scholarly journals Sustainable Management Options for Healthy Rivers in South Asia: The Case of Brahmaputra

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neera Shrestha Pradhan ◽  
Partha Jyoti Das ◽  
Nishikant Gupta ◽  
Arun Bhakta Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
River System ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Transboundary Cooperation

The Brahmaputra is one of the largest river systems of South Asia, providing life-supporting services to about 70 million people. Massive flooding, land erosion, over-exploitation of water, excessive fishing, habitat degradation and fragmentation, exploitation of flood plains, climate change impacts, absence of integrated basin wide management, and transboundary cooperation are major challenges for the present and future sustainability and development in the basin. Although hydrological connectivity is intact in most of the main course of the river, the infrastructure development plans may convert the Brahmaputra to a predominantly managed river system. In this regard, this paper examines the physiographic, ecological, hydrological, and socioeconomic status of the Brahmaputra river, its transnational basin in South Asia, and the basin population in the cross-cutting context to explore its sustainable management options. For a durable future of the river and its communities, an integrated management mechanism among the basin countries with the objective of equitable benefit sharing, disaster risk management, and resilience building is needed. The suggested strategies will help in maintaining the ecohydrological health and utilitarian services of the river for the socioeconomic development of millions of poor and marginalized people living in the basin.

scholarly journals Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 220
Author(s):  
Jo Marie Reiff ◽  
Sebastian Kolb ◽  
Martin H. Entling ◽  
Thomas Herndl ◽  
Stefan Möth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Pest Control ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Lobesia Botrana ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Natural Pest Control ◽  
Predation Rates

Habitat simplification and intensive use of pesticides are main drivers of global arthropod declines and are, thus, decreasing natural pest control. Organic farming, complex landscapes, and local vineyard management practices such as implementation of flower-rich cover-crop mixtures may be a promising approach to enhance predator abundance and, therefore, natural pest control. We examined the effect of organic versus integrated management, cover-crop diversity in the vineyard inter-rows, and landscape composition on the natural pest control of Lobesia botrana eggs and pupae. Predation of L. botrana pupae was reduced by organic farming and species-poor cover-crops by about 10%. Predation rates of L. botrana eggs did not differ significantly in any of the studied management options. Dominant predators were earwigs (Forficulidae), bush crickets (Tettigoniidae), and ants (Formicidae). Negative effects of organic viticulture are most likely related to the negative nontarget effects on arthropods related to the frequent sulfur and copper applications in combination with the avoidance of strongly damaging insecticides by integrated winegrowers. While a 10% difference in predation rates on a single pest stage is unlikely to have strong practical implications, our results show that the assumed effectiveness of environmentally friendly agriculture needs to be evaluated for specific crops and regions.

scholarly journals Water Quality Assessment of West Tarum Canal for Drinking Water Supply

2021 ◽  
Vol 277 ◽  
pp. 04003
Author(s):  
Ayu Widya Utami ◽  
Dwi Nowo Martono ◽  
Haruki Agustina
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Water Quality Assessment ◽  
Polluted Water ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Raw Water ◽  
Agriculture Industry ◽  
The Government ◽  
Almost All

West Tarum Canal (WTC) is a canal that drains raw water from the Jatiluhur Dam. Nearly 81% of the raw water for drinking water used by Jakarta’s people comes from this canal. However, various land uses such as agriculture, industry, settlements, and infrastructure development impact WTC’s water quality. This research aims to assess WTC’s water quality in 2016-2020 based on water quality standards set by the Government and using the STORET method. The results of this research indicate that the concentrations of TDS (142-351 mg/L), Fe (0.1-0.15 mg/L), Mn (0.03-0.1 mg/L) are meet the standards, while DO (3.6-4.9 mg/L), BOD (4-10 mg/L), COD (13-30 mg/L) are not meet the standards. Almost all monitoring points have pH values between 5.75-7.68 that are meet the standards. The STORET score of WTC is from -26 to -38 with an average of -30, which indicates that WTC’s water quality is moderately polluted. Water contamination in WTC will burden the drinking water processing and ultimately affect the community’s ability to pay for drinking water. This research also shows the need for integrated management of WTC from upstream to downstream and the need to increase collaboration between stakeholders in carrying out this management.

scholarly journals ІНТЕГРАЛЬНЕ ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ПРОСТОРОВОЇ НЕРІВНОСТІ ТРАНСПОРТНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ РЕГІОНІВ УКРАЇНИ

2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21
Author(s):  
Оксана І. Дмитрієва
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Traffic Load ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Technical Equipment ◽  
Vehicle Speed ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Road Density ◽  
Regional Transport

The article addresses the issues of integral assessment of spatial inequality in transport infrastructure across regions in Ukraine and explores the role of transport infrastructure in regional development. To measure spatial regional inequalities and sectoral asymmetries, two sets of indicators were identified. The first set of indicators includes indicators reflecting spatial inequality, the other group characterizes the level of socioeconomic development of the territory. The study constructs a typology for transport spatial inequality and regional sectoral asymmetry using the ArcView GIS classification algorithm, where the integral index is the indicator for traffic load of the territory. According to the cluster analysis results, subject to the regional transport infrastructure level, the four clusters have been identified in Ukraine. Within the scope of the research, a map of Ukrainian regional transport infrastructure has been designed. A conclusion is made about the evidences of inequality manifestations in transport infrastructure development in Ukraine. The greatest effect is observed in the Eastern part of the country, since this region is characterized by the highest road density and traffic intensity. The findings point out other significant impact factors, in particular, the road network quality and its technical equipment, communication load, traffic flow patterns, vehicle speed, roadside development and greenery, etc. The proposed modelling algorithm to assess spatial inequality and regional and sectoral asymmetry of the Ukrainian transport infrastructure can be used to tackle the issues of transport infrastructure development as well as have important implications in the context of territorial planning.

scholarly journals Vernacular Farm Buildings and Rural Landscape: A Geospatial Approach for Their Integrated Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Cillis ◽  
Dina Statuto ◽  
Pietro Picuno
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Environmental Planning ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Landscape Studies ◽  
Basilicata Region ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
Farm Buildings

Over the centuries, farm buildings, which accompany the development of agriculture, have played an important role in defining spatial and environmental planning. In some European countries in particular, these rural structures have been built based on traditional agricultural needs and typical land characteristics. Considering the land abandonment that has occurred over the last five decades, with farmers moving to more comfortable residences in neighboring urban settlements, historical farm buildings have often been abandoned, thus causing a leakage of the historical-cultural heritage of the rural landscape. Nowadays, open data and geographic technologies together with advanced technological tools allow us to gather multidisciplinary information about the specific characteristics of each farm building, thus improving our knowledge. This information can greatly support the protection of those buildings and landscapes that have high cultural and naturalistic value. In this paper, the potential of Geographic Information Systems to catalogue the farm buildings of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy) is explored. The analysis of these buildings, traditionally known as masserie, integrates some typical aspects of landscape studies, paving the way for sustainable management of the important cultural heritage represented by vernacular farm buildings and the rural landscape.

scholarly journals An Opportunities-Based Approach to Mitigating Risks Associated with Infrastructure Development Projects

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Messerschmidt
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Experience ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Energy And Environment

‘Risk' is a major point of focus in the literature on resettlement and reconstruction associated with the impacts of major infrastructure development on project affected individuals and families. Previous approaches to risk appear to emphasize the negative consequences of development, and it is no wonder then that project affected people often emphatically resist development and change. This paper proposes that a more pro-active, positive opportunities and benefits approach be taken in dealing with resettlement and reconstruction associated with large scale infrastructure projects. The discussion is focused on the eight ‘risk factors' (or ‘opportunity factors'?) listed in the well known ‘Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction' (IRR) Model. Three more such factors are added to the list based on field experience in South Asia. The point is that by emphasizing the potential opportunities and benefits, project affected people are more likely to be supportive of projects that may disrupt their lives. Key words: Resettlement, opportunities, risk, IRR model, South Asia, infrastructure development  doi: 10.3126/hn.v3i0.1912 Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Issue No. 3, January, 2008 Page 9-15

scholarly journals Interdependence in water resource development in the Ganges: an economic analysis

Water Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (S1) ◽  
pp. 89-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Wu ◽  
Marc Jeuland ◽  
Claudia Sadoff ◽  
Dale Whittington
Keyword(s):  
Water Resource ◽  
Resource Development ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Water Resource Development ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Economic Optimization ◽  
Ganges River ◽  
The Ganges

It is often argued that the true benefits of water resource development in international river basins are undermined by a lack of consideration of interdependence in water resource planning. Yet it has not been adequately recognized in the water resources planning literature that overestimation of interdependence may also contribute to lack of progress in cooperation in many systems. This paper examines the nature and degree of economic interdependence in new and existing water storage projects in the Ganges River basin based on analysis conducted using the Ganges Economic Optimization Model. We find that constructing large dams on the upstream tributaries of the Ganges would have much more limited effects on controlling downstream floods than is thought and that the benefits of low-flow augmentation delivered by storage infrastructures are currently low. A better understanding of actual and prospective effects of interdependence not only changes the calculus of the benefits and costs of different scenarios of infrastructure development, but might also allow riparian countries to move closer to benefit-sharing positions that are mutually acceptable.

scholarly journals Prevalence and Intensity of Barley Diseases in South Tigray, Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-45
Author(s):  
Teklay A. Teferi ◽  
Muruts L. Wubshet
Keyword(s):  
Powdery Mildew ◽  
Leaf Rust ◽  
Stem Rust ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Leaf Scald ◽  
The Mean ◽  
All Diseases

Barley is attacked by many diseases and hence, the study was conducted to quantify and profile barley affecting diseases for management options. The survey was based on the assessment of barley fields at 5 km interval. Results indicated that powdery mildew, leaf rust, stem rust, leaf scald, and smuts were among the important diseases in south Tigray. The prevalence of the former diseases was 60, 60, 40, 47.8, and 40%, respectively. The incidence of powdery mildew, scaled, leaf rust and stem rust was 100% in considerable fields and cultivars. The incidence of smuts was ranged from 5% to 30%. Similarly, the mean severities of powdery mildew, leaf rust, stem rust and leaf scald were 43.4, 54.5, 45 and 20%, respectively, while, smuts caused complete spike losses.  Therefore, investigating of the pathogens variability especially for rusts, powdery mildew and scald as well as developing integrated management options for all diseases is of concern.

scholarly journals Deep reinforcement learning in World-Earth system models to discover sustainable management strategies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Strnad ◽  
Wolfram Barfuss ◽  
Jonathan Donges ◽  
Jobst Heitzig
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Management Options ◽  
System Models ◽  
The World ◽  
Earth System Models

<p>The identification of pathways leading to robust mitigation of dangerous anthropogenic climate change is nowadays of particular interest <br>not only to the scientific community but also to policy makers and the wider public. </p><p>Increasingly complex, non-linear World-Earth system models are used for describing the dynamics of the biophysical Earth system and the socio-economic and socio-cultural World of human societies and their interactions. Identifying pathways towards a sustainable future in these models is a challenging and widely investigated task in the field of climate research and broader Earth system science.  This problem is especially difficult when caring for both environmental limits and social foundations need to be taken into account.</p><p>In this work, we propose to combine recently developed machine learning techniques, namely deep reinforcement learning (DRL), with classical analysis of trajectories in the World-Earth system as an approach to extend the field of Earth system analysis by a new method. Based on the concept of the agent-environment interface, we develop a method for using a DRL-agent that is able to act and learn in variable manageable environment models of the Earth system in order to discover management strategies for sustainable development.</p><p>We demonstrate the potential of our framework by applying DRL algorithms to stylized World-Earth system models. The agent can apply management options to an environment, an Earth system model, and learn by rewards provided by the environment. We train our agent with a deep Q-neural network extended by current state-of-the-art algorithms. Conceptually, we thereby explore the feasibility of finding novel global governance policies leading into a safe and just operating space constrained by certain planetary and socio-economic boundaries.  </p><p>We find that the agent is able to learn novel, previously undiscovered policies that navigate the system into sustainable regions of the underlying conceptual models of the World-Earth system. In particular, the artificially intelligent agent learns that the timing of a specific mix of taxing carbon emissions and subsidies on renewables is of crucial relevance for finding World-Earth system trajectories that are sustainable in the long term. Overall, we show in this work how concepts and tools from artificial intelligence can help to address the current challenges on the way towards sustainable development.</p><p>Underlying publication</p><p>[1] Strnad, F. M.; Barfuss, W.; Donges, J. F. & Heitzig, J. Deep reinforcement learning in World-Earth system models to discover sustainable management strategies Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, AIP Publishing LLC, 2019, 29, 123122</p>

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