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This paper aims to identify the causes and sources of erosion and deposition at small estuaries in southern central Vietnam under human intervention. The jetty built at the Tam Quan river mouth (Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam) serves as the base for the study. After its completion at the end of 2009, the hydrodynamic and erosion-deposition processes in the region have been significantly altered. Inside the estuary, the waves are not influenced, but the currents are increased during the ebb tide period and decreased during the flood tide timeframe. During the southwest monsoon, the jetty could cause an increase in the deposition process in both frequency and area, whereas the erosion process tends to narrow the area and increase the frequency on the north coast. In contrast, both deposition and erosion processes are increased on the southern coast. About 5859 m3 of sediments are deposited in the channel gate mainly by local sources. During the northeast monsoon, both deposition and erosion processes are located over a narrow area with frequency increased on the north coast, whereas the deposition process is narrowed with higher frequency on the southern coast. The total amount of sediment deposited at the estuary is 56,446 m3, of which 74.2% is from the onsite erosion material, 15.8% from the river and 10% from the longshore transportation. Generally, due to mainly erosion-deposition processes, sediment volume is accumulated during the northeast monsoon with amount 9.6 times more than that the southwest monsoon. The erosion-deposition processes are contributed to by poor practical management and local human activities inland and in the coastal regions, as well as the natural situation, resulting in serious impacts on society, the economy and the environment. Hence, the governance of the erosion-deposition processes and sediment load in small estuaries appear to contribute to the master plan for the local sustainable development of society and the economy.

Sustainability of olive production is possible by adopting the modern techniques of irrigation and fertilization. In Tunisia, olive trees are usually cultivated in poor soils, under semi-arid conditions characterized by water scarcity. This study investigated the effects of different water supply and fertilization on leaf water status and crop yield of three different olive oil varieties cultivated in central Tunisia, during four experimental seasons (2014–2017). Three treatments were examined: trees conducted under rainfed conditions (TRF), which represented the control treatment, trees irrigated with 50% ETc (T50) and, finally, trees irrigated with 50% ETc and with additional fertilization (T50F). Leaf water content and potential, yield and water use efficiency have been monitored on three different varieties, Chetoui, Chemlali, and Koroneiki, which are quite typical in the considered region. For all the growing seasons, midday leaf water potentials were measured from April to September. Midday leaf water potentials (MLWP) were generally higher for the two irrigated treatments (T50 and T50F) than for non-irrigated trees (TRF). As the season proceeded, MLWPs tended to decrease during summer for all the treatments and varieties. The lowest values were observed for the non-irrigated trees, varying between −3.25 MPa to −4.75 MPa. Relative leaf water content followed the same trends of midday leaf water potentials. Chetoui showed the lowest yield, which did not exceed 1530 Kg/(ha year), even for irrigated and fertilized trees. On the other hand, the yields of Chemlali and Koroneiki, cumulated in the four years, reached the maximum value of about 20 tons/ha. For these two varieties, the cumulated yield obtained in the control treatment (TRF) resulted significantly lower than the corresponding of the other two treatments (T50 and T50F). The highest irrigation water use efficiency (WUE) was estimated for Chemlali (T50) and (TRF). WUE was equal to 1.22 Kg/m3 for Koroneiki under fertigated treatment (T50F). Application of the only water supply (50% ETc) or associated with fertilizer improved the tree water status and increased the productivity of Chemlali and Koroneiki varieties.

Africa has experienced unprecedented growth across a range of development indices for decades. However, this growth is often at the expense of Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people depending on the goods and services provided by nature, with broader consequences for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Encouragingly, Africa can still take a more sustainable path. Here, we synthesize the key learnings from the African Ecological Futures project. We report results from a participatory scenario planning process around four collectively-owned scenarios and narratives for the evolution of Africa’s ecological resource base over the next 50 years. These scenarios provided a lens to review pressures on the natural environment, through the drivers, pressures, state, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) framework. Based on the outcomes from each of these steps, we discuss opportunities to reorient Africa’s development trajectories towards a sustainable path. These opportunities fall under the broad categories of “effective natural resource governance”, “strategic planning capabilities”, “investment safeguards and frameworks”, and “new partnership models”. Underpinning all these opportunities are “data, management information, and decision support frameworks”. This work can help inform collaborative action by a broad set of actors with an interest in ensuring a sustainable ecological future for Africa.

Understanding the contents and stoichiometry of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) is vital to evaluate the function and processes of a forest ecosystem. Overall, 18 sites in Shennongjia Forest from an altitude from 800 to 3000 m were selected to collect litterfall, humus, and soil (0–20 and 20–40 cm) samples in May, August, and December. The spatio-temporal distribution of C, N, and P contents and their stoichiometry were quantified, and the underlying driving factors were analyzed. Results revealed total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents decreased from the topsoil to the deeper soil, while total phosphorus (TP) contents in the soil changed slightly with depth. Controlled by various sources and decomposition degrees, the ratios of C:P, C:N, and N:P decreased from litterfall to humus, further increased in topsoil, and decreased again in deeper soil. Considering the average values of all sites, only TN in litterfall and humus dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil, and C:N in litterfall exhibited a significant seasonal variation. With increasing altitude, the contents of TOC, TN, and TP significantly increased in soil, particularly in August, but fluctuated in litterfall and humus. This positive relationship in soil was remarkable for TOC and TN compared with TP. Pearson’s correlation and redundancy analysis indicated driving factors exhibited a more noticeable influence on the contents of TOC, TN, and TP in soil than those in litterfall and humus. Moisture content, vegetation pattern, bulk density, total Mn (tMn), total Fe (tFe), and clay content observably influenced the contents of TOC, TN, and TP in the soil, and thus affected its stoichiometry. This investigation provided a comparable dataset on the contents of C, N, and P and their patterns of stoichiometry, which are helpful to optimize forest management and ecosystems.

Recently, the European Commission identified the goal to achieve a double transition—ecological and digital—as one of the greatest challenges on the areas of the planet across various sectors of the society [...]

Expanding involvement of the public in citizen science projects can benefit both volunteers and professional scientists alike. Recently, citizen science has come into focus as an important data source for reporting and monitoring United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since bees play an essential role in the pollination ecosystem service, citizen science projects involving them have a high potential for attaining SDGs. By performing a systematic review of citizen science studies on bees, we assessed how these studies could contribute towards SDG reporting and monitoring, and also verified compliance with citizen science principles. Eighty eight studies published from 1992 to 2020 were collected. SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 17 (Partnerships) were the most outstanding, potentially contributing to targets related to biodiversity protection, restoration and sustainable use, capacity building and establishing multi stakeholder partnerships. SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) were also addressed. Studies were found to produce new knowledge, apply methods to improve data quality, and invest in open access publishing. Notably, volunteer participation was mainly restricted to data collection. Further challenges include extending these initiatives to developing countries, where only a few citizen science projects are underway.

Human industrialization has caused damage to ecosystems. In this context, researchers have developed several methods to assess the health of various types of ecosystems. In this paper, we evaluated the developmental history and status of ecosystem health (EH) and summarized the concept of EH. We also reviewed ecosystem health assessment (EHA) methods and analyzed the application of EHA methods. EHA methods are generally classified into biological indicator and index system method. The former method is mainly based on the number of dominant species, such as diatom, plankton, and macroinvertebrate. Results indicate that trophic diatom index (TDI), plankton index of biotic integrity (P-IBI), and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) are the most commonly used indices. The latter method combines multiple ecosystem metrics and reflects ecosystem processes. The pressure–state–response (PSR) model most commonly uses the index system method. For the application of EHA methods, biological indicator methods are mostly applied in rivers/streams ecosystem, while the index system is primarily involved in urban ecosystems. Therefore, the information presented in this review may be helpful for the modification of EHA methods.