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Tectonics geomorphology is one of the most important modern scientific disciplines. Quantitative analysis based on defined morphometric indices is an available and relatively low-cost and fast method that is used to understand the differences in the amount of tectonic activities in young landscapes. These indices are used as a basic identification tool to detect tectonic deformations or to estimate the relative variations of tectonic activity in a particular area. However, these studies are more sensitive in areas consisting of volcanic rocks, especially for the precise definition of sub-basin boundaries. The study area that consists of outcrops of volcanic rock and young deposits is located in the south of Salafchegan; on the border of Qom-Markazi provinces. Six morphometric indices were measured to determine neotectonic activity: Stream length gradient index (SL), Ratio of valley Floor width to valley height (Vf), hypsometric integral (Hi), drainage basin shape (Bs), drainage basin asymmetry (Af), and transverse topographic symmetry (T) for each sub-basins. After calculating the indices, averages of them, and the relative active tectonic index (Iat), the area was divided into four different tectonic zones based on activity ratio. In this categorazation, category 1 to 4 respectively represent the highest to lowest tectonic activity. It was also found that 2.86% of the basins are in category 2, 51.43% in category 3, class and 45.71% in category 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Information on species' niche differentiation will contribute to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of coexistence benefitting the conservation and management of ecological communities. The widespread reduction in apex predators and more restricted hunting management has con-tributed to an increase in the abundance of wild ungulates in the Qinling Mountains, presumably resulting in an intensifying interspecific competition pressure. However, the activity patterns of the species in this region are completely unknown due to difficulty in accessing the locations where they occur. Thus, we used camera trapping to systematically investigate spatial and temporal activity patterns of sympatric ungulates in the Qinling Mountains, where top predators are virtually absent. This intensive camera-trap survey elucidated much more detailed studies of spatial and temporal activity patterns in multiple sympatric wild ungulates under natural conditions. Further, our results provided detailed information of the spatial and temporal ecology of ungulate communities in forest ecosystems, which would be a guide to establishing conservation priorities as well as efficient management programs. Dramatic increases in populations of wild ungulates have brought a new ecological issue in the Qinling mountains. Information on species' niche differentiation will contribute to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of coexistence, so as to ultimately benefit the conservation and management of ecological communities. In this study, camera trapping was used to investigate spatial and temporal activity patterns of sympatric wild ungulates in the Qinling Mountains of China, where top predators were virtually absent. We obtained 15,584 independent detections of seven wild ungulate species during 93,606 camera-trap days from April 2014 to October 2017. Results showed that (i) the capture rate differed significantly across species, with the capture rate of reeve muntjac being significantly higher than that of other species; (ii) the wild boar had a higher occupancy rates (ψ = 0.888) than other six ungulates, and distance to settlements had a negative relationship with wild boar (β = −0.24 ± 0.17); (iii) the forest musk deer and mainland serow had low spatial overlaps with other five wild ungulates, while spatial overlap indices of any two given pairs of wild ungulates were relatively high; (iv) all wild ungulates species (expect wild boar) were mainly active during crepuscular and diurnal periods, and showed bimodal activity peaks at around 05:00–07:00 and 17:00–19:00; and finally, (v) all wild ungulates showed moderate to high temporal overlaps. The results provided detailed information of the spatial and temporal ecology of wild ungulate communities in forest ecosystems of China, which also would be a guide to establish conservation priorities as well as efficient management programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of coexistence among predators can determine the structure of ecological communities. Niche partitioning is a common strategy applied by species to enhance their coexistence. Diet, habitat, or time use can be responsible for segregation among carnivore species, the latter factor being the least studied in Mediterranean ecosystems. Terrestrial medium‐sized carnivores (i.e., mesocarnivores) carry out important functions in ecosystems, and identifying their interactions is essential for their conservation.In this study, we explore the activity of a terrestrial mesocarnivore guild in order to determine seasonal differences in daily activity patterns of competitors and prey. We also investigate how the abundance of a common mesocarnivore prey in the region, small mammals, influences the activity of predators.During a year, camera trap devices (n = 18) were installed in Montseny Natural Park (Catalan Pre‐Coastal Range, North‐East Iberian Peninsula), a region that hosts five mesocarnivore species. Camera trapping detections were used to estimate their daily activity patterns and corresponding overlaps. We also surveyed small mammal plots (n = 5) in order to calculate prey abundance and test its effect on the relative activity of each carnivore species.Despite all target mesocarnivores are mainly nocturnal, the activity overlap among them varies according to species particularities and season. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) appears as a generalist species in terms of time use, whereas stone marten (Martes foina) and genet (Genetta genetta) show the most similar activity patterns and both of them seem to be positively influenced by small mammal abundance. Overall, the diversity found in the way mesocarnivore species use time could facilitate their coexistence.Despite activity pattern similarities among carnivore species should not be directly translated to negative interactions, they can have a strong influence in habitat and resource‐limited ecosystems. Therefore, activity overlaps should be taken into account when discussing wildlife management actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water quality has emerged as a fast-developing research area. Regular assessment of research activity is necessary for the successful R&D promotion. Water quality research work carried out in different countries increased over the years, and the USA ranked first in productivity while India stands in the seventh position in quantity and occupies the ninth position in quality of the research output. India observes a steady growth in the water quality research. Four thousand six hundred sixteen articles from India assessed from the aspect of citations received distributions of source countries, institutes, journals, impact factor, words in the title, author keywords. The qualitative and quantitative analysis identifies the contributions of the major institutions involved in research. Much of the country’s water quality research is carried out by universities, public research institutions and science councils, whereas the contribution from Ministry of water resources not so significant. A considerable portion of Indian research is communicated through foreign journals, and the most active one is Environmental Monitoring and Assessment journal. Twenty-one percent of work is reported in journals published from India and around 7% ages in open access journals. The study highlights that international collaborative research resulted in high-quality papers. The authors meticulously analyse the published research works to gain a deeper understanding of focus areas through word cluster analyses on title words and keywords. When many papers deal with ‘contamination’, ‘assessment’ and ‘treatment’, enough studies done on ‘water quality index’, ‘toxicity’, considerable work is carried out in environmental, agricultural, industrial and health problems related to water quality. This detailed scientometric study from 1,09,766 research works from SCI-E during 1986-2015 plots the trends and identifies research hotspots for the benefit to scientists in the subject area. This study comprehends the magnitude of water quality research also establishes future research directions using various scientometric indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]