Journal articles on the topic 'Biodiversity in the built environment'
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Weinbren, M., and T. Inkster. "The hospital-built environment: biofilm, biodiversity and bias." Journal of Hospital Infection 111 (May 2021): 50–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2021.02.013.
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Gan, Jing. "Built Environment Factors Affecting Urban Biodiversity and Planning Optimization Approaches." Urban Planning International 33, no. 4 (2018): 67–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.22217/upi.2017.038.
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Hernandez-Santin, Cristina, Marco Amati, Sarah Bekessy, and Cheryl Desha. "A Review of Existing Ecological Design Frameworks Enabling Biodiversity Inclusive Design." Urban Science 6, no. 4 (December 16, 2022): 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6040095.
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Built environment practitioners currently seek options and opportunities to respond to the biodiversity emergency. Biodiversity Inclusive Design (BID) is an approach to design that seeks to foster functional ecological systems, enable species’ persistence within the built environment and (re) connect people with nature. BID can support designers’ quest toward biodiversity positivity. However, design projects that prioritise biodiversity are sparse and are limited to ad hoc initiatives by individual champions rather than being standard practice. Frameworks providing a structured design process to achieve biodiversity positivity already exist, but they can be difficult to find, compare and navigate. Responding to calls to further develop the concept of Biodiversity Inclusive Design, we systematically analyse 15 design frameworks compatible with BID. We explore how existing design frameworks position biodiversity as a client. For each framework, we uncover the underlying rules, ideas, beliefs, design principles and proposed structure of the design process. Through a thematic analysis, we identify re-emerging concepts and themes underpinning BID. Nested within complementary design frameworks, we conclude by positioning BID as a set of parallel processes that specifically explore biodiversitys’ perspectives (needs, preferences) and how they interact with the socio-ecological system to give a voice to biodiversity within the planning and design process. Our paper formalises BID as a practice and identifies three core dimensions of design action and nine design principles.
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Rojas, Carolina, Einer Sepúlveda, Felipe Jorquera, Juan Munizaga, and Joan Pino. "Accessibility disturbances to the biodiversity of urban wetlands due to built environment." City and Environment Interactions 13 (January 2022): 100076. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2021.100076.
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Opoku, Alex. "Biodiversity and the built environment: Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 141 (February 2019): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.10.011.
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Dreher, Dennis. "Chicago Wilderness Green Infrastructure Vision: Challenges and Opportunities for the Built Environment." Journal of Green Building 4, no. 3 (August 1, 2009): 72–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/jgb.4.3.72.
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The Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan has won state and national awards for its farsighted approach to regional biodiversity protection. Inspired by Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, the Green Infrastructure Vision takes a step beyond the Recovery Plan by mapping an on-the-ground vision of what could and should be protected in the regional landscape. This Green Infrastructure Vision (GIV) identifies 1.8 million acres of macro-scale resource protection areas that span a region that includes southeastern Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois, and northwestern Indiana. This ambitious vision will require an integrated array of land protection techniques, including acquisition, conservation easements, greenway connections, restoration, and conservation development. Its implementation is being pursued at a range of spatial scales, including regional comprehensive plans, county and municipal plans and ordinances, and at the neighborhood and individual development level. The Vision presents unique opportunities and challenges for both the development community and local governments as progressive new approaches to sustainable land use and conservation development are considered and implemented.
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Bruno, Antonia, Sara Fumagalli, Giulia Ghisleni, and Massimo Labra. "The Microbiome of the Built Environment: The Nexus for Urban Regeneration for the Cities of Tomorrow." Microorganisms 10, no. 12 (November 22, 2022): 2311. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10122311.
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Built environments are, for most of us, our natural habitat. In the last 50 years, the built-up area has more than doubled, with a massive biodiversity loss. The undeniable benefits of a city providing all the basic needs to a growing population showed longer-term and less obvious costs to human health: autoimmune and non-communicable diseases, as well as antimicrobial resistance, have reached unprecedented and alarming levels. Humans coevolved with microbes, and this long-lasting alliance is affected by the loss of connection with natural environments, misuse of antibiotics, and highly sanitized environments. Our aim is to direct the focus onto the microbial communities harbored by the built environments we live in. They represent the nexus for urban regeneration, which starts from a healthy environment. Planning a city means considering, in a two-fold way, the ecosystem health and the multidimensional aspects of wellbeing, including social, cultural, and aesthetic values. The significance of this perspective is inspiring guidelines and strategies for the urban regeneration of the cities of tomorrow, exploiting the invaluable role of microbial biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it could provide to create the robust scientific knowledge that is necessary for a bioinformed design of buildings and cities for healthy and sustainable living.
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Khaleque, Tanjina. "Nesting in the City: Urban Environment That Invites Wildlife." Academic Research Community publication 5, no. 1 (October 28, 2021): 26. http://dx.doi.org/10.21625/archive.v5i1.810.
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This study explores how important it is to keep the ecosystem in balance, maintaining healthy biodiversity in urban areas. It also seeks ways in which a growing metropolitan like Dhaka can be friendly for wildlife. Modern cities are becoming more and more hostile to fauna which eventually affects humans also. The damage done over decades cannot be rectified overnight. The approach will be in different phases that address ecological succession. The paper suggests ways urban design can aid biodiversity. A minor consideration as the introduction of nectar-producing plants may increase the honeybee population. The urban landscape should be such that it favors insects or birds. To achieve this, complementary plants should be selected that can nurture an ecosystem.This research looks for options that can be applied in Dhaka’s context. The symbiosis between native wildlife and humans is studied. Exemplary design solutions for urban built areas as flyovers, bus stops or road medians are proposed.
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Firth, Louise B., Meredith Schofield, Freya J. White, Martin W. Skov, and Stephen J. Hawkins. "Biodiversity in intertidal rock pools: Informing engineering criteria for artificial habitat enhancement in the built environment." Marine Environmental Research 102 (December 2014): 122–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2014.03.016.
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Vassallo, Alberto, Steve Kett, Diane Purchase, and Massimiliano Marvasi. "The Bacterial Urban Resistome: Recent Advances." Antibiotics 11, no. 4 (April 12, 2022): 512. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11040512.
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Cities that are densely populated are reservoirs of antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs). The overall presence of all resistance genes in a specific environment is defined as a resistome. Spatial proximity of surfaces and different hygienic conditions leads to the transfer of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) within urban environments. Built environments, public transportation, green spaces, and citizens’ behaviors all support persistence and transfer of antimicrobial resistances (AMR). Various unique aspects of urban settings that promote spread and resilience of ARGs/ARB are discussed: (i) the role of hospitals and recreational parks as reservoirs; (ii) private and public transportation as carriers of ARGs/ARB; (iii) the role of built environments as a hub for horizontal gene transfer even though they support lower microbial biodiversity than outdoor environments; (iv) the need to employ ecological and evolutionary concepts, such as modeling the fate of a specific ARG/ARB, to gain enhanced health risk assessments. Our understanding and our ability to control the rise of AMR in an urban setting is linked to our knowledge of the network connecting urban reservoirs and the environment.
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Ogut, Ozge, Nerantzia Julia Tzortzi, and Chiara Bertolin. "Vertical Green Structures to Establish Sustainable Built Environment: A Systematic Market Review." Sustainability 14, no. 19 (September 28, 2022): 12349. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su141912349.
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Vertical Green Structures (VGS) emerged as a building skin Nature-based Solution (NbS) aside from green roofs. The motivation underlying this VGS exploitation is fast urbanisation and the need to limit both land consumption and vegetation loss. These structures can provide several ecosystem services like air purification, biodiversity enhancement, and noise reduction. Although the usage of VGS offers different versatile and multi-scalar benefits in the built environment, they still need to respond to all the requirements of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Over the last decades, technologies of VGS have been developed and new product types have become available in the market. This paper presents the overall development and benefits of VGS, and aims to provide a taxonomy by considering a systematic and interdisciplinary approach. The current market overview analyses and compares different aspects (i.e., environmental and economic features) of the products for a better understanding of the current state-of-the-art—from single component to system scale. The findings of this review lead to some suggestions to enhance the level of sustainability and increase the potential benefits. They look at both research and practice requirements to orient the users in selecting the most optimal VGS solution available in the market.
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Dave, Prachi, S. Sudha, Vijaya Raghavan, and P. Poornachandrika. "Association Between Built Space and Cognition in Humans: A Scoping Review." INDIAN JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH AND NEUROSCIENCES 3, no. 01 (January 1, 2020): 23–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.32746/10.32746/ijmhns.2020.v3.i1.46.
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Background: Various built environment characteristics have been shown to have varied effects on mental health. There is evidence for a positive relationship between certain BE characteristics and mental disorders. The talk on cognition is inevitable in any argument on mental health. This review looks at various BE characteristics and cognition and their interrelationship. Materials and Methods: A Boolean search of PubMed articles with keywords like ‘built environment’, ‘built spaces’, ‘green spaces’, greenspace,’neighbourhood environment’ and ‘attention’, ‘concentration’, ‘cognition’, ‘cognitive function’ and ‘cognitive disorders’ was carried out and relevant articles were chosen by two individual investigators. Results: 26 articles were chosen for the study, of which 22 were cross-sectional, 1 longitudinal, 1 cohort, 1 retrospective and 1 prospective study. Conclusion: There is a lot of evidence for the positive correlation between green spaces and cognitive performance. Greenness, biodiversity, walkability has been investigated to show a beneficial effect on cognition, especially attention restoration. Longitudinal studies that include persons with comorbidities will help as better evidences for the above positive correlation.
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Dave, Prachi, S. Sudha, Vijaya Raghavan, and P. Poornachandrika. "Association Between Built Space and Cognition in Humans: A Scoping Review." INDIAN JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH AND NEUROSCIENCES 3, no. 01 (January 1, 2020): 23–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.32746/ijmhns.2020.v3.i1.46.
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Background: Various built environment characteristics have been shown to have varied effects on mental health. There is evidence for a positive relationship between certain BE characteristics and mental disorders. The talk on cognition is inevitable in any argument on mental health. This review looks at various BE characteristics and cognition and their interrelationship. Materials and Methods: A Boolean search of PubMed articles with keywords like ‘built environment’, ‘built spaces’, ‘green spaces’, greenspace,’neighbourhood environment’ and ‘attention’, ‘concentration’, ‘cognition’, ‘cognitive function’ and ‘cognitive disorders’ was carried out and relevant articles were chosen by two individual investigators. Results: 26 articles were chosen for the study, of which 22 were cross-sectional, 1 longitudinal, 1 cohort, 1 retrospective and 1 prospective study. Conclusion: There is a lot of evidence for the positive correlation between green spaces and cognitive performance. Greenness, biodiversity, walkability has been investigated to show a beneficial effect on cognition, especially attention restoration. Longitudinal studies that include persons with comorbidities will help as better evidences for the above positive correlation.
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Kohli, Kanchi, and Ashish Kothari. "A national plan, built from below ? — The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, India." Social Change 33, no. 2-3 (June 2003): 69–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/004908570303300306.
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The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), formulated from 2000 to 2003, was envisaged as a comprehensive action plan for conserving biodiversity in India, that would adequately reflect the aspirations of the hitherto marginalised peoples who have a direct stake in biodiversity conservation. For the first time, a truly participatory approach was adopted for environmental conservation and planning in India. For a country of India's size, biological and cultural diversity and immense social and economic divides, this has been no easy task for Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group, the NGO with whom the Government of India is collaborating to formulate the NBSAP. In this article, the process and products of the NBSAP are reviewed, outlining its aims, the extent to which these have been met and the limitations in the process of its formulation. Through 33 state-level, 18 local-level and 10 inter-state level plans, the draft National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) recommends a series of bold measures to ensure that the country's ecological security is ensured. These measures call for a major reorientation of the process of economic development and of governance of natural resources, such that the health of the environment, and the livelihoods of biomass-dependent communities become central to all planning. The NBSAP process has been highly successful with respect to degree of involvement of local communities, development of linkages with ongoing conservation action, integration of cross-cutting issues such as globalisation and livelihood into conservation planning, and comprehensive assessment of various aspects of biodiversity. Implementation of the NBSAP has already begun in parts of nine states without external support, showing the high level of impact it has had on active citizens’ groups and governmental bodies. However, the planning process suffered from a number of inadequacies such as ineffective networking with some critical sections of the public such as religious leaders and corporate houses and unsatisfactory degree of involvement of women.
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Ikhajiagbe, B., V. D. Odenore, E. O. Umeokeke, E. S. Ahanor, O. Amadin, I. D. Omoigui, J. P. Loveniers, and G. O. Anoliefo. "GENETIC DIVERSITY OF Digitaria horizontalis Willd. IN BUILT ENVIRONMENTS IN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA." African Journal of Health, Safety and Environment 2, no. 1 (April 19, 2021): 25–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.52417/ajhse.v2i1.122.
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The influence of humans on biodiversity at the genetic, species, community, and ecosystem levels is enormous. This is even more impactful on plant populations, which, being immobile, are at the mercy of their immediate environment. Digitaria horizontalis is a very common grass species in Benin City. Its ruderal nature accounts mostly for its widespread. The current study investigated the existence of possible genetic diversity of the grass in built environment in Benin City. Plant samples were randomly collected from 21 built environment locations within 6 Local Government Council Areas that make up Benin City. Test plants were allowed to acclimatize in experimental bowls and then allowed to grow for 4 weeks after which morphological characteristics were determined. Genetic diversity was determined by Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA. Significant differences in plant height (33.0 – 59.0 cm) occurred when plants were compared based on location of collection. Changes in patterns of the association with weeds within the vicinity of the test plant was observed. The most prevalent plant species associated with the test plant was Pennisetum purpureum with a 12.18% prevalence. RAPD analysis using primer OPA 04 revealed a locus (about 600bp) that was absent in one or more of the locations with minimum disturbance. This 600pb fragment was however observed in most samples from highly built up and trampled environments. Primer OPA 03 showed monomorphic bands in 2 test samples with a band size of 400bp. It is therefore reported that there is an existence of the genetic diversity in a landscape of grass species (Digitaria horizontalis) found in different built environment in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
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Mansour, Shawky, Mohammed Alahmadi, Peter M. Atkinson, and Ashraf Dewan. "Forecasting of Built-Up Land Expansion in a Desert Urban Environment." Remote Sensing 14, no. 9 (April 23, 2022): 2037. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14092037.
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In recent years, socioeconomic transformation and social modernisation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have led to tremendous changes in lifestyle and, subsequently, expansion of urban settlements. This accelerated growth is pronounced not only across vegetated coasts, plains, and mountains, but also in desert cities. Nevertheless, spatial simulation and prediction of desert urban patterns has received little attention, including in Oman. While most urban settlements in Oman are located in desert environments, research exploring and monitoring this type of urban growth is rare in the scientific literature. This research focuses on analysing and predicting land use–land cover (LULC) changes across the desert city of Ibri in Oman. A methodology was employed involving integrating the multilayer perceptron (MLP) and Markov chain (MC) techniques to forecast spatiotemporal LULC dynamics and map urban growth patterns. The inputs were three Landsat images from 2010 and 2020, and a series of covariate layers based on transforms of elevation, slope, population settlements, urban centres, and points of interest that proxy the driving forces of change. The findings indicated that the observed LULC changes were predominantly rapid across the city during 2010 to 2020, transforming desert, bare land, and vegetation into built-up areas. The forecast showed that area of land conversion from desert to urban would be 5666 ha during the next two decades and 7751 ha by 2050. Similarly, vacant land is expected to contribute large areas to urban expansion (2370 ha by 2040, and 3266 ha by 2050), although desert cities confront numerous environmental challenges, including water scarcity, shrinking vegetation cover, and being converted into residential land. Massive urban expansion has consequences for biodiversity and natural ecosystems—particularly in green areas, which are expected to decline by approximately 107 ha by 2040 (i.e., 10%) and 166 ha by 2050. The outcomes of this research provide fundamental guidance for decision-makers and planners in Oman and elsewhere to effectively monitor and manage desert urban dynamics and sustainable desert cities.
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Pedersen Zari, Maibritt, and Katharina Hecht. "Biomimicry for Regenerative Built Environments: Mapping Design Strategies for Producing Ecosystem Services." Biomimetics 5, no. 2 (May 12, 2020): 18. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics5020018.
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Built environment professionals must solve urgent and complex problems related to mitigating and adapting to climate change and biodiversity loss. Cities require redesign and retrofit so they can become complex systems that create rather than diminish ecological and societal health. One way to do this is to strategically design buildings and cities to generate and provide ecosystem services. This is an aspect of biomimicry, where whole ecosystems and their functions are emulated, in order to positively shift the ecological performance of buildings and urban settings. A small number of methodologies and frameworks for ecosystem services design have been proposed, but their use is not wide spread. A key barrier is the lack of translational work between ecology concepts and practical examples of ecosystem services design for a built environment context. In response, this paper presents research underpinning the creation of a qualitative relational diagram in an online interactive format that relates ecosystem services concepts to design strategies, concepts, technologies, and case studies in a format for use by built environment professionals. The paper concludes that buildings and whole cities should be expected to become active contributors to socio-ecological systems because, as the diagram shows, many strategies and technologies to enable this already exist.
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Davidová, Marie. "Breathing Artifacts of Urban BioClimatic Layers for Post-Anthropocene Urban Environment." Sustainability 13, no. 20 (October 13, 2021): 11307. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su132011307.
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This article seeks the qualitative synthesis of schools of thought from extreme climate regions that could support urban biodiversity and climate change adaptation through architectural design. It proposes that climate comfort and biodiversity are closely related. This article suggests a possible systemic urban metabolism within a built environment that can support a transition to post-Anthropocene, where humans and other species live together in synergy. This article exemplifies and seeks systemic relations and reflections of gathered field studies documentation of case studies of breathing walls, envelopes, and screens generating bioclimatic layers in the cultural landscape, selected for their penetrability and performance. The samples from diverse study journeys that were codesigned through vernacular cultures and the author’s research by design speculations on the responsive screen ‘Ray’ are investigated and speculated upon through gigamapping (visual complexity mapping). This gigamapping is not to present any hard data model but to relate, inform and speculate on the investigated field that is grounded in research by design on cross-species coliving. This is approached through possible architectures and architectural and urban design parasites, transitioning towards synergetic landscapes of our envisioned colived and cocreated futures.
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Panlasigui, Stephanie, Erica Spotswood, Erin Beller, and Robin Grossinger. "Biophilia beyond the Building: Applying the Tools of Urban Biodiversity Planning to Create Biophilic Cities." Sustainability 13, no. 5 (February 24, 2021): 2450. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13052450.
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In response to the widely recognized negative impacts of urbanization on biodiversity, many cities are reimagining urban design to provide better biodiversity support. Some cities have developed urban biodiversity plans, primarily focused on improving biodiversity support and ecosystem function within the built environment through habitat restoration and other types of urban greening projects. The biophilic cities movement seeks to reframe nature as essential infrastructure for cities, seamlessly integrating city and nature to provide abundant, accessible nature for all residents and corresponding health and well-being outcomes. Urban biodiversity planning and biophilic cities have significant synergies in their goals and the means necessary to achieve them. In this paper, we identify three key ways by which the urban biodiversity planning process can support biophilic cities objectives: engaging the local community; identifying science-based, quantitative goals; and setting priorities for action. Urban biodiversity planning provides evidence-based guidance, tools, and techniques needed to design locally appropriate, pragmatic habitat enhancements that support biodiversity, ecological health, and human health and well-being. Developing these multi-functional, multi-benefit strategies that increase the abundance of biodiverse nature in cities has the potential at the same time to deepen and enrich our biophilic experience in daily life.
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Prudic, Kathleen, Jeffrey Oliver, Brian Brown, and Elizabeth Long. "Comparisons of Citizen Science Data-Gathering Approaches to Evaluate Urban Butterfly Diversity." Insects 9, no. 4 (December 6, 2018): 186. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects9040186.
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By 2030, ten percent of earth’s landmass will be occupied by cities. Urban environments can be home to many plants and animals, but surveying and estimating biodiversity in these spaces is complicated by a heterogeneous built environment where access and landscaping are highly variable due to human activity. Citizen science approaches may be the best way to assess urban biodiversity, but little is known about their relative effectiveness and efficiency. Here, we compare three techniques for acquiring data on butterfly (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) species richness: trained volunteer Pollard walks, Malaise trapping with expert identification, and crowd-sourced iNaturalist observations. A total of 30 butterfly species were observed; 27 (90%) were recorded by Pollard walk observers, 18 (60%) were found in Malaise traps, and 22 (73%) were reported by iNaturalist observers. Pollard walks reported the highest butterfly species richness, followed by iNaturalist and then Malaise traps during the four-month time period. Pollard walks also had significantly higher species diversity than Malaise traps.
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Scarano, Fabio Rubio. "Perspectives on biodiversity science in Brazil." Scientia Agricola 64, no. 4 (August 2007): 439–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0103-90162007000400016.
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Biodiversity issues in Brazil have reached a critical point. On one hand, biodiversity science is increasing in quality and quantity, however on the other, habitat destruction in all major biomes still maintain alarmingly high rates. This paradox, from a scientific perspective, has two central tenets that scientists should focus on. First, although science related to biodiversity is of high standard in Brazil as compared to that of peers in the world, it is still not at the leading edge of research. Second, the wealth of information built up by strong research programmes, such as Biota/Fapesp - to which this special issue of Scientia Agricola is dedicated - is beginning to help decision-makers to improve precision and quality of their decisions concerning the environment, but still much is left to be done in this respect. Therefore, I discuss some of the biodiversity issues that remain controversial and demand fast scientific growth. Tackling them Brazil may finally reach the leading edge of biodiversity research. Finally, I discuss how communication between scientists and decision-makers and the general public may be improved, highlighting how a strong education project is urgently needed from kindergarten to graduate programmes in order to solve the two problems above mentioned and definitely crack the paradox biodiversity knowledge vs. biodiversity destruction.
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Varshney, Kamiya, Maibritt Pedersen Zari, and Nilesh Bakshi. "Carbon Sequestration and Habitat Provisioning through Building-Integrated Vegetation: A Global Survey of Experts." Buildings 12, no. 9 (September 15, 2022): 1458. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/buildings12091458.
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Carbon sequestration (CS) and habitat provisioning (HP) through building-integrated vegetation are interlinked approaches that could potentially reduce climate change and biodiversity loss attributed to the built environment. However, a practical approach is required to integrate CS and HP into building design. A two-stage approach was undertaken in this research; firstly, preparing a conceptual framework from an extensive literature review and, secondly, gauging the perspective of building industry experts on that framework through a survey. The survey was designed to determine expert opinion related to establishing the data gathering approaches, progressing to identifying strategies and methods to quantify them, and finally, monitoring performance indicators for achieving CS and HP goals. The results of descriptive analyses performed after data collection indicate a notable difference in opinions between built environment professionals (group A) and environmental scientists and researchers (group B). The findings indicate that respondents emphasized maintaining vegetation in order to maximize CS rates and biodiversity levels. Moreover, spatial ecology considerations, including landscape-level parameters (vegetative area coverage, habitat availability, quality, and connectivity) and species-specific parameters (species selection based on their CS rates and habitat requirements for keystone species), must be analyzed while designing buildings for vegetation-based CS and HP.
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Tang, Feng, Meichen Fu, Li Wang, Wanjuan Song, Jiangfeng Yu, and Yanbin Wu. "Dynamic evolution and scenario simulation of habitat quality under the impact of land-use change in the Huaihe River Economic Belt, China." PLOS ONE 16, no. 4 (April 5, 2021): e0249566. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249566.
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Habitat quality is an important indicator for evaluating the biodiversity provided by ecosystem. Estimating and scenario-simulating the dynamic evolution and future development trends of habitat quality under the influence of land-use change is significant in regional biodiversity conservation, formulating land-use planning, and maintaining the ecological environmental sustainability. In this article, we included the Huaihe River Economic Belt as the area of study because of its vital location in China and applied the CA–Markov and InVEST models to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of habitat quality and to simulate the future development trends of habitat quality under three different land-use scenarios: fast urban growth scenario, farmland conservation-oriented scenario, and ecological conservation-oriented scenario. The results showed that the land-use change in the Huaihe River Economic Belt was mostly represented by the continuous increase of the built-up area, whereas other land types all declined in area from 1995 to 2015. The land-use changes under these three abovementioned alternative future scenarios with different development orientations were considerably different. The built-up area has been shown to expand rapidly to occupy other land types on a large scale under the fast urban growth scenario. Urban land increased slightly and a large area of rural residential land would be converted into farmland under the farmland conservation-oriented scenario. The built-up area and farmland might decrease while woodland, grassland and water would increase in extent of areas under the ecological conservation-oriented scenario. Habitat quality has been shown to be generally poor, continuing to decline from 1995 to 2015, while its spatial distribution was higher in the southwest and northeast areas and lower in the central regions. The future habitat quality would display a downward trend under the fast urban growth and farmland conservation-oriented scenarios with a further deterioration of the ecological environment, while the ecological conservation-oriented scenario predicted the converse trend that the ecological environment would be improved productively. This study may be useful for understanding the impact of land-use dynamics on biodiversity. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the decision-makers to formulate biodiversity conservation and land management policies.
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Chen, Yang, Yuhong Wang, Jia Huan Liew, and Phoenix L. Wang. "Development of a methodological framework for evaluating biodiversity of built urban green infrastructures by practitioners." Journal of Cleaner Production 303 (June 2021): 127009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127009.
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Febiola, Anggie, Syamswisna Syamswisna, and Andi Besse Tenriawaru. "Validitas Multimedia Interaktif Lectora Inspire pada Submateri Pemanfaatan Keanekaragaman Hayati Berbasis Tumbuhan Kerajinan." Bioscientist : Jurnal Ilmiah Biologi 10, no. 1 (June 30, 2022): 445. http://dx.doi.org/10.33394/bioscientist.v10i1.4821.
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In assessing the availability of the local potentials, learning biology has a vital role. By the support of interactive multimedia, the delivery of materials and a sense of caring for the environment can be built by students easily. This research aims to find out the feasibility of interactive multimedia lectora inspire as a learning media in biodiversity sub-material. Research methods use quantitative descriptive and data analysis using RTVTK calculations. Lectora inspire validation is conducted by three material experts with three aspects and 11 assessment criteria and three media experts with six aspects and 13 assessment criteria. Validation results get an average of total validation (RTVTK) material experts of 3.89 and media experts of 3.65. The interactive multimedia Lectora inspires the sub-material of the use of biodiversity for class X HIgh School is considered appropriate to be used as learning media.
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Perez Lopez, Irene, and Daniel Jan Martin. "Rethinking Estuary Urbanism—Preparing Australian Estuary Cities for Changes to Come in the Climate and Biodiversity Emergency." Sustainability 15, no. 2 (January 5, 2023): 962. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su15020962.
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This research investigates the challenges and opportunities of urban estuaries exposed to spatial, urban, and environmental shifts exacerbated by climate change, ecological disturbances, and population growth, taking the cities of Perth, Western Australia and Newcastle, New South Wales, as case studies. Approaching the design of estuary cities in the Climate Century demands a form of estuary urbanism and new paradigms in design, which embrace the constant presence of water. Water becomes the instrument of change to re-think the design of the city and its relationship with the non-built environment since the climate crisis is also a water crisis. Adaptation and mitigation strategies are still emerging fields in design and planning disciplines. Design disciplines can strongly contribute to generating site-specific climate-adaptative responses while re-establishing the connection between built and natural environments, improving ecological balance and spatial quality, and promoting well-being and cultural values. The methodology involves both analytical and projective-explorative methods promoting a site-specific approach, working across scales and disciplines to understand urban estuaries within larger catchments and as complex hydrological and ecological systems. A fundamental goal is the creation of site-specific design strategies to operate in low to medium-density precincts, leveraging water and nature as design tools to improve urban resilience and liveability. There is capacity here to establish design methods and principles that inform future practices through urbanism responding to dynamic ecological and water systems and the unpredictability effects of climate change.
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Kelling, Steve. "Technology Developments for Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation." Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 2 (May 22, 2018): e25833. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25833.
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Over the next 5 years major advances in the development and application of numerous technologies related to computing, mobile phones, artificial intelligence (AI), and augmented reality (AR) will have a dramatic impact in biodiversity monitoring and conservation. Over a 2-week period several of us had the opportunity to meet with multiple technology experts in the Silicon Valley, California, USA to discuss trends in technology innovation, and how they could be applied to conservation science and ecology research. Here we briefly highlight some of the key points of these meetings with respect to AI and Deep Learning. Computing: Investment and rapid growth in AI and Deep Learning technologies are transforming how machines can perceive the environment. Much of this change is due to increased processing speeds of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which is now a billion-dollar industry. Machine learning applications, such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) run more efficiently on GPUs and are being applied to analyze visual imagery and sounds in real time. Rapid advances in CNNs that use both supervised and unsupervised learning to train the models is improving accuracy. By taking a Deep Learning approach where the base layers of the model are built upon datasets of known images and sounds (supervised learning) and later layers relying on unclassified images or sounds (unsupervised learning), dramatically improve the flexibility of CNNs in perceiving novel stimuli. The potential to have autonomous sensors gathering biodiversity data in the same way personal weather stations gather atmospheric information is close at hand. Mobile Phones: The phone is the most widely used information appliance in the world. No device is on the near horizon to challenge this platform, for several key reasons. First, network access is ubiquitous in many parts of the world. Second, batteries are improving by about 20% annually, allowing for more functionality. Third, app development is a growing industry with significant investment in specializing apps for machine-learning. While GPUs are already running on phones for video streaming, there is much optimism that reduced or approximate Deep Learning models will operate on phones. These models are already working in the lab, with the biggest hurdle being power consumption and developing energy efficient applications and algorithms to run complicated AI processes will be important. It is just a matter of time before industry will have AI functionality on phones. These rapid improvements in computing and mobile phone technologies have huge implications for biodiversity monitoring, conservation science, and understanding ecological systems. Computing: AI processing of video imagery or acoustic streams create the potential to deploy autonomous sensors in the environment that will be able to detect and classify organisms to species. Further, AI processing of Earth spectral imagery has the potential to provide finer grade classification of habitats, which is essential in developing fine scale models of species distributions over broad spatial and temporal extents. Mobile Phones: increased computing functionality and more efficient batteries will allow applications to be developed that will improve an individual’s perception of the world. Already AI functionality of Merlin improves a birder’s ability to accurately identify a bird. Linking this functionality to sensor devices like specialized glasses, binoculars, or listening devises will help an individual detect and classify objects in the environment. In conclusion, computing technology is advancing at a rapid rate and soon autonomous sensors placed strategically in the environment will augment the species occurrence data gathered by humans. The mobile phone in everyone’s pocket should be thought of strategically, in how to connect people to the environment and improve their ability to gather meaningful biodiversity information.
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D’Souza, Carol, Milind Brahme, and M. Suresh Babu. "Environment Education in Indian Schools: The Search for a New Language." Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 14, no. 2 (September 2020): 174–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0973408220978845.
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This article analyses the National Council of Educational Research and Training textbooks of environmental studies using critical discourse analysis to shed light on questions such as how the environment is dealt with in the text, using what kind of language are environmental concerns framed, how is the current environment crisis contextualized both in terms of ecological and social justice, if at all, and what solutions are suggested in this regard. The article finds that though the content of the textbooks exhibits strong social contextualizing of learners’ surroundings, the thrust is anthropocentric, and the environment figures only as a peripheral concern. Themes such as gender, caste, hygiene, culture, equality and discrimination emerge stronger than those of biodiversity, conservation, pollution, water crisis and global warming. While the in-built thrust on conviviality in the textbooks is necessary and heartening, a better infusion of the current predicament in terms of the environment crisis and how it could be mitigated is recommended.
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Zhang, Chengxiang, Li Wen, Yuyu Wang, Cunqi Liu, Yan Zhou, and Guangchun Lei. "Can Constructed Wetlands be Wildlife Refuges? A Review of Their Potential Biodiversity Conservation Value." Sustainability 12, no. 4 (February 15, 2020): 1442. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12041442.
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The degradation of wetland ecosystems is currently recognized as one of the main threats to global biodiversity. As a means of compensation, constructed wetlands (CWs), which are built to treat agricultural runoff and municipal wastewater, have become important for maintaining biodiversity. Here, we review studies on the relationships between CWs and their associated biodiversity published over the past three decades. In doing so, we provide an overview of how wildlife utilizes CWs, and the effects of biodiversity on pollutant transformation and removal. Beyond their primary aim (to purify various kinds of wastewater), CWs provide sub-optimal habitat for many species and, in turn, their purification function can be strongly influenced by the biodiversity that they support. However, there are some difficulties when using CWs to conserve biodiversity because some key characteristics of these engineered ecosystems vary from natural wetlands, including some fundamental ecological processes. Without proper management intervention, these features of CWs can promote biological invasion, as well as form an ‘ecological trap’ for native species. Management options, such as basin-wide integrative management and building in more natural wetland components, can partially offset these adverse impacts. Overall, the awareness of managers and the public regarding the potential value of CWs in biodiversity conservation remains superficial. More in-depth research, especially on how to balance different stakeholder values between wastewater managers and conservationists, is now required.
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Monsarrat, Sophie, Peter Novellie, Ian Rushworth, and Graham Kerley. "Shifted distribution baselines: neglecting long-term biodiversity records risks overlooking potentially suitable habitat for conservation management." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 374, no. 1788 (November 4, 2019): 20190215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0215.
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Setting appropriate conservation measures to halt the loss of biodiversity requires a good understanding of species' habitat requirements and potential distribution. Recent (past few decades) ecological data are typically used to estimate and understand species’ ecological niches. However, historical local extinctions may have truncated species–environment relationships, resulting in a biased perception of species' habitat preferences. This may result in incorrect assessments of the area potentially available for their conservation. Incorporating long-term (centuries-old) occurrence records with recent records may provide better information on species–environment relationships and improve the modelling and understanding of habitat suitability. We test whether neglecting long-term occurrence records leads to an underestimation of species’ historical niche and potential distribution and identify which species are more vulnerable to this effect. We compare outputs of species distribution models and niche hypervolumes built using recent records only with those built using both recent and long-term (post-1500) records, for a set of 34 large mammal species in South Africa. We find that, while using recent records only is adequate for some species, adding historical records in the analyses impacts estimates of the niche and habitat suitability for 12 species (34%) in our dataset, and that this effect is significantly higher for carnivores. These results show that neglecting long-term biodiversity records in spatial analyses risks misunderstanding, and generally underestimating, species' niches, which in turn may lead to ill-informed management decisions, with significant implications for the effectiveness of conservation efforts. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The past is a foreign country: how much can the fossil record actually inform conservation?’
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Andrade-Núñez, María José, and T. Mitchell Aide. "The Socio-Economic and Environmental Variables Associated with Hotspots of Infrastructure Expansion in South America." Remote Sensing 12, no. 1 (January 1, 2020): 116. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12010116.
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The built environment, defined as all human-made infrastructure, is increasing to fulfill the demand for human settlements, productive systems, mining, and industries. Due to the profound direct and indirect impacts that the built environment produces on natural ecosystems, it is considered a major driver of land change and biodiversity loss, and a major component of global environmental change. In South America, a global producer of minerals and agricultural commodities, and a region with many biodiversity hotspots, infrastructure expanded considerably between 2001 and 2011. This expansion occurred mainly in rural areas, towns, and sprawling suburban areas that were not previously developed. Herein, we characterized the areas of major infrastructure expansion between 2001 and 2011 in South America. We used nighttime light data, land use maps, and socio-economic and environmental variables to answer the following questions: (1) Where are the hotspots of infrastructure expansion located? and (2) What combination of socio-economic and environmental variables are associated with infrastructure expansion? Hotspots of infrastructure expansion encompass 70% (337,310 km2) of the total infrastructure expansion occurring between 2001 and 2011 across South America. Urban population and economic growth, mean elevation, and mean road density were the main variables associated with the hotspots, grouping them into eight clusters. Furthermore, within the hotspots, woody vegetation increased around various urban centers, and several areas showed a large increase in agriculture. Investments in large scale infrastructure projects, and the expansion and intensification of productive systems (e.g., agriculture and meat production) play a dominant role in the increase of infrastructure across South America. We expect that under the current trends of globalization and land changes, infrastructure will continue increasing and expanding into no-development areas and remote places. Therefore, to fully understand the direct and indirect impacts of land use change in natural ecosystems studies of infrastructure need to expand to areas beyond cities. This will provide better land management alternatives for the conservation of biodiversity as well as peri-urban areas across South America.
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Price, S. A., and L. Schmitz. "A promising future for integrative biodiversity research: an increased role of scale-dependency and functional biology." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 371, no. 1691 (April 5, 2016): 20150228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0228.
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Studies into the complex interaction between an organism and changes to its biotic and abiotic environment are fundamental to understanding what regulates biodiversity. These investigations occur at many phylogenetic, temporal and spatial scales and within a variety of biological and geological disciplines but often in relative isolation. This issue focuses on what can be achieved when ecological mechanisms are integrated into analyses of deep-time biodiversity patterns through the union of fossil and extant data and methods. We expand upon this perspective to argue that, given its direct relevance to the current biodiversity crisis, greater integration is needed across biodiversity research. We focus on the need to understand scaling effects, how lower-level ecological and evolutionary processes scale up and vice versa, and the importance of incorporating functional biology. Placing function at the core of biodiversity research is fundamental, as it establishes how an organism interacts with its abiotic and biotic environment and it is functional diversity that ultimately determines important ecosystem processes. To achieve full integration, concerted and ongoing efforts are needed to build a united and interactive community of biodiversity researchers, with education and interdisciplinary training at its heart.
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YAMAN, Yonca, Ayça TOKUÇ, and Gülden KÖKTÜRK. "TOWARDS CARBON NEUTRAL SETTLEMENTS WITH ALGAE." INTERNATIONAL REFEREED JOURNAL OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE, no. 25 (2022): 0. http://dx.doi.org/10.17365/tmd.2022.turkey.25.01.
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Biodesign concept is becoming more popular among studies that can help with reaching climate neutral built environment and combat global warming instead of continuing the common unsustainable lifestyle. Biodesign consists of learning and taking inspiration from nature, mimicking biological processes, and designing in collaboration with living organisms. Microalgae that live in aquatic environments can be used for this purpose and are the focus of this study. These photosynthetic organisms have an essential place in the ecosystems on earth. They serve as oxygen and ozone producers in the atmosphere, a sink for carbon dioxide, a food source, a biofuel resource, and a bio-degrader for waste. These functions are among the important needs of urban areas. Aim: This article aims to evaluate the possibilities of microalgae in the urban fabric for designing carbon neutral settlements. Method: The study examines the purposes and effects of algae applications through case studies. At the same time, SWOT analysis helps to understand the advantages and disadvantages of microalgae production for sustainable development. Results: The results show that microalgae applications help the built environment by realizing ecosystem services including, being carbon sinks, treating water, conserving energy, producing food, and improving air quality. Conclusion: Microalgae have the potential to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, improve soil, water and air quality, and ecological sustainability by promoting biodiversity. In addition, they serve socio-economic sustainability by providing employment, food security, energy security and resource savings, thus they have the potential to help reaching both carbon neutral cities and a sustainable environment.
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Mosyaftiani, Amarizni, Kaswanto Kaswanto, and Hadi Susilo Arifin. "Ground Vegetation Diversity on Different Type of Riverbank Along Ciliwung River in Bogor City, West Java." HAYATI Journal of Biosciences 26, no. 1 (May 28, 2019): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.4308/hjb.26.1.35.
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Ciliwung riverbank has been affected by settlement occupation. Both concrete and another retaining wall system have been built to avoid flood and erosion to the settlement that has existed adjacent to the river. Built environment as human disturbance can trigger the change of species richness of ground vegetation in the Ciliwung riverbank of Bogor City. The research objective is to study the difference of ground vegetation biodiversity in three different types of riverbank based on its condition: natural, semi-natural, and constructed riverbanks. Point method and photographic sampling are used. Five replications of a square metre plot at three transects were placed at four sites sampling along 250 m each from the three different types of riverbank. Images of the plots are trained using sample point to overcome the difficulties in the field observation and statistical analysis. The result discovered that species richness in the natural riverbank is significantly higher than in semi-natural and constructed riverbank. Yet, no significance of species richness is shown between semi-natural and constructed riverbank. Total species of ground vegetation that we found were 55 species. Each different type of riverbank has its own highest species coverage: Asystasia nemorum (55.00%) in the natural riverbank, Pilea nummulariifolia (33.07%) in the semi-natural riverbank, and Pogonatherum crinitum (52.80%) in the constructed riverbank. The study concluded that the construction in the riverbank largely altered the biodiversity of ground vegetation in the urban riverbank. The outcomes suggest that the remnant of natural riverbank in the urban landscape should be highly protected from urban development to preserve its biodiversity. Also, species found could be potentially developed as landscape plants to support urban river planning, design, and management.
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Malézieux, Eric, Damien Beillouin, and David Makowski. "Feeding the world better: crop diversification to build sustainable food systems." Perspective, no. 58 (2022): 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.19182/perspective/36932.
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Today, major changes are required in global agricultural systems to produce enough healthy food for all, while preserving the quality of land, air and water and safeguarding biodiversity. But producing enough while simultaneously protecting the environment is a particularly complex equation. Agroecology, a key principle of which is the use of agricultural biodiversity, is a promising pathway to achieve these changes. Extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence demonstrates the agricultural and environmental effectiveness of agroecological practices and confirms their capacity to meet the demands of global production in the long term. Among the possible diversification strategies, agroforestry, intercropping and crop rotation can all significantly increase production and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services (soil quality, pest and disease control, water use and quality). This evidence can serve as a basis for new public policies to be introduced from the local to the global level. The implementation of such policies is crucial in climate-vulnerable regions where demand for food is growing, such sub-Saharan Africa.
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Hamdan, Leila J., Justyna J. Hampel, Rachel D. Moseley, Rachel L. Mugge, Anirban Ray, Jennifer L. Salerno, and Melanie Damour. "Deep-sea shipwrecks represent island-like ecosystems for marine microbiomes." ISME Journal 15, no. 10 (April 22, 2021): 2883–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41396-021-00978-y.
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AbstractBiogeography of macro- and micro-organisms in the deep sea is, in part, shaped by naturally occurring heterogeneous habitat features of geological and biological origin such as seeps, vents, seamounts, whale and wood-falls. Artificial features including shipwrecks and energy infrastructure shape the biogeographic patterns of macro-organisms; how they influence microorganisms is unclear. Shipwrecks may function as islands of biodiversity for microbiomes, creating a patchwork of habitats with influence radiating out into the seabed. Here we show microbiome richness and diversity increase as a function of proximity to the historic deep-sea shipwreck Anona in the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity and richness extinction plots provide evidence of an island effect on microbiomes. A halo of core taxa on the seabed was observed up to 200 m away from the wreck indicative of the transition zone from shipwreck habitat to the surrounding environment. Transition zones around natural habitat features are often small in area compared to what was observed at Anona indicating shipwrecks may exert a large sphere of influence on seabed microbiomes. Historic shipwrecks are abundant, isolated habitats with global distribution, providing a means to explore contemporary processes shaping biogeography on the seafloor. This work is a case study for how built environments impact microbial biodiversity and provides new information on how arrival of material to the seafloor shapes benthic microbiomes.
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Liu, Wei Feng, Shu Xia Zhang, Wei Liu, and Ling Ling Zhou. "Study of Ecological Environment on Assessment Model of Ecosystem Damage Caused by Oil Spill in Ocean." Advanced Materials Research 908 (March 2014): 392–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.908.392.
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An ecosystem damage assessment model is built in the paper based on the features of marine ecosystem service damages caused by oil spill and traits of ecosystem service after restoration. The ecosystem damages caused by oil spill are mainly reflected in the following six services, namely, the fishery resource supply, gas regulation, waste disposal, disaster defense, entertainment and biodiversity conservation as well as the restoration expense of respective damage. The damage degree of oil spill to each service of marine ecosystem differs, and the recovery time and speed of respective service also vary. According to the change of service value after being damaged, the damage amount of each service is expressed as an integral function of original value, damage degree and recovery speed. Based on the natures and features of each assessment indicators, the method of environmental economics which can judge its original value is selected, and the ecological scale which can measure the damage degree and recovery speed is determined. Expense statistics method is adopted to monetize ecological restoration indicators.
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Ryokai, Kimiko, and Alice Agogino. "Off the Paved Paths." International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction 5, no. 2 (April 2013): 21–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/jmhci.2013040102.
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Mobile augmented reality (MAR) is an increasingly popular technology for enhancing how people interact with and learn about the environment and objects in the physical world. However, little is known about what aspects of a MAR interface can enhance student learning and engagement. Building on field observations and interviews with experts, and formative studies on how mobile learners navigate spaces using different interfaces, the authors have designed, built, and evaluated the GreenHat MAR application to help students learn about biodiversity and sustainability issues in their natural environment. The authors’ evaluation of the GreenHat MAR prototypes suggests that in comparison to a digital map on the same smartphone, MAR encouraged students to more carefully scrutinize physical field sites, and led them to make more personal discoveries to the subject matter being learned. They present the iterative design process, results from the authors’ studies, and discuss the implications for the design of mobile learning tools.
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Stangl, R., P. Minixhofer, T. Wultsch, A. Briefer, and B. Scharf. "Green-blue infrastructure in the built environment – sustainable and resource-saving designs for urban structures and open spaces." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1078, no. 1 (September 1, 2022): 012132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1078/1/012132.
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Abstract Urban grey infrastructure, as it generally consists of monofunctional, sealed, impervious, heating up and reflecting surfaces, has led to a series of serious challenges (urban heat stresses, loss of biodiversity, flood risks and natural hazards) decreasing urban resilience. Ongoing construction activities result in irreversible soil consumption and loss of its numerous and vital functions. However, a common understanding has been evolving that the establishment of green-blue infrastructure (GBI) supports compensating for functional losses, as they are integrative and provide pervious, absorbent, shading and non-heating up surfaces. We present a concept to holistically interconnect stand-alone approaches to improve and support constructional design for transforming green open spaces addressing specifically urban landscape construction and building greenery. The underlying state of knowledge emerges from currently four ongoing projects on advancing GBI for re-establishing ecosystem functions and diverse habitats: 1. The Circular Soil Concept targets the reuse of excavated soil materials from construction sites to produce engineered soils. These are applied as functional vegetation substrates for landscape construction and installing building greenery, saving scarce soil resources while generating large scale and vegetated areas with climate change adaptation performance. 2. The StreetTREE-Planter is designed to install urban trees in a given street infrastructure. The advanced planter systems will support extended tree lifespans, microclimatic benefits, flood protection and urban resilience. The design is based on targeted rainwater harvesting for irrigation management in alignment with water requirements and the desired microclimatic performance. 3. The GLASGrün projects generates plant-based shading designs for glass facades. As plants and their leaves do not heat up from solar radiation, vertical greenery is promising, however challenging, for green shading of glazed surfaces and for indoor and outdoor microclimatic regulation. 4. The INReS rainwater management tool was developed as a prototype web application to integrate sustainable, plant-based rainwater management systems into BIM-(Building Information Modeling)-based construction projects. It provides up-to-date design for the wider public and specific planning guidelines. In synthesis with the present and upcoming findings of these projects, a parameter-based and BIM-compatible GBI-design management tool is foreseen to better and sustainably integrate GBI systems into construction projects, and to consider the resource question.
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Acharya, Pranav. "Three Gorges Dam Project: An Introduction." Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment 1 (February 24, 2008): 54–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v1i0.892.
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The Three Gorges Dam Project (TGDP) on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province is touted as the long term solution to China’s increasing energy and agricultural needs. TGDP, with a 1084 km2 reservoir of 39.3 billion m3 capacity, will be the largest multipurpose water conservancy project ever built in the world. The main structures of the project are dam, hydropower stations and navigation facilities. After studying fifteen alternative sites and approval of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in February 1992, the construction of the dam began in 1994 with an expected duration of 17 years.
Annual reduction of 40-50 million tons of coal consumption by providing 85 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, protection of 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land from floods and considerable improvement of navigation and tourism sector are the major anticipated benefits of TGDP. However, the proposed benefits put significant pressure on ecological and socio-cultural environment of the TGDP area. Relocation and resettlement of over 1.3 million local populations, inundation of several sites of historical importance, deforestation and loss of biodiversity including several endangered species of flora and fauna across a region of 58,000 km2, increased sedimentation, water pollution and potential earthquake risks are the major adverse consequences of TGDP.
Key words: Three Gorges Dam Project (TGDP), environmental impacts, alternatives, resettlement, biodiversity, ecology, China
Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Vol. I, Issue No. 1 (2007) pp. 54-56
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Shapiro, A. C., L. Nijsten, S. Schmitt, and P. Tibaldeschi. "GLOBIL: WWF's Global Observation and Biodiversity Information Portal." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XL-7/W3 (April 29, 2015): 511–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-xl-7-w3-511-2015.
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Despite ever increasing availability of satellite imagery and spatial data, conservation managers, decision makers and planners are often unable to analyze data without special knowledge or software. WWF is bridging this gap by putting extensive spatial data into an easy to use online mapping environment, to allow visualization, manipulation and analysis of large data sets by any user. Consistent, reliable and repeatable ecosystem monitoring information for priority eco-regions is needed to increase transparency in WWF’s global conservation work, to measure conservation impact, and to provide communications with the general public and organization members. Currently, much of this monitoring and evaluation data is isolated, incompatible, or inaccessible and not readily usable or available for those without specialized software or knowledge. <br><br> Launched in 2013 by WWF Netherlands and WWF Germany, the Global Observation and Biodiversity Information Portal (GLOBIL) is WWF’s new platform to unite, centralize, standardize and visualize geo-spatial data and information from more than 150 active GIS users worldwide via cloud-based ArcGIS Online. GLOBIL is increasing transparency, providing baseline data for monitoring and evaluation while communicating impacts and conservation successes to the public. <br><br> GLOBIL is currently being used in the worldwide marine campaign as an advocacy tool for establishing more marine protected areas, and a monitoring interface to track the progress towards ocean protection goals. In the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation area, local partners are using the platform to monitor land cover changes, barriers to species migrations, potential human-wildlife conflict and local conservation impacts in vast wildlife corridor. In East Africa, an early warning system is providing conservation practitioners with real-time alerts of threats particularly to protected areas and World Heritage Sites by industrial extractive activities. And for globally consistent baseline ecosystem monitoring, MODIS-derived data are being combined with local information to provide visible advocacy for conservation. As GLOBIL is built up through the WWF network, the worldwide organization is able to provide open access to its data on biodiversity and remote sensing, spatial analysis and projects to support goal setting, monitoring and evaluation, and fundraising activities.
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Odunuga, Shakirudeen, Samuel Udofia, Opeyemi Esther Osho, and Olubunmi Adegun. "Environmental Degradation in the Ikorodu Sub-Urban Lagos - Lagoon Coastal Environment, Nigeria." Open Environmental Sciences 10, no. 1 (May 31, 2018): 16–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1876325101810010016.
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Introduction:Human activities exert great pressures on the environment which in turn cause environmental stresses of various intensities depending on the factors involved and the sensitivity of the receiving environment.Objective:This study examines the effects of anthropogenic activities along the sub-urban lagoon fragile coastal ecosystem using DPSIR framework.Results:The results show that the study area has undergone a tremendous change between 1964 and 2015 with the built up area increasing to about 1,080 ha (17.87%) in 2015 from 224 ha (1.32%) in 1964 at an average growth rate of 16.78ha per annum. The nature of the degradation includes an increasing fragility of the ecosystem through the emergence and expansion of wetlands, flooding and erosion as well as a reduction in the benefits from the ecosystem services. Population growth, between 2006 and 2015 for Ikorodu LGA, estimated at 8.84% per annum serves as the most important driving force in reducing the quality of the environment. This is in addition to Pressures emanating from anthropogenic activities. The state of the environment shows continuous resource exploitation (fishing and sand mining) with the impacts of the pressures coming from water pollution, bank erosion, biodiversity loss and flooding. Although there has been a strong policy formulation response from the government, weak implementation is a major challenge.Recommendation:The study recommends public awareness campaigns and the implementation of existing policies to ensure a sustainable sub-urban lagoon coastal environment..
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Guenser, Josépha, Emilie Bourgade, Marc Vergnes, Thierry Dufourcq, and Séverine Mary. "Assessment of biodiversity and agronomic parameters in two Agroforestry vineyards." E3S Web of Conferences 50 (2018): 01013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20185001013.
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Sustainability of agricultural production systems is nowadays considered as a major challenge to face. Viticulture is particularly affected by environmental issues, especially because of its consumption in pesticides. Besides, the social demand in environment-friendly products is increasing, and the reputation of wines produced under Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) is also built on the specificity of natural characteristics and resources such as soil, which has to be preserved. Biodiversity loss is largely admitted among the scientific community, and landscape simplification is known as a major driver in this process. Agroforestry, which combines trees with crops, could be a seducing response to biodiversity loss in agro-ecosystems, but the possibility of negative interactions between trees and vines (competition for water, nutrients, light) has to be considered. The Vitiforest project aims to assess south west of France agroforestry vineyard plots by spatializing different parameters in the domain of agronomy, ecology, micro-climate and economy. Field measurements were undertaken at different distances from the intercropped lines of trees in two agroforestry vineyard plots, in order to test potential effects of the trees. Arthropods were collected periodically with pitfall traps (for ground-dwelling individuals) and with D-vac system (aspiration of vine leaves). Pest insects (Empoasca vitis) were collected by specific yellow sticky traps. Data collected to describe biodiversity in these agroforestry systems was total arthropods abundances, abundances per order, carabidae richness and abundances. Nitrogen status was assessed by using Greenseeker® device, through the NDVI index. Our observations show that intercropped trees have no direct effects on vine nutrition. Slight effects on pests insects repartition were found, but these effects are inconstant according to experimental site and year of observation. The same trend is observed for arthropods abundances in the plots.
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Deng, Xu Yan, Liang Ji Deng, and Yu Fu Hu. "The Evaluation of Angu Hydropower Station Habitat and Analysis on its Influencing Factors." Advanced Materials Research 1065-1069 (December 2014): 3272–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1065-1069.3272.
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Located in the junction of Dadu River, Qingyi River and Minjiang River, Angu Hydropower Station has the typical characteristics of plateau estuary wetlands. Since river systems are inter-relate and interact each other here, the transitional zone is with the ecological characteristics of rich biodiversity, frequent human disturbance and fragile ecological environment. According to characteristics of regional wetland ecosystem, and based on the specific investigation on the regional ecological characteristics of the flora and fauna, sediment and water quality, this research built an index system and evaluated the function of ecosystem. And then taking it as basis, this paper distinguished the effect mechanism of different driving factors on wetland ecosystem with the method of gradient analysis, so as to provide theoretical basis for the ecological restoration of this region.
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Yates, Amanda, Maibritt Pedersen Pedersen Zari, Sibyl Bloomfield, Andrew Burgess, Charles Walker, Kathy Waghorn, Priscila Besen, Nick Sargent, and Fleur Palmer. "A Transformative Architectural Pedagogy and Tool for a Time of Converging Crises." Urban Science 7, no. 1 (December 20, 2022): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010001.
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The institutional frameworks within which we conceive, design, construct, inhabit and manage our built environments are widely acknowledged to be key factors contributing to converging ecological crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and social inequity at a global scale. Yet, our ability to respond to these emergencies remains largely circumscribed by educational and professional agendas inherited from 20th-century Western paradigms. As the crises intensify, there is a compelling case for radical change in the educational and professional structures of the built environment disciplines. This paper presents a work-in-progress examination of an emergent architecture programme at Te Wānanga Aronui O Tāmaki Makau Rau/Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Aotearoa New Zealand. The program is within Huri Te Ao/the School of Future Environments, a transdisciplinary entity formed in 2020 to integrate research and teaching across Architecture, Built Environment Engineering, and Creative Technologies. The school itself is conceived as a collaborative project to co-create an outward-facing civic research platform for sharing ecologically positive design thinking across diverse communities of practice. The programme foregrounds mātauranga Māori (Indigenous ways of knowing), transdisciplinary systems, and regenerative design as regional place-oriented contributions to planetary-scaled transformation. We illustrate and evaluate a specific curriculum change tool, the Living Systems Wellbeing (LSW) Compass. Grounded in Te Ao Māori (Māori cosmology and context), the Compass offers a graphic means for students to navigate and integrate ecological relationships at different scales and levels of complexity, as well as affords insights into alternative foundational narratives, positive values, design strategies, and professional practices. This paper identifies four foundational factors for transformative pedagogies. The first factor is the value of a collectively held and clearly articulated vision and focus. The second factor is the capacity and commitment of an academic team that supports and values the vision. Thirdly, the vision needs to meet and acknowledge place-specific knowledges and values. Finally, the pedagogy should have an action research component founded in real-world interactions. While this research-based pedagogy is place-based and specific, we argue that these four factors are transferable to other learning institutions and can support critical pedagogies for social, cultural, and ecological wellbeing.
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Baderia, Kiran, Alok Goyal, and Rakesh Kavache. "BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE AN APPROACH." International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH 3, no. 9SE (September 30, 2015): 1–2. http://dx.doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v3.i9se.2015.3231.
Full textAbstract:
Biodiversity is very important for us. These are integral parts of our life. So far, about 1.75 million species have been identified. However, scientists believe that there are about 13 million species on our planet. The presence of various species has helped make this planet habitable for humans. Without them we cannot imagine our life. Biodiversity provides many goods and services necessary for our lives. These are the pillars on which we have built our civilization. This biodiversity is the basis of many industries responsible for economic prosperity. To threaten them means to threaten our food supply, tourism and sources of wood, energy and medicine. Our personal health and our economy and human civilization are constantly supplied with these biodiversity. In such a situation, the threat to their existence is a threat to our own lives. Consequently, the presence of biodiversity signifies our presence on this beautiful planet.Climate change action in India is currently focused on reducing the intensity of carbon in development. But we are also trying to take the emissions to the top for a certain period of time, to allow growth and growth to reach the optimum level and then let the emissions fall, but this holiday of carbon continues to be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation efforts. Can also happen. For example, the concept of 'reaching the top' of emissions has no value for biodiversity and may actively pose a threat to it. It takes decades to restore a natural habitat once it is destroyed, as we build a basic human-made structure.Biodiversity is the common asset of the earth, which is the collective responsibility of the world community to protect. Many species of organisms have disappeared or are on the verge of extinction as a result of human changes in the natural environment to suit their potential. Maintaining biodiversity is very important for all terrestrial and aquatic organisms.
जैव विविधता हमारे लिए बहुत महत्त्वपूर्ण है। ये हमारे जीवन के अभिन्न अंग हैं। अभी तक लगभग 1.75 मिलियन प्रजातियों की पहचान हो चुकी है। हालाँकि वैज्ञानिकों का मानना है कि हमारे ग्रह पर लगभग 13 मिलियन प्रजातियाँ हैं। विभिन्न प्रजातियों की उपस्थिति ने मानव के लिए इस ग्रह को आवास योग्य बनाने में मदद की है। इनके बिना हम अपने जीवन की कल्पना नहंी कर सकते। जैव विविधता हमारे जीवन के लिए आवश्यक कई वस्तुएँ एवं सेवाएँ उपलब्ध कराता है। ये वो स्तम्भ हैं जिन पर हमने अपनी सभ्यता बसायी है। आर्थिक समृद्धि के लिए उत्तरदायी कई उद्योगों का आधार ये जैव विविधता है। इनको खतरा पहुँचाने का मतलब है हमारी खाद्य आपूर्ति, पर्यटन व लकड़ी, ऊर्जा और चिकित्सा के स्रोत को खतरा पहुँचाना है। हमारा व्यक्तिगत स्वास्थ्य और हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था तथा मानवीय सभ्यता को निरन्तर आपूर्ति इन्हीं जैव विविधता से होती रहती है। ऐसे में इनके अस्तित्व पर खतरा हमारे अपने जीवन पर खतरा है। फलतः जैव विविधता की उपस्थिति इस सुंदर ग्रह पर हमारी उपस्थिति का द्योतक है।भारत में जलवायु परिवर्तन से सम्बन्धित कार्रवाई वर्तमान में विकास में कार्बन की तीव्रता को कम करने पर केन्द्रित है। परन्तु हम एक निश्चित अवधि तक उत्सर्जनों को शीर्ष पर ले जाने, तब तक विकास और वृद्धि को ईष्टतम स्तर पर पहुँचने देने और फिर उत्सर्जनों को घटने देेने की चेष्टा भी कर रहे हैं, किन्तु कार्बन का यह अवकाश जैवविविधता के संरक्षण के प्रयासों के अनवरत प्रतिकूल भी हो सकता है। उदाहरण के लिए उत्सर्जनों के ‘शीर्ष पर पहुँचने’ की अवधारणा का जैवविविधता के लिए कोई मूल्य नहीं है और यह सक्रिय रूप से इसके लिए खतरा बन सकती है। एक प्राकृतिक वासस्थान को एक बार नष्ट हो जाने के पश्चात् पुनस्र्थापित होने में दशकों का समय लगता है, क्योंकि हम मनुष्य निर्मित मूलभूत ढ़ाँचा खड़ा करते हैं।जैव विविधता पृथ्वीवासियों की साझी सम्पदा है, जिसे बचाना विश्व समुदाय का समूहिक उत्तरदायित्व है। मानव द्वारा अपनी क्षमता के अनुरूप प्राकृतिक वातावरण में परिवर्तन के फलस्वरूप जीवों की अनेक जातियाँ लुप्त हो गई हैं या लुप्त होने की कगार पर हैं। जैवविविधता का बने रहना समस्त स्थलीय एवं जलीय जीवों के लिए अत्यन्त आवश्यक है।
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Stephenson, P. J., and Anca Damerell. "Bioeconomy and Circular Economy Approaches Need to Enhance the Focus on Biodiversity to Achieve Sustainability." Sustainability 14, no. 17 (August 26, 2022): 10643. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su141710643.
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Bioeconomy and circular economy approaches are being adopted by an increasing number of international organizations, governments and companies to enhance sustainability. Concerns have been raised about the implications for biodiversity. Here, we present a review of current research on the two approaches to determine their relationship to each other and to other economic models, their impact on sustainability and their relationship with biodiversity. Bioeconomy and circular economy are both poorly defined, inconsistently implemented and inadequately measured, and neither provides a clear pathway to sustainability. Many actors promote goals around economic growth above environmental issues. Biodiversity is often addressed indirectly or inadequately. Furthermore, many traditionally disadvantaged groups, including women and indigenous people, may be neglected and rarely engage or benefit. These challenges are compounded by capacity gaps and legal and governance complexities around implementation, influenced by traditional mindsets and approaches. Countries and companies need to plan their sustainability strategies more explicitly around the biodiversity they impact. Opportunities include the relevance and timeliness of sustainable economics for delivering Sustainable Development Goals in a post-COVID world, the existence of work to be built on, and the diversity of stakeholders already engaged. We propose five main steps to ensure the sustainability of economic approaches. Ultimately, we can ensure sustainability only by starting to shift mindsets and establishing a more focused agenda for bioeconomy and circular economy that puts species, ecosystems and the wellbeing of local people at the center.
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Musetsho, Khangwelo Desmond, Munyaradzi Chitakira, and Willem Nel. "Mapping Land-Use/Land-Cover Change in a Critical Biodiversity Area of South Africa." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 19 (September 27, 2021): 10164. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910164.
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Land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes have implications for the long-term outlook of environmental processes, especially in the face of factors such as climate change. These changes can have serious consequences for humans. In this study, remote sensing and geographic information system methods were used to investigate LULC changes in a critical biodiversity area (CBA) in the northern sections of Limpopo Province in South Africa from 1990 to 2018 using data obtained from the South African National Land Cover project. In 1990, the dominant land cover comprised thickets and dense bush, followed by woodland and built-up areas, covering proportions of 40, 24 and 18% of the total land-cover area, respectively. Bare and forest areas were the least dominant classes during this time. In 2018, the dominant land cover was woodland, followed by built-up areas, comprising 71 and 20% of the total area, respectively. Subsistence agriculture is a land-cover class with a relatively higher area compared to water bodies, wetlands and other classes. Between 1990 and 2018, significant changes in land-cover were noted for thickets and dense bush, woodland, water bodies, subsistence agriculture and built-up areas. Woodland increased by over 1000 hectares (ha) per year, while thickets decreased by over 900 ha per year. Interviews were conducted with local residents to determine what they thought were the drivers behind the observed changes. According to these interviews, the drivers included deforestation, agricultural activities in wetlands, sand and gravel mining, among others. The study’s outcomes are critical for future land-use planning exercises and the long-term conservation of this CBA, an area rich in biodiversity and a strategic water source for the communities.
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Birkeland, Janis. "Nature Positive: Interrogating Sustainable Design Frameworks for Their Potential to Deliver Eco-Positive Outcomes." Urban Science 6, no. 2 (May 30, 2022): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6020035.
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Built environment design is implicated in virtually all socio-ecological sustainability problems. Nonetheless, paradoxically, construction will be essential to creating sustainability by increasing social and natural life-support systems. Given the rates of land, resource, water, and biodiversity depletion, urban development must do more than restore nature. It must increase nature and environmental justice in real, not relative, terms. The necessary technologies and design concepts for nature-positive development already exist. However, most sustainable building regulations, design criteria, and performance standards only aim to regenerate landscapes and integrate more nature into cities. This cannot sustain nature or society. This paper canvasses contemporary sustainable design and development thinking and finds that a progression toward ‘nature positive’ is occurring. However, so-called ‘sustainable buildings’ still do not compensate for past inequities or nature degradation, let alone the material flows, pollution, or biodiversity losses they themselves cause. This is partly because current standards and measurements are based on existing conditions, not sustainability standards, and do not distinguish net-positive from regenerative outcomes. Positive Development (PD) theory provides a comprehensive alternative to conventional sustainability frameworks, planning analyses, decision-making structures, design paradigms, and assessment tools. This paper provides criteria for evaluating the potential of conventional and alternative methods for achieving nature-positive outcomes.
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Kovács, Szilvia. "Agri-product evaluation and biodiversity measurement." Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce 4, no. 5-6 (December 31, 2010): 91–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.19041/apstract/2010/5-6/15.
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This paper is meant to be the first part of a two part unit that will be published next. The objective of this paper is to be an introduction of agri-product evaluation, with in which a short summary of essentials of diversity measurement is given and to share experience on evaluation of environmental friendly agri-product. For biodiversity measurement and extern effects, literature of related publications was processed and experience gained over experimental projects on environmental-friendly technologies was summed up. Methods applied were based on influence-response approach which guided us all through the research work. It can be stated that one diversity measure or one diversity function fails to describe communities of living beings; therefore, at least two methods should be used in parallel. Scale-dependent description of diversity is necessary, which provides us with new information that can not be revealed by traditional methods. To identify external effects, we have to take influences of use of a specific product into account and the responses generated by use of that product. Influences might appear in parallel or can build up one another, similarly to the generated responses of environment. To be as precise as possible, it is suggested that we take into account only clear responses. Influence-response relations are shown here using terms and concepts in broad sense and in general. More sophisticated application of terms and concepts is needed to evaluate properly and in monetary terms.We will make efforts to clarify terms and their use in the future.