Search Results (38,829)

The degradation of forest landscapes in West Africa, particularly in Togo, threatens ecological and socio-economic sustainability. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use in the central plains of Togo between 1991 and 2022, and projects its evolution for 2030 and 2050 to guide restoration strategies. The methodology integrates the interpretation of Landsat images (1991, 2005, 2022) and the analysis of indicators, including conversion rates and the anthropization index. Prospective modeling (Markov chains and neural networks) follows a trend scenario. The results reveal a sharp decline in natural forest formations: dense semi-deciduous and dense dry forests (−50.55%) and woodlands (−62.06%), converted mainly to cropland, plantations, and built-up areas. Shrub/tree savannas, the dominant class, represent a transitional stage resulting from forest degradation. The average annual deforestation rate is 0.75%. The ecological disturbance index increased from 0.24 (1991) to 0.45 (2005), and then to 0.56 (2022), reflecting increased human impact and fragmentation. Projections indicate that these trends will continue, highlighting the growing vulnerability of ecosystems and the need to integrate this dynamic into sustainable management and restoration policies. Full article

Urbanization, together with shifts in rainfall patterns, has become an increasingly important driver of hydrological extremes in many rapidly developing tropical regions. In the Cimanceuri River Basin, Tangerang Regency, Indonesia, these processes have intensified over the last decade, raising concerns regarding flood risk. This study examines the combined influence of urban expansion and rainfall variability on flood dynamics over 2013–2025. Multi temporal land use classification based on Landsat imagery indicates a pronounced growth of impervious surfaces, primarily driven by rapid urban development and the conversion of agricultural land. To assess the hydrological consequences of these changes, rainfall–runoff processes and flood inundation were simulated using the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS–CN) method within a coupled HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS 2D modelling framework. Simulations were performed for multiple temporal conditions and design rainfall scenarios. Model calibration relied on observed flood events recorded in March 2025 in the Mustika Residential Area, Tangerang. The results suggest that urbanization has contributed to measurable increases in both peak discharge and inundation extent. Between 2013 and 2025, impervious surface coverage expanded by approximately 67%, accompanied by a rise in the composite Curve Number from 85.86 to 86.63 and an estimated 5.2% increase in flood extent. Also, the design rainfall increased from 85.01 to 90.95 with an average increase of 7.34%. Comparison between simulated inundation patterns and aerial imagery shows satisfactory agreement, with an average deviation of less than 10%, indicating acceptable model performance. Hydrologic analyses generated two discharge scenarios, consisting of event-based flow from the 5 March 2025 rainfall data and return-period flows derived from design rainfall under different rainfall-shift periods. The rainfall-shift analysis quantified changes in design rainfall and corresponding discharge using progressively updated rainfall records. Together, the results emphasize the combined effects of urban expansion and shifting rainfall patterns on flood dynamics, underscoring the need for adaptive land-use planning and climate-responsive water management in rapidly urbanizing catchments. Full article

Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands, one of the most extensive mature and old-growth woodland types in the Western United States, provide critical ecological, cultural, and economic benefits but face increasing threats from climate change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and pests. We developed the PJ Woodland Climate Adaptation Management Menu, a decision support tool designed to guide adaptive, climate-informed management of PJ ecosystems, particularly within the Colorado Plateau ecoregion. The menu was created through an iterative, collaborative process involving literature review, integration of strategies from existing adaptation frameworks, and extensive input from scientists, land managers, and community partners during workshops and focus groups. The menu links specific, evidence-based approaches to each of six broad strategies, including soliciting community input, mitigating disturbance, enhancing and maintaining biodiversity, conserving ecotones, timing actions for optimal outcomes, and accepting climate-driven changes when appropriate. It is intended for use with the Adaptation Workbook to help managers connect local goals and climate vulnerabilities to tailored management tactics. Hypothetical scenarios demonstrate the menu’s application to contrasting PJ woodland conditions, from die-off events to old-growth maintenance. Lessons learned during development underscore the value of early stakeholder engagement, cross-sector collaboration, and balancing diverse ecological objectives. This menu offers a flexible, transferable framework to strengthen climate resilience in PJ woodlands and serves as a model that could improve adaptation planning in other dryland forest ecosystems. Full article

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important analytical method used to evaluate the environmental impacts of products, services, or processes throughout their entire life cycles—from the extraction of raw materials and production to use and end-of-life treatment. LCA enables the identification of stages with the highest environmental impact burden (hotspots) and supports strategic environmental initiatives, the circular economy, standards, and policies aimed at improving sustainability. This paper analyses the application of LCA in metallurgy, with a focus on primary aluminium production. It outlines the principles of life cycle thinking and explores decarbonisation opportunities within the aluminium industry. This study includes a life cycle impact assessment case study comparing the most significant environmental impacts of primary aluminium production in different regions of the world, including Europe and Asia. The analysis was performed using openLCA software 2.5 with the OzLCI2019 database. Environmental impacts were calculated using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method. The results indicate that primary aluminium production mainly affects impact categories related to high energy consumption, the use of carbon anodes, and associated emissions. The highest impacts were identified in ecotoxicity, followed by global warming, land use, ozone formation, and fossil resource scarcity. No significant regional differences were observed. Full article

Carbon is an essential component in the regulation of climate systems through the global biogeochemical cycle. However, changes in land use/land cover (LULC) have reduced the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems like watershed to store carbon. This shows the need for a policy framework that balances conservative objectives with agricultural demands, as watersheds are required to support carbon storage and food production. Previous studies have generally assessed carbon dynamics or LULC change separately, with limited integration of policy-driven scenarios. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct multi-scenario carbon storage modeling to evaluate LULC protection strategies in the Cimanuk Watershed, Indonesia, an area experiencing significant LULC pressures. The method used consisted of Support Vector Machine (SVM)–Markov, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST), Geodetector, and Getis-Ord Gi*. A total of four scenarios were used to project LULC and carbon storage in 2042, which included Business as Usual (BAU), Paddy Field Protection (PFP), Forest Protection (FOP), and Paddy Field and Forest Protection (PFFOP). The results showed that forest area declined by 39,400 ha between 2015 and 2025, thereby reducing carbon storage. The PFFOP scenario was identified as the most viable, combining the protection of paddy fields and forests to balance agricultural production and carbon sequestration. Among the factors analyzed, slope exerted the greatest influence on carbon storage. Spatial cluster analysis showed that carbon hotspots were predominantly located in the upper Cimanuk sub-watershed. These results offered valuable insights into scenario-based sustainable watershed management to optimize carbon storage and maintain agricultural function. Furthermore, the proposed framework showed promising potential for application in other tropical watersheds, serving as a reference for decision-makers in sustainable watershed management. Full article

Ecological networks provide an important spatial framework for maintaining regional ecological security in fragmented landscapes. However, structural comparison of ecological network evolution at the provincial scale remains relatively limited, especially in cold-region contexts. Taking Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China as the study area, this study applies a structure-oriented workflow integrating ecological sensitivity assessment, the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model, and edge-betweenness-based backbone corridor extraction to examine ecological network change in 2000, 2010, and 2020. The results show that 16, 18, and 17 ecological source areas were identified in 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively, with a relatively stable spatial distribution concentrated in forest- and wetland-dominated regions. The total length of potential ecological corridors decreased from 12,634 km in 2000 to 11,985 km in 2020. Quantitative topological indicators further indicate that the 2010 ecological network was the most compact and densely connected of the three periods, whereas the 2020 network remained connected but exhibited lower structural compactness. Backbone ecological corridors retained only a limited proportion of the full corridor network while preserving overall connectivity, indicating that a relatively small subset of structurally important corridors supported the main network framework. Spatially, structural weakening was more evident in the Harbin–Daqing region, whereas the northwestern and southeastern parts of the province maintained relatively stable ecological foundations. These patterns were broadly consistent with land-use dynamics, particularly grassland decline and built-up land expansion. Overall, this study provides an applied structure-oriented workflow for examining ecological network evolution at the provincial scale and offers a spatial basis for ecological conservation and territorial planning in cold-region provinces. Full article

Anthropogenic activities and environmental changes have exerted an increasingly high impact on the habitats of wild animals, especially endangered species. Researchers have paid attention to the effects of future climate change on wildlife habitats. However, the impact of climate change on the suitable habitats of Tragopan birds has rarely been reported. Here, we used the Maxent model to assess the influence of climate change on the geographical distribution of five Tragopan species. The results showed that the SSP585 scenario projected relatively favorable conditions, with the total area of suitable habitats expected to show an overall increasing trend over time. Centroid analysis revealed that the centroid gradually shifts toward lower latitudes and elevations due to climate warming. Environmental factor analysis showed that human-induced factors (particularly land use) are the main determinants affecting the habitat suitability of Tragopan birds. Notably, a comparison between dispersal velocity and biological velocity showed that despite the predicted gradual expansion of habitat area, Tragopan birds may be difficult to expand into the newly suitable habitat regions. We further emphasize that establishing ecological corridors and setting up new protected areas will have a more significant impact on conserving the Tragopan birds. Full article

Draining peatlands for peat extraction converts them into significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantifying GHG emissions at the regional scale remains challenging because direct field measurements are spatially limited, while GHG accounting for land-use planning requires spatially explicit information. Building on the advances in remote sensing (RS) as a scalable low-cost emission accounting tool for large areas, this study presents a proof-of-concept workflow that integrates satellite-based land-cover classification with an emission-factor (EF) approach to support spatial upscaling of peatland GHG estimates. Using Sentinel-2 imagery and a supervised Random Forest classifier, peatland-related land-cover classes were mapped for selected sites in Latvia. The classification results show higher accuracy for spectrally distinct classes such as raised bogs and active peat-extraction areas, while more heterogeneous classes exhibited lower performance. The study provides an overview of how to utilize the RS approach to generate accurate land-cover maps, which can be used to upscale GHG estimation in Latvia when field data is limited. The study does not include calibration against site-level flux measurements, uncertainty propagation, or temporal variability analysis; therefore, the emission results are illustrative and consistent with current EF-based inventory practice rather than validated site-specific fluxes. Full article

This study demonstrates the application of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the elemental analysis of agricultural soils in South Punjab, Pakistan. Soil degradation due to intensive farming, imbalanced fertilizer use, and declining organic matter has reduced crop productivity in the region. To address this, rapid and accurate soil diagnostics are essential. LIBS, coupled with Calibration-Free analysis (CF-LIBS), was employed to quantitatively determine the concentrations of major and trace elements—including calcium, silicon, iron, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, potassium, sodium, lithium, and barium—without requiring chemical standards. Plasma characterization was performed using the Boltzmann plot method, yielding temperatures between 7750 and 9000 K, and electron number densities were derived from Stark-broadened spectral profiles. The results reveal significant spatial variability in elemental composition, reflecting differences in land use and irrigation sources. This work confirms LIBS as a versatile, efficient, and reliable tool for soil health assessment, offering a practical solution for monitoring soil nutrients and supporting sustainable agricultural management in resource-limited settings. Full article

As essential components of the natural environment, urban green and blue spaces (UGBSs) hold significant potential to enhance public health and wellbeing. However, existing research is limited in understanding the spatiotemporal heterogeneity and nonlinear relationships characterizing how built environment (BE) features of UGBSs influence public happiness. This study takes Nanjing, China as a case study. It integrates multisource data (e.g., social media text, remote-sensing imagery, POI data, land use, etc.) and employs machine learning techniques (including sentiment analysis and random forest), to investigate the nonlinear effects and spatiotemporal dynamics of UGBSs’ BE on public happiness. The results show that nonlinear relationships (e.g., S-shaped and inverted U-shaped) commonly exist between UGBSs’ BE indicators and happiness. The influence of UGBSs’ BE on happiness demonstrates significant spatiotemporal dynamics. Diversity and destination accessibility were dominant factors from 2021 to 2023, whereas the importance of the design and density dimensions increased substantially after 2023. The influence varied across UGBS types; except for the diversity dimension, the BE’s density, design, and destination accessibility were significantly associated with happiness across all UGBS types. The study offers empirical evidence to inform planning and management of UGBS infrastructure, with the aim to maximize public health benefits and foster healthy cities. Full article

Farmland management rights (FMR) mortgage lending has been advanced as a central instrument of rural credit reform in China, yet the program has consistently failed to sustain itself in the absence of direct government facilitation. Drawing on five national and provincial pilot counties in Henan Province, this study investigates the structural factors underlying this sustainability failure. We employ a sequential mixed-methods design: grounded theory analysis of in-depth interviews, policy documents, and media reports from five focal sites to inductively construct a constraint framework, followed by structural equation modeling (SEM) validation using 1055 survey responses. Our grounded theory analysis identifies three internal constraint categories—property rights insecurity, a thin secondary land market, and subject-level agricultural risk—and one external environmental constraint, which together produce a state of mutual non-recognition: neither financial institutions nor farming households regard FMR as legitimate collateral. Notably, the effect of collateral acceptance on farmer mortgage willingness is statistically insignificant, revealing that demand-side barriers are more deeply entrenched than supply-side institutional improvements alone can resolve. These findings challenge the premise that legal formalization of land rights is sufficient to generate market-driven credit activity, and call attention to the equally important role of institutional ecosystem development—encompassing land markets, appraisal capacity, supervisory infrastructure, and rural credit culture. The insights carry direct relevance for developing economies exploring land-backed agricultural credit as a rural finance strategy. Full article

Terrestrial ecosystems play a critical role in regulating atmospheric CO₂ through land–atmosphere carbon exchange. While Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) serves as a key integrative metric for carbon dynamics, its robust global estimation remains challenging due to profound environmental heterogeneity and nonlinear ecosystem responses. In this study, we propose a dual-track experimental framework to invert annual global terrestrial NEE at a 0.1° spatial resolution for 2000–2024. Initially, a long-term historical baseline inversion (2000–2024) was developed using explicit multi-source environmental predictors. Subsequently, to overcome the representational limitations of conventional spectral indices over complex terrains, we integrated high-dimensional remote-sensing embeddings from the AlphaEarth framework for the 2017–2024 overlapping period. This approach was designed to explicitly quantify the added value of these advanced features. Our results demonstrate that embedding features substantially enhance inversion performance, reducing prediction errors and improving spatial coherence. Adopting the standard meteorological sign convention, global terrestrial NEE remained consistently negative. Based on the 2000–2024 baseline inversion, our predicted global NEE fluctuated between −3.50 and −4.38 Pg C yr⁻¹. To validate these long-term estimates, we systematically cross-validated our results against an independent, recently published multi-network fusion dataset, which reported a comparable range of −3.11 to −3.75 Pg C yr⁻¹. This comparison demonstrates consistent interannual dynamics and corroborates the magnitude of the global terrestrial carbon sink. Spatial patterns exhibit a stable latitudinal structure, with stronger net carbon uptake in low latitudes. Interannual variability is expressed mainly as magnitude fluctuations rather than systematic spatial reorganization. Overall, this study highlights that high-dimensional Earth observation embeddings provide significant, measurable information gains for global NEE inversion without introducing new process-based assumptions, thereby offering a robust and internally consistent basis for evaluating long-term carbon dynamics. Full article

Urban ecological vulnerability has become an important perspective for understanding ecosystem stability under environmental change. However, its spatiotemporal dynamics and driving mechanisms remain insufficiently understood in high-latitude grassland cities. This study focuses on the central urban area of Hailar and examines how ecological vulnerability evolves and what factors shape its spatial differentiation. Using the sensitivity–resilience–pressure (SRP) framework, a multidimensional evaluation system was constructed based on statistical yearbooks and GIS-based spatial data. Ecological vulnerability was assessed on a 1 km grid from 2010 to 2020, and its evolution was analyzed in three stages. The spatial pattern remains relatively stable but shows increasing differentiation over time. High-vulnerability areas are persistently concentrated in built-up regions, while low-vulnerability areas are mainly located in surrounding forest and grassland ecosystems with higher ecological resilience. Over time, vulnerability gradually shifts outward from the urban core, with clear intensification along the urban fringe. The results indicate that ecological vulnerability is driven by the interaction of sensitivity, resilience, and pressure, while urban expansion plays a key role in intensifying ecological stress and reshaping spatial patterns. The study provides a framework for understanding ecological vulnerability dynamics in high-latitude resource-based grassland cities and supports zoning-based ecological management and land-use optimization. Full article

Urban fires are highly destructive with high casualty rates, often causing significant casualties and property losses. The obstruction of the Community Emergency Corridor System is a critical factor exacerbating fire casualties, directly related to residents’ life safety and public security governance effectiveness. Currently, community emergency corridors face severe systemic bottlenecks in the coordinated development of triadic space (physical, social, and information spaces), and the lag of information space has become a fatal shortcoming restricting emergency response efficiency, highlighting the urgent need for a comprehensive evaluation framework. However, existing studies mostly focus on a single spatial dimension, lacking a systematic framework for the coordinated patency of triadic space. Based on this, this study adopts the triadic space perspective, takes 77 typical communities in China as research objects, and uses the Entropy Weighted TOPSIS method to construct an evaluation index system for the accessibility of the Community Emergency Corridor System and systematically measure its level. The results show that the patency of triadic space is unbalanced overall; social space outperforms physical and information spaces (with the latter being the lowest), reflecting deficiencies in emergency information release and acquisition. Regionally, accessibility in Northeast China is significantly higher than in other regions (Northeast > West > Central > East), and eastern China has the lowest scores in physical and information spaces due to high urbanization, dense buildings, and land scarcity. Corresponding countermeasures are proposed to address regional disparities. The triadic space evaluation framework and methodological path provide a replicable analytical tool for urban fire-oriented community emergency management and references for fire resilience governance in other countries or high-density communities. Full article

Rainfed agriculture is the most common type of agriculture in South Africa among smallholder farmers, accounting for the majority of the arable land. In a country with so much potential, only about 8% of the arable land is under irrigation. In response, the South African post-apartheid government has invested in the establishment of irrigation schemes in rural provinces such as the Eastern Cape to promote the sustainability of smallholder farming systems. Despite these efforts, the participation of farmers in these schemes remains low. This study investigated socioeconomic and environmental factors that affect farming households’ level of participation in irrigation schemes and intensity. Cross sectional data was collected from 209 households using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the socio-economic and environmental factors. A double hurdle model was used to analyse both participation in irrigation and the intensity of participation. The study results reveal that agriculture is largely practised by elderly farmers with an average age of 54 years and largely female-dominated (58%). On average, farmers have 7.5 years of schooling and 12 years of farming experience. Econometric findings demonstrate that participation is significantly influenced by market access, whereas participation intensity is driven by market access, market information and the level of education. The study recommends strengthening gender-targeted agricultural support systems, improved water access through expanded and well-maintained irrigation infrastructure and improving market access. In addition, enhanced extension training support and youth-focused agricultural programmes are required to build productive capacity and ensure the long-term sustainability of irrigation schemes. Full article