Search Results (55)

This exploratory case study examines the alignment between GIS-based displacement models and lived experiences of residents in Salt Lake City, addressing the benefits and limitations of spatial tools in capturing urban displacement complexities. By comparing the Urban Displacement Project’s Estimated Displacement Risk (EDR) model with qualitative interviews from diverse neighborhoods, the research highlights discrepancies between predictive outputs and community narratives. The findings reveal that while GIS models effectively identify displacement hotspots, they often underestimate risks in areas with high homeownership or recent development. Conversely, resident interviews provide valuable insights into emerging displacement pressures that GIS may overlook. This study underscores the importance of integrating spatial analysis with community engagement to produce more equitable land-use planning strategies. The study contributes to urban governance and sustainable development by advocating for policies that prioritize the voices of vulnerable populations, fostering more resilient and inclusive cities. Full article

To understand the mechanisms underlying species assemblage along salt gradients in intertidal zones, we measured the xylem hydraulic vulnerability curves (HVCs), leaf water potential (ψ), stomatal conductance (g_s), specific leaf area (SLA), and wood density (WD) for six mangrove species of Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Aegiceras corniculatum, Kandelia obovata, Sonneratia apetala, and Sonneratia caseolaris. We found the following: (1) A. marina and B. gymnorhiza had the most negative P₅₀ (water potential at which 50% of hydraulic conductivity was lost), while S. caseolaris and S. apetala had the least negative P₅₀, indicating different resistance to embolism in xylem; (2) P₅₀ and P₈₈ (water potential at which 88% of hydraulic conductivity was lost) declined with increasing salinity from the onshore to offshore species, as their water regulation strategy meanwhile transitioned from isohydry to anisohydry; (3) B. gymnorhiza had smaller SLA but larger hydraulic safety margin (HSM), implying potentially higher capacity of water retention in leaves and lower risk of hydraulic failure in xylem. These results suggest that hydraulic traits play an important role in shaping the salt-driven niche segregation of mangroves along intertidal zones. Our research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the hydraulic physiology of mangroves in salt adaption and may facilitate a general modeling framework for examining and predicting mangrove resilience to a changing climate. Full article

Groundwater is a critical freshwater resource, yet its quality is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities, particularly in urbanized regions. This study employs geospatial analysis to evaluate the spatiotemporal variability of groundwater quality across 11 Watershed Management Areas (WMAs) in northern New Jersey, from 1999 to 2016. Using specific conductance (SC) as a proxy for salinity, we applied Ordinary Kriging interpolation to estimate SC values in unmonitored locations, leveraging data from 295 shallow wells within the New Jersey Ambient Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network. The results reveal significant spatial heterogeneity in groundwater quality, strongly associated with land use and road density. The Northeast water region, characterized by high urbanization and extensive road networks, exhibited the poorest water quality, with salinity levels exceeding the 750 μS/cm threshold for freshwater in WMAs such as Lower Passaic (WMA-4) and Hackensack (WMA-5). In contrast, the Northwest region, dominated by agricultural and undeveloped land, maintained better water quality. Temporal analysis showed a worrying decline in freshwater coverage, from 80% in 1999–2004 to 74% in 2014–2016, with deicing salts and aging sewer infrastructure identified as major contamination sources. The study highlights the efficacy of Kriging and GIS tools in mapping groundwater quality trends and highlights the urgent need for targeted water management strategies in vulnerable regions. These findings provide policymakers and stakeholders with actionable insights to mitigate groundwater degradation and ensure long-term freshwater sustainability in northern New Jersey. Full article

Extreme precipitation events are one of the common hazards in eastern Texas, generating a large amount of storm water. Water running off urban areas may carry non-point source (NPS) pollution to natural resources such as rivers and lakes. Urbanization exacerbates this issue by increasing impervious surfaces that prevent natural infiltration. This study evaluated the efficacy of rain gardens, a nature-based best management practice (BMP), in mitigating NPS pollution from urban stormwater runoff. Stormwater samples were collected at inflow and outflow points of three rain gardens and analyzed for various water quality parameters, including pH, electrical conductivity, fluoride, chloride, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, sulfate, salts, carbonates, bicarbonates, sodium, potassium, aluminum, boron, calcium, mercury, arsenic, copper iron lead magnesium, manganese and zinc. Removal efficiencies for nitrate, phosphate, and zinc exceeded 70%, while heavy metals such as lead achieved reductions up to 80%. However, certain parameters, such as calcium, magnesium and conductivity, showed increased outflow concentrations, attributed to substrate leaching. These increases resulted in a higher outflow pH. Overall, the pollutants were removed with an efficiency exceeding 50%. These findings demonstrate that rain gardens are an effective and sustainable solution for managing urban stormwater runoff and mitigating NPS pollution in eastern Texas, particularly in regions vulnerable to extreme precipitation events. Full article

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) is a key driver of carbon storage changes, especially in complex coastal ecosystems such as the Yellow River Delta (YRD), which is jointly influenced by climate change and resource development. The compounded effects of sea-level rise (SLR) and land subsidence (LS) are particularly prominent. This study is the first to integrate the dual impacts of SLR and LS into a unified framework, using three climate scenarios (SSP1–26, SSP2–45, SSP5–85) provided in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), along with LS monitoring data, to comprehensively assess future inundation risks. Building on this, and taking into account land use and ecological protection policies in the YRD, three strategic scenarios—Ecological Protection Scenario (EPS), Natural Development Scenario (NDS), and Economic Growth Scenario (EGS)—are established. The PLUS and InVEST models are used to jointly simulate LULCC and carbon storage changes across these scenarios. Unlike previous studies focusing on single driving factors, this research innovatively develops a dynamic simulation system for LULCC and carbon storage driven by the SLR-LS compound effects, providing scientific guidance for land space development and coastal zone planning in vulnerable coastal areas, while enhancing carbon sink potential. The results of the study show the following: (1) Over the past 30 years, the land use pattern of the YRD has generally extended toward the sea, with land use transitions mainly from grasslands (the largest reduction: 1096.20 km²), wetlands, reservoirs and ponds, and paddy fields to drylands, culture areas, construction lands, salt pans, and tidal flats. (2) Carbon storage in the YRD exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity. Low-carbon storage areas are primarily concentrated in the coastal regions, while high-carbon storage areas are mainly found in grasslands, paddy fields, and woodlands. LULCC, especially the conversion of high carbon storage ecosystems to low carbon storage uses, has resulted in an overall net regional carbon loss of 2.22 × 10⁶ t since 1990. (3) The risk of seawater inundation in the YRD is closely related to LS, particularly under low sea-level scenarios, with LS playing a dominant role in exacerbating this risk. Under the EGS, the region is projected to face severe seawater inundation and carbon storage losses by 2030 and 2060. Full article

This work investigates the impact of sea level rise (SLR) of up to 3 m on flood protection and freshwater availability in the Netherlands. We applied an exploratory modeling approach to consider the large degree of uncertainty associated with SLR. The results show the current degree of flood protection can be technically and financially maintained for up to three meters of SLR. A primary finding of this work is that a similar degree of safety against floods can be maintained. There are, however, several challenges: First, maintaining this degree of safety against floods requires considerable spatial allocations to maintain and upgrade flood defenses, often in populated areas with limited space. Second, the supply of sand for coastal nourishments will be challenging due to other functions in the North Sea (wind energy, shipping) and explosive remnants of war. Third, an acceleration in the rate of SLR may impact the overall feasibility of maintaining flood defenses. Maintaining the freshwater strategy will be challenging due to SLR-induced salt intrusion, which aggravates climate impacts including droughts. Continued flushing of salinized areas of regional water systems and polders with fresh river water will increasingly compete with other demands. Our analysis highlights the vulnerabilities of the flood protection and freshwater strategies and gives input to follow-up analyses on societal impact and perspectives of actions for adaptation. Full article

Salt marshes are ecologically and economically valuable ecosystems, yet are vulnerable to marsh dieback, the rapid death of marsh vegetation, which has affected coastal areas along the southeastern and Gulf coasts of the United States in recent decades. This study used multichannel electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys to investigate the shallow hydrostratigraphy (up to 39.2 m depth) of three dieback-affected salt marshes along the Georgia coast to evaluate the influence of site location, vegetation status (dieback versus healthy), and tidal conditions on ERT profiles. ERT profiles revealed consistent subsurface resistivity patterns across the marsh platforms, with low resistivity (0.2 ohm-m) at shallow depths indicating saltwater saturation and a transition to higher resistivity (up to 8.1 ohm-m) at greater depths, potentially signifying a shift to brackish conditions and/or sandy strata. The ERT data indicated that the hydrostratigraphy is similar across all study sites. Furthermore, the ERT data remained consistent regardless of vegetation status, tidal variations, and seasonal changes, suggesting that the processes driving the recovery of marsh dieback are independent of the shallow marsh stratigraphy. These findings enhance our understanding of marsh subsurface conditions, supporting efforts to better understand marsh resilience and guide future research on salt marshes. Full article

Salt marshes are declining due to the dual pressures of coastal erosion and land reclamation. However, there remains a lack of quantitative analysis regarding this reduction process and its driving mechanisms. This study examines the dynamics and influencing factors of salt marsh vegetation along the eroding coastline of Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province, China, between 1985 and 2020, using remote sensing to analyze changes in artificial coastlines, water boundaries, vegetation front edge, and its topography. Our results showed an extensive seaward movement of artificial coastlines due to reclamation, coupled with severe reductions in salt marsh area and width. Coastal erosion further caused a 10.5% decline in vegetation elevation and a 46.7% increase in slope steepness, amplifying vulnerability to wave action. Native species were largely replaced by Spartina alterniflora, reducing ecological diversity. Currently, human pressure on the landward side has been alleviated; thus, addressing coastal erosion is vital to preventing the further loss of salt marshes. Sediment retention engineering and native vegetation restoration efforts can gradually facilitate the recovery of salt marshes. This study provided critical insights for sustainable coastal management under bidirectional pressures. Full article

Deep learning models, particularly transformer architectures, have revolutionized various computer vision tasks, including image classification. However, their performance under different types and levels of noise remains a crucial area of investigation. In this study, we explore the noise sensitivity of prominent transformer models trained on the ImageNet dataset. We systematically evaluate 22 transformer variants, ranging from state-of-the-art large-scale models to compact versions tailored for mobile applications, under five common types of image distortions. Our findings reveal diverse sensitivities across different transformer architectures, with notable variations in performance observed under additive Gaussian noise, multiplicative Gaussian noise, Gaussian blur, salt-and-pepper noise, and JPEG compression. Interestingly, we observe a consistent robustness of transformer models to JPEG compression, with top-5 accuracies exhibiting higher resilience to noise compared to top-1 accuracies. Furthermore, our analysis highlights the vulnerability of mobile-oriented transformer variants to various noise types, underscoring the importance of noise robustness considerations in model design and deployment for real-world applications. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of transformer model behavior under noisy conditions and have implications for improving the robustness and reliability of deep learning systems in practical scenarios. Full article

The coastal saline zone of West Bengal in India is the home to millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Due to a gradual increase in salt accumulation on soils of the coastal saline zone of West Bengal in India from winter to summer days, cultivation of the second crop in the winter season becomes possible in a limited area. To address these issues, field experiments was conducted in rainy and winter seasons of 2016–17 and 2017–18 at the farmer’s field of the coastal saline zone (CSZ) of West Bengal, India. The experiment was carried out to study the system productivity, nutrient uptake, and profitability vis-à-vis salinity dynamics of the crops in rice-pulse-based cropping systems under different land elevations (medium upland and medium lowland). The experiment was conducted in a strip-split plot design having horizontal factors namely, Factor A: Six dates of sowing of rice at an interval of one week (2nd week of June to 3rd week of July), Factor B: Two land situations (medium upland and medium lowland) and Two Cropping Systems (Rice-Lathyrus and Rice-Lentil) as vertical factor, replicated four times. The results suggest that irrespective of land situation, early sown rice (15 June to 21 June) produces higher dry matter and grain yield compared to late sown crops. This early sowing of rice also facilitated the better performance of subsequent lathyrus and lentil, by avoiding the worst situation of the salinity build-up and drought stress later in the winter. Moreover, significantly higher productions were obtained from medium-lowland situations for both the cropping systems. Sowing date has also significantly influenced macro-nutrient uptake (NPK) by rice and pulse grains. It may be concluded that early sowing of rice may be a potential option for intensification of rice-pulse-based cropping systems under CSZ of West Bengal, India. Full article

Salinity stress impairs growth and physiological performance in tomato, which is one of the most economically important vegetables and is widely cultivated in arid and semi-arid areas of the world. Plant landraces, which are heterogeneous, local adaptations of domesticated species, offer a unique opportunity to valorize available germplasm, underpinning the productivity, resilience, and adaptive capacity of staple crops in vulnerable environments. Here, we investigated the response of fully mature tomato plants from a commercial variety, an ancestral wild relative, and a landrace under short-term salinity exposure, as well as their ability to recover upon cessation of stress. The heterogeneous panel evaluated in this study revealed different adaptative strategies to cope the stress. Our data highlighted the ability of the tomato clade to handle low and intermediate salinity stress for short-term exposure time, as well as its capacity to recover after the cessation of stress, although inter- and intraspecific variations in morphological and physiological responses to salinity were observed. Overall, the landrace and the wild type performed similarly to control conditions under low salinity, demonstrating an improved ability to maintain ionic balance. In contrast, the commercial genotype showed susceptibility and severe symptoms even under low salinity, with pronounced reductions in K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, PSII photochemical efficiency, and photosynthetic pigments. This research confirmed that improved salt tolerant genotypes can lead to substantial, positive impacts on horticultural production. While the salt tolerance mechanism of domesticated tomato was efficient under mild stress conditions, it failed at higher salinity levels. Full article

Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants growing in saline ecosystems and are spread throughout the Mediterranean area. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in agricultural exploitation of halophytes, but poor attention has been given to pest and disease management of these species. The objective of this review is to assess the extent and distribution of pathogenic fungal and fungal-like (Oomycota) organisms on major Mediterranean halophytes. We retrieved 92 references spanning over 100 years, with more than half published since 2000. Ascomycota is the best-represented phylum, and the order Pleosporales has the highest species diversity. The order Pucciniales prevails in Basidiomycota, whereas Peronosporales is the richest order within Oomycota. Most of the pathogenic species have been isolated from aboveground organs, especially from leaves. Portulaca oleracea is the species with the most associated pathogens (16) and records (28). Leveillula powdery mildew, caused by Leveillula taurica, is the most common disease among the selected species. Cakile maritima was found to be vulnerable to different mycotoxigenic Alternaria species. Strengthening the research on diseases of halophytes is essential to successfully grow these species and to evaluate the risks related to the presence of mycotoxigenic species, which is crucial for the effective exploitation of halophytes as crops. Full article

The combination of extreme heat waves and ozone pollution is a major health hazard for urban populations in the summertime, particularly for the most sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, the unsheltered, and those with pre-existing health conditions. The “Cool Zone Program”, operated by the Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services, identifies areas in the county and Salt Lake City facilities where members of the public can escape the summer heat, hydrate, and learn about available programs. We measured indoor and outdoor temperature and ozone for a pilot study at a designated Cool Zone location during the 22 August–6 September 2019 period and found that the building provided substantial heat relief and protection from more than 75% of the outdoor ozone. We observed a nearly 35 min delay for the outdoor ozone to be reflected on the indoor readings, providing an action window for ventilation scheduling changes to protect against the highest ozone levels during the day. Our findings show that it is critical to re-think and formulate action plans to protect vulnerable populations from excessive heat and pollution events during the summer. Full article

Black carbon (BC) or soot contains ultrafine combustion particles that are associated with a wide range of health impacts, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Both long-term and short-term health impacts of BC have been documented, with even low-level exposures to BC resulting in negative health outcomes for vulnerable groups. Two aethalometers—AethLabs MA350 and Aerosol Magee Scientific AE33—were co-located at a Utah Division of Air Quality site in Bountiful, Utah for just under a year. The aethalometer comparison showed a close relationship between instruments for IR BC, Blue BC, and fossil fuel source-specific BC estimates. The biomass source-specific BC estimates were markedly different between instruments at the minute and hour scale but became more similar and perhaps less-affected by high-leverage outliers at the daily time scale. The greater inter-device difference for biomass BC may have been confounded by very low biomass-specific BC concentrations during the study period. These findings at a mountainous, high-elevation, Greater Salt Lake City Area site support previous study results and broaden the body of evidence validating the performance of the MA350. Full article

This research evaluates the coastal vulnerability of Shanghai, evaluates the effectiveness of existing natural habitats in reducing that vulnerability, and, finally, provides recommendations to improve the resilience of the coastal areas. Shanghai is an important economic center that is home to a large population. However, the combination of ground subsidence, rising sea levels, and more frequent coastal flooding due to tropical cyclones poses escalating climate risks for Shanghai, demanding urgent mitigation measures. The InVEST Coastal Vulnerability Model was used in this study to assess Shanghai’s coastal vulnerability under the current situation and various scenarios that simulated the absence of natural habitats. The assessment results were analyzed through a comparison between different scenarios and spatial aggregation analysis. This study pinpointed highly vulnerable areas, primarily located on the east coast of Chongming Island, the east and northeast coasts of Hengsha Island, and the east coast of the mainland of Shanghai. These areas need to be prioritized for intervention. Also, it demonstrated the effectiveness of existing natural habitats in reducing coastal vulnerability, with large green spaces and salt marshes playing a greater role compared to small green spaces. This is the first study applying the InVEST Coastal Vulnerability Model to Shanghai, demonstrating the model’s potential in providing valuable information regarding coastal protection against the impacts of climate change in Shanghai. Insights from the findings of this study are useful in crafting sustainable land-use policies and plans for Shanghai. Full article