Search Results (1,269)

This study critically examines residential tourism in Isla Cortés within the context of the real estate boom and the growing sustainability challenges facing coastal regions. Driven by global mobility, investment flows, and lifestyle migration, residential tourism is reshaping coastlines through intensive urban expansion. The analysis highlights the socio-environmental consequences of this model, including habitat fragmentation, mangrove loss, increasing pressure on water resources, and the gradual privatization of coastal areas. Using a qualitative research design that combines literature review, comparative case analysis, and territorial assessment, the study identifies structural similarities between Isla Cortés and other coastal tourism enclaves while emphasizing locally specific processes shaped by Mexico’s political economy and regulatory context. Findings suggest the structurally unsustainable character of this development pathway. Although residential tourism has stimulated short-term economic growth, it has also intensified socio-spatial segregation, commodified coastal commons, and generated long-term ecological and social vulnerabilities. The study challenges dominant narratives that portray residential tourism as inherently sustainable and instead draws on ecological reflexivity and socio-ecological systems perspectives to outline alternative planning pathways. It underscores the need for stronger regulatory frameworks, nature-based solutions, participatory governance, and regenerative planning strategies capable of aligning economic activity with ecological integrity and social inclusion in coastal territories. Full article

As a strategic node of the Silk Road Economic Belt and a prototypical valley-type city, Lanzhou is subject to the dual constraints of rapid urbanization and an inherently fragile ecological foundation, making the coordination between urban expansion and ecosystem services a critical issue for regional sustainability. Drawing upon multi-temporal land use remote sensing datasets provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Resource and Environment Science Data Center, in conjunction with soil, meteorological, and socio-economic data, this study integrates a land use transition matrix, the InVEST model, a modified coupling coordination degree model, and the geographic detector to comprehensively examine land use dynamics, the spatiotemporal evolution of urban expansion, and the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem services (i.e., carbon storage, water yield, habitat quality, and soil conservation) in Lanzhou. In addition, the coupling coordination relationship and its underlying driving mechanisms are systematically explored. The results demonstrate the following: (1) Between 1980 and 2020, urban land area in Lanzhou increased from 103.87 km² to 286.83 km², accounting for 2.17% of the total area, with cropland constituting the dominant source of expansion and exhibiting a fluctuating “high–low–high” conversion trajectory. (2) Ecosystem services exhibit pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with carbon storage and habitat quality displaying a pattern of “low in the southeast and high in the northwest”, water yield showing an increasing gradient from southeast to northwest, and soil conservation characterized by “lower values in central areas and higher values in peripheral regions”; (3) Urban expansion has accelerated significantly, with Yongdeng County and Gaolan County emerging as principal expansion hotspots during 2010–2020. (4) The dominant driving mechanism gradually shifted from natural factors to the synergistic interaction between natural and socioeconomic factors, and the interaction among driving factors markedly enhanced the explanatory power for ecosystem service evolution. (5) The coupling coordination degree has transitioned from widespread imbalance to a spatially differentiated pattern, characterized by relatively coordinated conditions in peripheral areas and persistent imbalance within the central urban core. These findings provide a robust scientific basis for territorial spatial optimization and the synergistic development of ecological and economic systems in valley-type cities, and offer important implications for sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions. Full article

This narrative conceptual review aims to examine how veterinary science intertwines with the different ontologies of resilience. As resilience has increasingly become an influential yet conceptually diverse framework, its different ontologies shape and are shaped by veterinary science thinking. This paper will begin with a brief overview of the origins of the resilience concept and its three major ontologies: engineering, psychological, and ecological resilience. Following these different ontologies, the paper then explores animal-level resilience, where engineering framings emphasise disease response and production stability, while welfare-oriented perspectives frame resilience in terms of the affective experience and the lived realities of animals. It then considers veterinary professional resilience, highlighting how emotional labour, workload pressures and structural constraints shape wellbeing across the profession. Finally, it analyses how veterinary science contributes to socio-ecological resilience through One Health approaches in public health, food systems and climate adaptation. Across these domains, resilience is often framed as a desirable attribute, yet it remains a value-laden concept that can obscure inequities or normalise preventable harms. This paper calls for critical, justice-oriented engagement with resilience to ensure it supports ethically grounded veterinary practice and promotes healthier, happier animals, more equitable systems, and sustainable professional environments. Full article

Conservation management of large, multi-species landscapes requires integrating heterogeneous data streams—such as satellite imagery, GPS telemetry, camera traps, bioacoustic sensors, weather stations, and field reports—into a unified model capable of simulating ecosystem dynamics and generating actionable recommendations. This paper proposes a tiered, energy-aware AI architecture for constructing ecosystem digital twins that enables prescriptive, rather than merely descriptive or predictive, landscape-scale conservation management. The framework classifies conservation tasks across three computational tiers: classical machine learning for continuous environmental monitoring and species distribution prediction, deep learning for perception-oriented tasks such as computer vision and bioacoustic analysis, and foundation models for cross-domain synthesis and stakeholder interaction. We apply this architecture to a comprehensive digital twin of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, anchored in the ongoing conservation crisis of the Sublette Pronghorn Herd—a population that crashed from 43,000 to 24,000 animals in a single winter due to compounding severe weather and a Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. We formalize a coupled change model linking population dynamics, forage condition, corridor permeability, winter severity, and disease pressure, and demonstrate how a prescriptive recommendations engine can generate goal-conditioned management actions for the herd’s 165-mile “Path of the Pronghorn” migration corridor. A comparative energy footprint analysis, grounded in hardware-level energy measurements using Intel RAPL instrumentation and the CodeCarbon framework, estimates that the tiered architecture reduces computational energy consumption by approximately 34% relative to a deep-learning-everywhere baseline and by over three orders of magnitude relative to a foundation-model-centric baseline. The architecture provides a replicable blueprint for resource-constrained conservation organizations seeking to deploy AI-powered ecosystem management at landscape scale. Full article

Urban lake ecosystems in rapidly growing cities face multiple, interlinked pressures. This article examines how these pressures are understood and addressed in research and practice by synthesising 413 academic, policy, and practitioner studies on lake degradation and restoration in the Bengaluru region, India. Using Content Configuration Analysis, we pursue four lines of inquiry: typifying dominant research approaches; mapping how major drivers—climate change, urbanisation, expanding consumption, and governance fragmentation—generate pressures; analysing sewage treatment plants (STPs) as responses that can themselves become new stressors; and comparing national restoration guidelines with locally developed strategies. Our analysis shows that lake problems are frequently framed as discrete technical issues, whereas degradation operates through recursive driver–pressure–response dynamics that cut across ecological, institutional, and social domains. The STP cases illustrate this mismatch, where mandated solutions can generate unintended pressures when institutional capability or ecological integration is weak. Comparisons between national guidelines and locally grounded practices reveal broad alignment in restoration principles but persistent gaps remain in implementation capacity, coordination, financing, and integration with land-use and urban resilience planning. Based on our analyses, we argue for reconceptualising urban lakes as complex socioecological systems rather than bounded technical units. Such a perspective supports restoration strategies that are nationally coherent yet locally attuned, strengthening ecological function, social equity, and urban resilience. More broadly, the findings contribute to debates on the restoration and governance of urban water bodies by demonstrating how national policy frameworks can be reinforced through locally grounded socioecological knowledge. Full article

Photovoltaic systems are usually considered technologies used exclusively for energy production. However, when examined more comprehensively, they may also provide environmental and agronomic benefits under specific system designs and crop–climate conditions. In agrivoltaic systems, the same area of land is used simultaneously for agricultural production and solar energy generation, creating opportunities for more efficient and sustainable resource use. Photovoltaic installations can alter the microclimate around crops and reduce key abiotic stress factors, such as heat stress and water loss, which often contribute to declines in crop yields. Thus, they may contribute to improved production stability and more efficient use of natural resources under certain conditions. Agrivoltaics can also be considered through a social ecology framework for adapting to new weather conditions. Its social dimension lies in the way agrivoltaic systems reshape land-use governance, influence farmer adoption and stakeholder participation, and affect how economic and environmental benefits are distributed within rural communities. This review goes beyond conventional assessments focused mainly on land-use efficiency by integrating microclimatic, agronomic, and socio-economic dimensions of agrivoltaic systems. It also identifies key research gaps, particularly regarding long-term and multi-site evidence, crop-specific system design, landscape-scale impacts, and socio-economic resilience. Overall, agrivoltaics can constitute a socio-ecological infrastructure that contributes to the mitigation of abiotic stress and the adaptation of agriculture to climate change. Full article

Under wartime conditions, conceptual approaches to organizing the education system are changing, and the means of achieving goals are being modified. All of this affects the development of infrastructural provision for the educational network and simultaneously requires adequate management. The state, as the main subject of social management, employs management theory and practice of competent (professional) business leadership. This approach not only allows it to survive but also to develop in the objectively existing competitive environment. It has been determined that the main elements of educational management (EM) organization include the quality of intellectual resources, analysis of internal and external environments, analysis, selection and implementation of educational system (ES) development strategies and evaluation and control of their execution. Attention is focused on forming an ecologically oriented society through the lens of knowledge transfer, with a focus on the irrational use of natural resources across various spheres of human activity, energy resource deficits, and sustainable development tasks in Ukraine. A central place in this process is assigned to organizing project activities and to forming an ecologically oriented worldview among future specialists trained by educational institutions at various levels and forms of ownership. The analysis of educational management (EM) models shows that the project-investment model remains relevant. Trends in quantitative indicators of EM and ecological projects in Eastern European countries have been analyzed, based on which conclusions have been formulated that reflect the current state of ecological education development and demonstrate existing changes, challenges, and prospects. A visualized flowchart of optimizing the organization of higher education through the prism of an environmentally friendly society has been developed, with four blocks highlighted: methodological, organizational, analytical, and resultant. It has been determined that knowledge transfer from universities to communities should become a priority in the state’s post-war reconstruction, ensuring the socio-economic development of regions, including strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in developing recommendations for implementing the integration of educational management (new functions) and project activities in educational institutions, which can be used when forming their development strategies, establishing international partnerships in the educational sphere, as well as for developing state programs to support the development of Ukraine’s economic, ecological, and social policy. Full article

The accelerated growth of cities has intensified interest in the ecosystem services provided by urban forests, increasingly conceptualized as socio-ecological systems (SESs). This study presents a structured narrative review combined with bibliometric analysis of research published between 2010 and 2025 to examine how urban forests are addressed in relation to ecosystem service provision and climate change adaptation. The literature search and screening process followed procedures informed by the PRISMA framework to enhance transparency in the identification and selection of relevant studies. The results reveal a marked increase in scientific production during the last decade, with approximately 70% of publications concentrated in five countries: the United States, China, Italy, Canada, and Brazil. Although research methodologies are diverse, a strong bias toward quantitative ecological models—particularly tools such as i-Tree—persists, often prioritizing carbon sequestration while overlooking social dimensions of urban forest governance. A key finding is the disconnect between objectively modeled ecosystem services and the benefits perceived by citizens, which may influence the long-term sustainability and acceptance of urban green infrastructure. In addition, emerging research highlights the importance of considering ecosystem disservices, such as allergenic pollen, infrastructure conflicts, or maintenance costs, within urban forest planning. Finally, the review identifies a significant research gap in Latin America and the Caribbean, where rapid urbanization requires context-specific socio-ecological approaches. Advancing urban forest management therefore requires transdisciplinary frameworks that integrate ecological processes, social perception, governance, and climate adaptation to support more resilient and equitable cities. Full article

This study developed an ecological environment evaluation framework tailored for islands in Jiangsu and validated its applicability using nine representative islands. The evaluation system encompasses 14 indicators across three dimensions: ecological, socio-economic, and policy-climate. By coupling the Time-varying Entropy Weight method with a Bayesian Network, the framework quantifies the dynamic impacts of policy interventions, extreme weather, and human activities. To enhance model accuracy under small-sample conditions, machine learning and deep learning techniques were integrated to construct a multi-layer ensemble evaluation model. The results indicate that this model improves prediction accuracy by 11.3% and reduces the root mean square error by 33.3%. The assessment results reveal significant differences in ecological quality among islands of different types. Natural-type inhabited islands maintain relatively high ecological quality through the synergy of ecological conservation and industrial activity, whereas artificial-type inhabited islands experience significant negative impacts from industrial development. Uninhabited islands generally score around 10, indicating relatively stable ecological conditions but high natural vulnerability. This framework provides a high-precision quantitative approach for dynamic evaluation of island ecological quality under small-sample constraints and offers a scientific basis for customized, island-specific conservation and development management strategies. Full article

Yacuri National Park (YNP) is a Ramsar site located within Ecuador’s Podocarpus-El Cóndor Biosphere Reserve. The Park faces critical threats from illegal mining, livestock grazing, wildfires and the harvesting of wax palms. This study employed participatory action research to co-design a Communication, Education and Public Engagement (CEPA) plan with park managers and local communities as equal partners. Moving beyond traditional, top-down information campaigns, the CEPA framework establishes a co-governance model that integrates indigenous knowledge with local socio-economic realities. The plan implements four targeted interventions: (1) strengthening community fire brigades (BRICOM); (2) promoting culturally appropriate alternatives to Holy Week wax palm harvesting; (3) establishing participatory waste management; and (4) engaging tourists as conservation allies through experiential learning. Strategic alliances with municipalities, universities, and civil society organizations provide institutional backing and secure resources, while a participatory monitoring system using SMART indicators tracks behavioral and ecological outcomes. Ultimately, the findings demonstrate that conserving culturally complex, biodiverse landscapes requires social legitimacy, environmental justice and equitable power-sharing. Recognizing local communities as co-managers is essential to ensuring the long-term protection of Andean ecosystems. Full article

Flood-prone riverfront zones face increasing challenges due to climate change, urbanisation, and legacy industrial development. Riverfront regeneration presents a unique opportunity not only to restore ecological function and public amenity but also to integrate adaptive architectural strategies that enhance flood resilience. This study aims to investigate the interplay between riverfront regeneration and adaptive architectural planning in flood-prone areas. This study provides a framework for understanding how built form, landscape infrastructure, and socio-spatial systems were developed to mitigate flood risk while reactivating riverfronts. Through a literature review and a methodology that integrates comparative case study analysis with generative scenario modelling, key design typologies were identified, including amphibious buildings, multifunctional embankments, and dynamic land-use zoning, and their performance was evaluated in terms of flood risk reduction, amenity provision, and community resilience. Based on the results, recommendations are proposed for practitioners and policymakers on advancing integrated riverfront regeneration in flood-prone regions, emphasising the necessity of multi-stakeholder governance, adaptable architectural strategies, and nature-based infrastructure. Full article

The study analyses the role of GEOfood products and geoproducts in the eco-cultural sustainability and territorial regeneration of Portuguese UNESCO Global Geoparks, highlighting how geodiversity, agriculture, gastronomy and local communities are integrated into sustainable development strategies. GEOfood is presented not only as a certification mark, but as an instrument of territorial governance, capable of strengthening short supply chains, promoting local products, preserving traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems and reinforcing the cultural identity of the territories. An analysis of the five Portuguese geoparks—Naturtejo, Arouca, the Azores, Terras de Cavaleiros and Estrela—highlights four main strategic pillars: certification and territorial branding, strengthening short supply chains and empowering producers, integrating gastronomy into interpretive tourism, and contributing to regenerative tourism practices. The results show positive impacts in terms of ecological conservation, landscape preservation, socio-cultural continuity and local economic resilience. It is concluded that GEOfood functions as a mechanism for integrated territorial enhancement, converting geological and food resources into economic, cultural and educational assets, whilst supporting landscape regeneration, the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and the sustainability of rural communities. Full article

This research explores how livelihood capital endowments affect the growth of Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) in rural communities in the Koyten Dag region of Turkmenistan. This study is grounded in the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. It draws on the Capability Approach, Institutional Theory, and Human Capital Theory, which are considered to have a strong influence on NWFP development within the exclusive post-Soviet socio-ecological environment. This study also uses annual time-series data from 2001 to 2024. It applies the ARDL bounds testing method to examine the short- and long-run associations among livelihood assets and NWFP production. The results confirm strong long-run co-integration, indicating that the five capitals have a significant impact on NWFP development. Emerging as the ultimate drivers in both the short and long term, education, skills, health, and digital connectivity become especially important. Financial and social capital reflect long-term contributions, while natural capital highlights the significance of the availability of ecological resources and governance systems. The correction error term indicates a rapid rate of adjustment, suggesting that the livelihood system is robust and can return to equilibrium quickly in response to temporary shocks. This research uses the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method of co-integration, which is effective for small-sample analyses of long-run relationships. The empirical analysis is conducted in a systematic process, which is the unit root tests based on augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) and Phillips–Perron (PP) techniques, in order to establish the order of integration of variables. The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) is used to determine the appropriate lag length for the ARDL model to achieve the best model specification. In the robustness analysis, we perform fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) estimation. Sub-period analysis was performed to test structural breaks. The variance inflation factor (VIF) test was used to detect multicollinearity. This paper has significant theoretical and practical implications, including the need for policies that are integrative and, at the same time, enhance human capabilities, digital infrastructure, institutional quality, and resource governance. This knowledge can be used to promote the sustainable development of rural areas and as an efficient approach to the NWFP sector in Turkmenistan. Full article

Rapid climate change and accelerated urbanization expose the limitations of land use planning approaches grounded in static spatial allocation and assumptions of predictable futures. Contemporary urban systems are increasingly characterized by continuous socio-economic–ecological transformation, requiring planning paradigms capable of engaging with change as a persistent condition rather than an episodic disruption. This paper develops a conceptual framework that reframes urban land use planning as the governance of land use change over time. Drawing on resilience thinking, systems perspectives, and the Time Quality Assessment (TQA) approach, the framework conceptualizes urban form as a temporally dynamic system whose performance must be assessed across duration, adaptability, and long-term trajectories of change. Rather than relying on empirical case studies, the paper advances a theory-driven synthesis that foregrounds temporal resilience as a core dimension of spatial performance under climate uncertainty. By positioning TQA as a conceptual–operational interface for engaging with temporal dynamics, the paper challenges static and deterministic planning models and argues for a shift from managing land use toward stewarding land use change. The framework offers a coherent foundation for future empirical research and for the development of planning practices oriented toward robustness, adaptability, and long-term responsibility in uncertain urban futures. Full article

The present study examined fish biodiversity, livelihood dependence, cultural importance, and genetic connectivity in two ecologically linked habitats of the Sylhet region, Bangladesh: Hakaluki Haor and the Surma River. Surveys documented 60 fish species with distinct assemblage patterns between sites. Hakaluki Haor was dominated by floodplain spawners and small indigenous species that contribute to year-round subsistence harvests, whereas the Surma River supported a greater proportion of migratory and pelagic species, most notably Tenualosa ilisha. These ecological contrasts reflected differences in hydrology, habitat diversity, and fishing intensity. Household surveys confirmed the central role of fisheries in sustaining income and food security, while cultural practices surrounding hilsa consumption reinforced local stewardship norms. Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence analysis of T. ilisha revealed low genetic differentiation between sites, indicating a single, well-connected stock maintained by seasonal flooding and the absence of major migration barriers. This convergence of ecological and genetic evidence supports treating the two sites as an integrated management unit. Effective conservation will require protecting hydrological connectivity, safeguarding dry season refugia, coordinating seasonal fishing restrictions across habitats, and incorporating cultural values into policy frameworks. The findings strengthen the scientific basis for national and regional conservation strategies and demonstrate the value of combining biological, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions in managing connected wetland–river systems. This approach can serve as a transferable model for other tropical floodplain–river complexes facing similar ecological and livelihood challenges. Full article