  
Ryan Zeringue ◽  
Oskars Redbergs ◽  
Elisabeth Endres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Global Warming Potential ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Residential Building Stock ◽  
Urban Rural

The METAPOLIS as the polycentric network of urban–rural settlement is undergoing constant transformation and urbanization processes. In particular, the associated imbalance of the shrinkage and growth of different settlement types in relative geographical proximity causes negative effects, such as urban sprawl and the divergence of urban–rural lifestyles with their related resource, land and energy consumption. Implicitly related to these developments, national and global sustainable development goals for the building sector lead to the question of how a region can be assessed without detailed research and surveys to identify critical areas with high potential for sustainable development. In this study, the TOPOI method is used. It classifies settlement units and their interconnections along the urban–rural gradient, in order to quantify and assess the land-uptake and global warming potential driven by residential developments. Applying standard planning parameters in combination with key data from a comprehensive life cycle assessment of the residential building stock, a detailed understanding of different settlement types and their associated resource and energy consumption is achieved.

A review on share of river bank erosion to the total sediment load with increasing catchment size

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghulam Abbas ◽  
Seifeddine Jomaa ◽  
Michael Rode
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Load ◽  
Bank Erosion ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
River Bank ◽  
River Bank Erosion ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Catchment Size ◽  
Total Sediment

<p>Information on the share of river bank erosion to the total sediment load at catchment scale by using the fingerprinting approach is important to address our knowledge of erosion processes to better target soil erosion control measures. In particular, river bank erosion is affected by many factors such as spatial and temporal variables and is difficult to quantify the relationship of the share of bank erosion to catchment size and upland erosion rate without extensive fieldwork and data analysis. Potential tracers including geochemical, fallout radionuclides, bulk and compound-specific stable isotopes, and magnetic properties have been used, often in combination with sediment source apportionment. In this worldwide review, the global dataset for percent share of river bank and surface erosion using fingerprinting approach was collected to establish the significance of catchment size and other physical controls on river bank erosion. Google Scholar and Web of Science were used to review research articles that included river bank/subsurface as one of the sediment sources in the study areas. This database showed that the UK (n = 84), USA (n = 14) and Brazil (n = 10) had the highest number of catchments, followed by Iran (n = 4), Southern Zambia (n = 1), Australia (n = 1), Spain (n = 1), Mongolia (n = 1) and Burkina Faso (n = 1) ranging in size from 0.31 to 15000 km<sup>2</sup>, predominately agriculture. Based on published studies, there is a clear shift of sediment sources from surface erosion to river bank erosion with increasing catchment size. The results show the wide range of relative contributions of surface and river bank sources to the catchment sediment yield around the globe. There are a number of catchments with river bank contribution exceeding 25% and surface contribution exceeding 90% of total sediment loss. This diversity highlights the many factors that influence river bank erosion. In addition to the wide range, sediment source contribution in the range 1-25% from river bank is generally representative around the World. We recommend that long term monitoring of sediment load and surface and river bank sources at nested sites within a catchment are indispensable. Furthermore, limited information on the share of sources often makes it difficult to target mitigation measures reducing sediment loads at the catchment scale.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Sediment load, catchment size, fingerprinting approach, river bank share</p>

scholarly journals Inositol phosphates: health implications, methods of analysis, and occurrence in plant foods

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quynh H. Duong ◽  
Karen G. Lapsley ◽  
Ronald B. Pegg
Keyword(s):  
Inositol Phosphates ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Plant Foods ◽  
Plant Seeds ◽  
Cell Functions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Multiple Cell ◽  
The Relationship

Inositol phosphates (InsPs), especially myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP6), are important binders of phosphorus and minerals in plant seeds. However, they have long been considered as anti-nutritional components of plant foods due to their possible negative effects on the absorption of minerals and proteins in mammals. On the other hand, recent findings have found InsPs to be ubiquitous in eukaryote cells and actively participating in multiple cell functions. In vivo and in vitro studies have also documented the preventive potential of these compounds against the development of a wide range of diseases. In light of these findings, interest in the relationship between these compounds and human health has been renewed. It is suggested that the interactions of InsPs with other nutrients in the gut are complex, that the absorption of dietary InsPs might be implied but is not certain, and that the disease fighting capabilities of InsPs hold both promises and limitations. At the same time, the analysis of these compounds in foods and biological samples still faces many challenges, calling for more advanced modification and developments in the future.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document