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While the number of studies investigating the effects of species diversity on ecosystem properties continues to expand, few have explicitly examined how ecosystem functioning depends quantitatively on the degree of niche complementarity among species. We report the results of a microcosm experiment where similarity in habitat use among aquatic snail species was evaluated as a predictor of changes in community and ecosystem properties due to increasing species richness. Replicate microcosms with all possible one- and two-species combinations of a guild of six snail species were stocked with identical initial snail biomass. Microcosms with two species of snails had greater final snail biomass, lower attached algae biomass, and less total organic matter than monocultures. Snail species differed in their use of five distinct habitat types in the microcosms. Similarity in habitat use between a species pair was negatively related to the magnitude of change (e.g., deltaEF [change in ecosystem function]) in dissolved oxygen. periphyton biomass, and accrual of organic matter with a change in diversity. However, using the most stringent criterion for complementarity effects (e.g., Dmax [proportional deviation of the total polyculture yield from the highest yielding monoculture]), a relationship between species' niche similarity and changes in function with increasing species richness was only observed for dissolved oxygen. The identity of snail species present in the microcosms had strong effects on total organic matter, snail biomass, dissolved oxygen, periphyton biomass, and sedimentation rate. In this study, herbivore identity, sampling effects, and niche complementarity all appear to contribute to species richness effects on pond ecosystem properties and community structure. The analytical approach employed here may profitably be used in other systems to quantify the role of niche complementarity in species richness-ecosystem function relationships.

A balance between industrial pollution and economic growth becomes a major policy issue to attain a sustainable society in the world. To discuss the problem from economics and business perspectives, this study proposes a new use of DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) as a methodology for unified (operational and environmental) assessment. A unique feature of the proposed approach is that it separates outputs into desirable and undesirable categories. Such separation is important because energy industries usually produce both desirable and undesirable outputs. This study discusses how to unify the two types of outputs under natural and managerial disposability. The proposed DEA approach evaluates various organizations by the three efficiency measures such as OE (Operational Efficiency), UEN (Unified Efficiency under Natural disposability) and UENM (Unified Efficiency under Natural and Managerial disposability). An important feature of UENM is that it separates inputs into two categories and unifies them under the two disposability concepts in addition to the proposed output separation and unification. This study incorporates an amount of capital assets for technology innovation, as one of the two input group, into the measurement of UENM. Then, it compares UENM with the other two efficiency measures. This study is the first research effort in which DEA has an analytical capability to quantify the importance of investment on capital assets for technology innovation. To confirm the practicality of the proposed approach, this study applies the three efficiency measures to a data set regarding manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries of 47 prefectures in Japan. This study empirically confirms the validity of Porter hypothesis in Japanese manufacturing industries, so implying that environmental regulation has been effective for betterment on the performance of Japanese manufacturing industries. Another important finding is that the emission of greenhouse gases is a main source of unified inefficiency in the two groups of industries. Therefore, Japanese industries, examined in this study, need to make their efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution substances by investing in capital assets for technology innovation.

Population variation in ecophysiological traits of four co-occurring montane conifers was measured on a large latitudinal gradient to quantitatively assess their potential for response to environmental change. White fir (Abies concolor) had the highest variability, gross photosynthetic rate (Pg), and foliar carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content. Despite low water use efficiency (WUE), stomatal conductance (gs) of fir was the most responsive to unfavorable environmental conditions. Pinus lambertiana exhibited the least variability in Pg and WUE, and is likely to be the most vulnerable to environmental changes. Pinus ponderosa had an intermediate level of variability, and high needle growth at its higher elevational limits. Pinus Jeffreyi also had intermediate variability, but high needle growth at its southern latitudinal and lower elevational limits. The attributes used to assess tree vigor were effective in predicting population vulnerability to abiotic (drought) and biotic (herbivore) stresses.

Abstract This study sheds new light on the variability of wind power across the Australian NEM (National Electricity Market) and in doing so gives an insight on the potential network configuration for a high RE (Renewable Electricity) future. We present idealised cost-minimised simulations for the NEM utilising onshore wind, large-scale solar, pumped hydro and OCGT (open cycle gas turbines) technologies. A model using gridded meteorological data from the regional ACCESS-R (Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator) simulates wind and solar technology output along with generation from OCGT to meet demand in the NEM for the period 2010–2011. A cost for connecting each location to the nearest major load centre is introduced and a base scenario created from an initial connection cost of $1 M/km. A sensitivity study reveals that a cost of $8 M/km results in the contraction of all renewable resources to four major wind installations. Compared to the base scenario the four major wind locations share much of the variability in renewable energy output, demonstrating that the NEM region has four distinct wind regimes. Separated by 1,400 km these four wind installations provide an optimisation-based decorrelation length for the NEM. This information is particularly useful for long-term planners of large-scale energy infrastructure.

Sustainable development emergent subfields have been rapidly evolving, and their popularity increased in recent years. Sustainable development is a broad concept having numerous sub-concepts including, but not limited to, circular economy, sustainability, renewable energy, green supply chain, reverse logistics, and waste management. This polymorphism makes decision-making in this field to be an abstruse task. In this perplexing circumstance, the presence of VUCA conditions makes decision-making even more challenging. By taking advantage of artificial intelligence tools and approaches, this paper aims to study with a concentration on sustainable development-related decision-making under VUCA phenomena elements using bibliometric and network analyses which can propose numerous novel insights into the most recent research trends in this area by analyzing the most influential and cited research articles, keywords, author collaboration network, institutions, and countries that finally provides results not previously fully comprehended or assessed by other studies on this topic. In this study, an extensive systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis are conducted using 534 research articles out of more than 3600. From the content analysis part, four clusters have been found. The decision parameters, presumptions, and research goal(s) for each model are pointed out too. The findings contribute to both conceptual and practical managerial aspects and provide a powerful roadmap for future research directions in this field, such as how real-life multidimensionality can be considered in sustainable development-related decision-making, or what are the effects of the VUCA in sustainable development considering the circular economy and waste management intersection.

Abstract This study presents an overview of footprints as defined indicators that can be used to measure sustainability. An overview of the definitions and units of measurement associated with environmental, social, and economic footprints is important because the definitions of footprints vary and are often expressed unclearly. Composite footprints combining two or more individual footprints are also assessed. These combinations produce multi-objective optimisation problems. Several tools for footprint(s)' evaluation are presented, including some of the numerous carbon footprint calculators, available calculators for other footprints, some ecological footprints-based, graph-based, and mathematical programming tools. A comprehensive overview is offered of footprint-based sustainability assessment.

AbstractLeymus chinensis is a dominant species in the Inner Mongolia steppe, northern China. Plant growth in northern China grassland is often limited by low soil nitrogen availability. The objective of this study is to investigate whether rhizomes of Leymus chinensis are involved in the contribution of N uptake. The N concentration, 15N concentration and 15N proportion in roots, rhizomes and shoots after 48 h exposure of roots (Lroot) and rhizomes (Lrhizo) separately and roots and rhizomes together (Lr+r) to 0.1 mM 15NHNO3 solution were measured using root‐splitting equipment and stable isotope (15N) techniques, respectively. The N content and dry mass were not affected by the labeling treatment. In contrast, the 15N concentration in shoots, rhizomes and roots was significantly increased by the labeling in rhizomes, indicating that the inorganic nitrogen was absorbed via rhizomes from the solution and can be transported to other tissues, with preference to shoots rather than roots. Meanwhile, the absolute N absorption and translocation among compartments were also calculated. The N absorption via rhizomes was much smaller than via roots; however, the uptake efficiency per surface unit via rhizomes was greater than via roots. The capacity and high efficiency to absorb N nutrient via rhizomes enable plants to use transient nutrient supplies in the top soil surface. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The biomass-density relationship (whereby the biomass of individual plants decreases as plant density increases) has generally been explained by competition for resources. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are able to affect plant interactions by mediating resource utilization, but whether this AMF-mediated interaction will change the biomass-density relationship is unclear. We conducted an experiment to test the hypothesis that AMF will shift the biomass-density relationship by affecting intraspecific competition. Four population densities (10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 seedlings per square meter) of Medicago sativa L. were planted in field plots. Water application (1,435 or 327.7 mm/year) simulated precipitation in wet areas (sufficient water) and arid areas (insufficient water). The fungicide benomyl was applied to suppress AMF in some plots ("low-AMF" treatment) and not in others ("high-AMF" treatment). The effect of the AMF treatment on the biomass-density relationship depended on water conditions. High AMF enhanced the decrease of individual biomass with increasing density (the biomass-density line had a steeper slope) when water was sufficient but not when water was insufficient. AMF treatment did not affect plant survival rate or population size but did affect absolute competition intensity (ACI). When water was sufficient, ACI was significantly higher in the high-AMF treatment than in the low-AMF treatment, but ACI was unaffected by AMF treatment when water was insufficient. Our results suggest that AMF status did not impact survival rate and population size but did shift the biomass-density relationship via effects on intraspecific competition. This effect of AMF on the biomass-density relationship depended on the availability of water.

Building facades are under permanent environmental influences, such as sun and acid rain, which age and can ultimately destroy them. Living wall systems can protect facades and offer similar benefits to those gained from installing a green roof. A view back in history shows that vegetated facades are not new technology but can offer multiple benefits as a component of current urban design. In the 19th century, in many European and some North American cities, woody climbers were frequently used as a cover for simple facades. In Central Europe in the 1980s a growing interest in environmental issues resulted in the vision to bring nature into cities. In many German cities incentive programmes were developed, including some that supported tenant initiatives for planting and maintaining climbers in their backyards and facades. Since the 1980s, research has been conducted on issues such as the insulating effects of plants on facades, the ability of plants to mitigate dust, plants’ evaporative cooling effects, and habitat creation for urban wildlife, including birds, spiders and beetles. The aim of this paper is to review research activities on the green wall and facade technology with a focus on Germany. The potential of green facades to improve urban microclimate and buildings’ ecological footprint is high, but they have not developed a widespread presence outside of Germany because they are not as well known as green roofs and there is a lack of implementation guidelines and incentive programs in other countries.