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This study highlights how Chinese economic development detrimentally impacted water quality in recent decades and how this has been improved by enormous investment in environmental remediation funded by the Chinese government. To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the variability of surface water quality in inland waters in China, the affecting drivers behind the changes, and how the government-financed conservation actions have impacted water quality. Water quality was found to be poorest in the North and the Northeast China Plain where there is greater coverage of developed land (cities + cropland), a higher gross domestic product (GDP), and higher population density. There are significant positive relationships between the concentration of the annual mean chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the percentage of developed land use (cities + cropland), GDP, and population density in the individual watersheds (p < 0.001). During the past decade, following Chinese government-financed investments in environmental restoration and reforestation, the water quality of Chinese inland waters has improved markedly, which is particularly evident from the significant and exponentially decreasing GDP-normalized COD and ammonium (NH4+-N) concentrations. It is evident that the increasing GDP in China over the past decade did not occur at the continued expense of its inland water ecosystems. This offers hope for the future, also for other industrializing countries, that with appropriate environmental investments a high GDP can be reached and maintained, while simultaneously preserving inland aquatic ecosystems, particularly through management of sewage discharge.

Urban environments provide opportunities for greater resource efficiency and the fostering of urban ecosystems. Brownfield areas are a typical example of underused land resources. Brownfield redevelopment projects that include green infrastructure allow for further ecosystems to be accommodated in urban environments. Green infrastructure also deliver important urban ecosystem services (UES) to local residents, which can greatly contribute to improving quality of life in cities. In this case study, we quantify and assess the economic value of five UES for a brownfield redevelopment project in Antwerp, Belgium. The assessment is carried out using the “Nature Value Explorer” modelling tool. The case includes three types of green infrastructure (green corridor,infiltration gullies and green roofs) primarily intended to connect nature reserves on the urban periphery and to avoid surface runoff. The green infrastructure also provides air filtration, climate regulation, carbon sequestration and recreation ecosystem services. The value of recreation far exceeds other values, including the value of avoided runoff. The case study raises crucial questions as to whether existing UES valuation approaches adequately account for the range of UES provided and whether such approaches can be improved to achieve more accurate and reliable value estimates in future analyses.

Fruiting kiwifruit [Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Ferguson] vines were grown in two controlled temperatures of 28 / 22 and 17 / 12°C (day / night) for 160 and 215 d, to measure shoot and fruit growth and carbon demand, and to examine competition between fruit and the shoot. Leaf area, internode lengths, fruit diameters, photosynthesis and respiration were measured at regular intervals. The net daily carbon balance per shoot was determined from the net carbon acquisition of shoots, and carbon sequestration as shoot biomass. Vines grown at high temperature had 200% more leaf area, similar stem lengths and 100% more biomass than vines grown at low temperature. Leaf area expansion and stem extension were transiently reduced when fruit growth was maximal. Photosynthetic and respiration rates were affected by temperature, leading to net carbon acquisition of 450 g shoot–1 for 28 / 22°C-grown vines and 253 g shoot–1 for 17 / 12°C-grown vines, 54% being used for leaf, stem and fruit growth. Reallocation of carbon occurred from leaves to fruit, and the consequent reduction in leaf area strongly reduced the overall carbon balance compared with vegetative vines at similar temperatures. The data support the conclusion that at low temperatures especially, there is insufficient carbon to meet the full demands of both fruit and shoot growth.

AbstractEscalating pressures caused by the combined effects of population growth, demographic shifts, economic development and global climate change pose unprecedented threats to sandy beach ecosystems worldwide. Conservation of beaches as functional ecosystems and protection of their unique biodiversity requires management interventions that not only mitigate threats to physical properties of sandy shores, but also include ecological dimensions. Yet, beach management remains overwhelmingly focused on engineering interventions. Here we summarise the key outcomes of several workshops, held during the 2006 Sandy Beach Ecology Symposium in Vigo, Spain, that addressed issues of climate change, beach management and sampling methodology. Because efficient communication between managers and ecologists is critical, we summarise the salient features of sandy beaches as functional ecosystems in 50 ‘key statements’; these provide a succinct synopsis of the main structural and functional characteristics of these highly dynamic systems. Key outcomes of the workshops include a set of recommendations on designs and methods for sampling the benthic infaunal communities of beaches, the identification of the main ecological effects caused by direct and indirect human interventions, the predicted consequence of climate change for beach ecosystems, and priority areas for future research.

Abstract Sedimentological, limnological and palynological analyses of a sediment core from a lowland site in West-Java, Indonesia, provide a detailed palaeoenvironmental record for the Late Glacial and the Holocene. The record suggests open vegetation under inferred drier climatic conditions for the Late Glacial. However, there is no unequivocal evidence for cooler conditions at this time. The onset of the Holocene coincides with a change to more humid climatic conditions, with the development of a fern-rich closed forest vegetation type. Dramatic changes in diatom community composition provide a striking record of habitat change associated with lake shallowing, but this process appears to be a result of basin in-filling rather than variations in precipitation/evaporation balance associated with climatic fluctuations. Evidence for human impact on the vegetation development is restricted to the last few hundred years.

Global climatic energy balance has been increasingly altered by massive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), leading to a variety of natural disturbances in terrestrial ecosystems. Further, the increasing use of fossil fuels and the looming climate crisis have created an unprecedented urgency for the development of a biobased circular economy. Therefore, production of biofuels from plant biomass is currently seen as a promising source of renewable energy, ensuring sustainable development with minimal carbon footprint. Soil acidification is considered one of the major obstacles to crop production and a significant source of GHGs emissions, especially N2O, because acidification changes the physicochemical and biochemical properties of the soil. Dolomite (DM) is the most widely used countermeasure to neutralize soil acidity to improve crop productivity and control net fluxes of GHGs. Nevertheless, the extent of GHG emissions following the application of DM under different environmental conditions is still unclear. Therefore, in this context, we conducted a meta-analysis using 32 peer-reviewed publications to determine the effects of DM, climate zones, and soil properties on GHGs emissions. The results of the current meta-analysis show that DM application significantly increased CO2 emissions (30.34 %) and CH4 emissions (4.91 %), but reduced N2O emissions by 54.88 %. A significant effect of DM (>10 t ha−1) on CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions was also observed. Increasing soil pH increased CO2 and N2O emissions by 188.34 % and 49.78 %, respectively, while reducing CH4 emissions by 81.94 %. Most importantly, WFPS, soil textural class, soil C:N ratio, and climate zones were identified as key edaphic factors affecting the GHG emissions following the application of DM. Overall, this meta-analysis fills in the gaps regarding the impact of the application of DM on GHGs emissions in different climates, soil properties, and experimental conditions. In ...

Abstract The voltammetric response of microparticulate deposits resulting from solvent evaporation of ethanolic extracts of mangrove sediments in contact with aqueous acetate buffer is hereby described. Dated sediment cores sampled from the Peruvian mangrove system (“Manglares de Tumbes” National Sanctuary) presented voltammetric responses dominated by oxidative signals of organic components that exhibit significant variations depending on the depth. Voltammetric data allowed for the definition of electrochemical indexes representative of the electrochemically oxidable organic matter fraction. These electrochemical indexes were fEAOM (for the total amount of organic matter being electrochemically active), fEROM (for the fraction of organic matter electrochemically oxidizable in reversible form), fRDOX (for the proportion between the fractions of electrochemically active organic matter which is in an oxidized state and in a reduced state) and fROS (capability for reaction with reactive oxygen species), while the spectroscopic index A1650/A3400 (as a proxy analogous to fRDOX) was also applied. The mangrove forest presents a higher oxidized fraction of the electrochemically active organic matter, as confirmed by additional data obtained from infrared spectroscopy. These results indicate that the described electrochemical indexes may provide insights on organic matter degradation by oxidative processes in addition to chemical analyses of coastal vegetated systems that are currently used, such as mangrove wetlands.

Abstract This article reviews the current status of research on urban green and blue infrastructure (GBI) in developing countries. We critically analyzed a total of 283 papers addressing urban GBI in selected developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), published between 2015 and 2019. The review aimed to a) analyze publication trends and typologies of urban GBI; b) identify innovative problem-solving measures using urban GBI, and c) understand priorities, differences and similarities in the deployment of urban GBI between the regions. The article identifies a growing interest in the urban GBI concept in the Global South, with a focus on local sustainable development. Urban GBI aims to address issues of urban greenery, land use policies, food security and poverty alleviation. There is a large variation in the number of articles across regions, with Asia, and particularly China, as the subject having a much larger number of publications when compared to LAC and Africa. We found that the focus of research topics varied between regions, reflecting regional development needs, so that urban agriculture research predominated in Africa, and green spaces and parks in Asia and LAC. GBI is still not implemented as a low-impact development or innovative strategy, except in China, where researchers have examined several cases of systemic GBI use for addressing urban issues. More recently, studies began exploring the linkages between nature and cities in light of global environmental issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change. We conclude with recommendations to further examine empirical evidence of urban GBI deployment and its outcomes in the Global South, that could contribute toward conceptualizing natural resource management in a multi-scalar, multi-dimensional, and multidisciplinary framework.