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Mine tailings are generated during mineral extraction that greatly influence soil properties and provide a least opportunity for vegetation. In current study, accumulation of available nutrients and their effect on concentration of heavy metals were assessed from a chronosequence of manganese mine spoil (MBO0, MBO2, MBO4, MBO6, MBO8, MBO10) and compared it with native forest soil. In mine spoil, required level of nutrients were less than those in native forest soil. Heavy metal content was found to be high in fresh overburden spoil as compared to native forest soil. Fresh overburden mine spoil id acidic in nature due to high accumulation of Mn and Fe metals. However, in course of time, the acidic nature of mine spoil turns into basic due to the improvement in the soil physico-chemical characters. In chronosequence overburden spoil shows increasing trend in soil organic carbon, electrical conductivity and cation exchange capacity leading towards rapid reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice / Études Critiques sur le Genre, la Culture, et la Justice is the property of Mount Saint Vincent University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Sandhill Wetland (SW) and Nikanotee Fen (NF) are two wetland research projects designed to test the viability of peatland reclamation in the Alberta oil sands post-mining landscape. To identify effective approaches for establishing peat-forming vegetation in reclaimed wetlands, we evaluated how plant introduction approaches and water level gradients influence species distribution, plant community development, and the establishment of bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover. Plant introduction approaches included seeding with a Carex aquatilis-dominated seed mix, planting C. aquatilis and Juncus balticus seedlings, and spreading a harvested moss layer transfer. Establishment was assessed 6 years after the introduction at SW and 5 years after the introduction at NF. In total, 51 species were introduced to the reclaimed wetlands, and 122 species were observed after 5 and 6 years. The most abundant species in both reclaimed wetlands was C. aquatilis, which produced dense canopies and occupied the largest water level range of observed plants. Introducing C. aquatilis also helped to exclude marsh plants such as Typha latifolia that has little to no peat accumulation potential. Juncus balticus persisted where the water table was lower and encouraged the formation of a diverse peatland community and facilitated bryophyte establishment. Various bryophytes colonized suitable areas, but the moss layer transfer increased the cover of desirable peat-forming mosses. Communities with the highest bryophyte and peatland species richness and cover (averaging 9 and 14 species, and 50%-160% cover respectively) occurred where the summer water level was between -10 and -40 cm. Outside this water level range, a marsh community of Typha latifolia dominated in standing water and a wet meadow upland community of Calamagrostis canadensis and woody species established where the water table was deeper. Overall, the two wetland reclamation projects demonstrated that establishing peat-forming vascular plants and bryophytes is possible, and community formation is dependent upon water level and plant introduction approaches. Future projects should aim to create microtopography with water tables within 40 cm of the surface and introduce vascular plants such as J. balticus that facilitate bryophyte establishment and support the development of a diverse peatland plant community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biology is the property of Instituto Internacional de Ecologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ecoscience (Ecoscience) is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ecoscience (Ecoscience) is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As part of their reconstruction of the city following Allied bombing during World War II, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government infilled medium to small inland waterways (namely, canals and moats constructed during the 17th century) and utilised the resultant terrestrial strips for new purposes. Wartime damage reconstruction was conducted as part of the official city planning of Tokyo. During the 1940s, various waterways in Tokyo were infilled primarily with debris resulting from wartime bombing and, thereby, these landfills presented a model for the disposal of debris from disasters. In Japan, 115 municipalities were designated as war-damaged cities by the government, whose reconstruction was conducted as official city planning. The article examines how common the disposal of wartime debris via the in-filling of inland waterways was. The in-filling of Tokyo's inland waterways caused the loss of watery spaces that are nowadays regarded as cultural heritage assets with recreational potential. Studies have either criticised the infilling of waterways or else underscored opposition to the activity. How then was it possible for the authorities to decide on infilling and land reclamation as city planning? Was there any social support for this project? Relatedly, should the decision by the metropolitan government to infill inland waterways be regarded as inappropriate? This article considers these questions and evaluates the modification of such areas after WWII. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Based on monitoring data, the impact of the reclamation was retrospectively analyzed. • Combined with the project and regional character, ecological restoration measures are proposed. • The effectiveness of marine ecological restoration was verified by mathematic model. Reclamation activities should be combined with the actual functional requirements of engineering sea areas. The contradiction between major reclamation activities and Marine ecological protection should be coordinated according to the local natural conditions, so as to put forward reasonable and feasible ecological construction plans. This paper takes the Taiping Bay reclamation project of Dalian Port as an example, and based on the analysis of the impact of the regional historical reclamation on the coastline, hydrodynamics, water quality, marine ecological environment, and other factors. Combined with the results of numerical simulation, the realization and effectiveness of the marine ecological restoration and compensation scheme are described in detail. Although the reclamation project will bring about ecological and environmental problems, it is still an effective means to "effectively alleviate the contradiction between land supply and demand in coastal areas, expand development space and promote rapid economic development". This paper puts forward suggestions to realize the coordinated development of marine economy and ecological protection from the reclamation land control policy and ecological restoration measures. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Assessed the market and non-market benefits, costs, and benefit-cost ratios of different paddy systems. • Reclaiming saline-sodic soils can relieve food shortages and enhance ecosystem services. • Rice-crab and rice-fish co-culture systems had the highest market value. • Ecosystem service values increased with market benefits over extended cultivation periods. Reclamation of saline-sodic soils can unlock vast potential resources, relieve food shortages, and increase valuable ecosystem services. While previous investigations have focused on the current ecosystem service (ES) value of reclaimed paddy fields, the potential long-term costs and benefits of reclamation are still largely unknown. To fill this important research gap, we assessed ES values of reclaimed paddies at the field scale, using primary data collected from 15 different paddy management systems. We assessed the market and non-market benefits, costs, and benefit-cost ratios (BCR) of three different reclamation models and two coculture models across a chronosequence of paddy sites (cultivated for up to 50 years). Our results demonstrate that the addition of cellulose sulfonated modified composite (CSMC) and flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) substantially increased the net ecosystem service value (NESV) by 16.53 % and 52.21 %, respectively, compared to control paddy cultivation sites. Additionally, integrated rice-crab and rice-fish coculture systems presented great increases in market value (48.48 % and 51.39 %, respectively) compared with that of monoculture systems. Ecosystem provisioning and gas regulating services increased alongside market benefits over longer cultivation periods, indicating potential advantages of long-term paddy cultivation. After 50 years of operation, the cumulative benefit of the CSMC system was approximately 455058.88 ¥ ha−1, which was approximately 1.6 times greater than the control. These results indicate that additional investment in the CSMC system can produce a high margin benefit-cost ratio (MBCR). Given appropriate management models and policies, CSMC inputs and rice-fish co-culture represent the best-performing reclamation system in this study. Our study lays the foundation for associated studies on related government policy, corporate investments, and agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-enclosed bays often have weak water exchange capacities, leading to frequent environmental pollution, particularly localized pollution. This study examines the local effects of changes in local factors on water circulation within Bohai Bay after land reclamation. To address the limitations of previous methods in measuring sub-regional water exchange, we introduce the concept of Local Average Influence Time (LAIT) to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the impact of land reclamation on water exchange between sub-regions in semi-enclosed bays. Results indicate that land reclamation can enhance the self-purification capacity of sub-regions with significant shoreline changes in Bohai Bay, but this improvement is closely linked to dynamic factors such as wind, tide, and runoff. The degree of water exchange between sub-regions shows significant spatial heterogeneity, with land reclamation influencing the primary direction of water transport. This is largely due to the obstruction caused by newly constructed artificial headlands, making the neighbor area new high-risk zones for pollution. Wind can promote water circulation within the bay, but its effects are spatially heterogeneous and sensitive to shoreline topography changes. River discharge can enhance local water exchange but is weakened by obstruction from artificial headlands. Tide promotes water exchange between the bay mouth and inner bay areas, while their impact on sub-regional water exchange is also spatially heterogeneous and sensitive to changes in shoreline and topography. This study provides a quantitative method for assessing water exchange between regions and offers insights into the impact of land reclamation on water circulation within semi-enclosed bays. • Proposing LAIT to measure the water exchange between sub-regions in semi-enclosed bays • Using TRACLUS to describe the water exchange path effectively • Offering insights into the impact of reclamation on water circulation within semi-enclosed bays [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's writing affirms her Land Acknowledgement because she honors her querencia, place of origin, and elders. Her collection of short stories Sabrina & Corina (2019) gives voice to Chicana-Amerindian women and girls whose lives are affected by displacement, cyclical poverty, and the challenge to reclaim traditional knowledges. Fajardo-Anstine confronts her people's trauma through writing strong female characters who inspire others and create a path for seven generations to come. Specifically in her inaugural story "Sugar Babies," it is the younger generation who reconnects with their multicultural heritages where their parents' generation suffers the susto of displacement. Whereas "Ghost Sickness," the closing story of the collection, addresses the consequences of displacement but chooses to lift up life rather than fall into the abyss caused by multigenerational trauma. The analysis herein considers place-based querencia as a means to reclaim what was lost due to trauma caused by displacement. I use querencia as defined in the anthology Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland (2020), as well as Raúl Homero Villa's Barrio-Logos: Space and Place in Urban Chicano Literature and Culture on the effects of displacement, and Priscilla Solis Ybarra's Writing the Good Life: Mexican American Literature and the Environment (2016), which explains the importance of Chicana-Amerindian writing as a means of emphasizing multicultural heritages and connection to the land. Hence, Fajardo-Anstine's work embodies the intent of stressing Land Acknowledgement as a means to honor traditional teachings, one's elders, and origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avian Conservation & Ecology is the property of Resilience Alliance and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urban brownfield remediation and reclamation have attracted much attention, but rural spaces do not receive the same focus and suffer from the effects these sites have on society, the economy, and land. The objective of this study is to evaluate how social, economic, and environmental features affect agricultural brownfield regeneration between 2004 and 2018 through two case study regions in the southern Czech Republic. In 1221 muncipalties where a communist agricultural cooperative or a state farm operated in 1989, agricultural brownfields existed in 832 of the municipalities in 2004. A multinomial non-parametric regression method and CCA ordination revealed ties between agricultural brownfield reclamation and the characteristics of those municipalities. This shows a deep and before unknown consequence of agricultural brownfield regeneration. There was not a relationship between the size of an agricultural premise and its probability of being an agricultural brownfield. Larger agricultural brownfields are more likely to be (at least partially) regenerated. Lower agrcultural land costs drove the higher probability that a brownfield was reused between 2004 and 2018. Housing reuses more frequently occur in areas with low agricultural land costs. Similarly, agricultural reuses of those derelict premises is more likely in areas with a low price of agricultural land. However, larger municipalities did not experience a reclamation of their agricultural brownfields, and long-term brownfields may occur alongside any other type of reclaimed land. • The probability of an agricultural brownfield occurring is not correlated with premise size. • Larger agricultural brownfields are more likely to be regenerated. • Housing reuses are found in areas with low prices of agricultural land. • Reusing an agricultural brownfield for agriculture again is more likely in areas with low land costs. • Long-term brownfields can occur alongside any other type of reclaimed premises or land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of challenges posed by both human and natural factors, tidal wetlands in the Bohai Rim have been confronting severe threats. It is imperative to comprehend the evolution, as well as the losses and gains of tidal wetlands in the Bohai Rim, for effective coastal management and planning. However, the dynamic fluctuations in the losses and gains of tidal wetlands in this region are frequently overlooked. In this study, employing image data cubes and frequency method, we systematically monitored tidal wetlands in the Bohai Rim spanning the period from 1986 to 2022. Additionally, we performed an exhaustive analysis of the evolution, losses, and gains of tidal wetlands within the provinces and municipality surrounding the Bohai Rim, as well as a detailed analysis of typical areas. This study unveiled three key findings. Firstly, tidal wetlands in Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, and Shandong had experienced significant declines of 42%, 66.3%, 71.08% and 60.52% from 1986 to 2022, respectively; they had contracted spatially and changed from a contiguous complete distribution to a scattered fragmented distribution. Secondly, reclamation and erosion had led to the loss of tidal wetlands, while sedimentation had led to the gain of tidal wetlands. The loss area of tidal wetlands caused by reclamation and erosion, as well as the gain area of tidal wetlands caused by sedimentation, had exhibited fluctuating changes from 1986 to 2022. Finally, the area of tidal wetlands in the Liaohe River Delta, Tianjin Port, and Yellow River Delta had decreased by 46.48%, 74.96% and 22.36% from 1986 to 2022, respectively; and tidal wetlands in these three typical areas had spatially contracted. Our findings offer a fresh perspective and a solid scientific foundation for the effective management and strategic planning of tidal wetlands in the Bohai Rim region. • Extract tidal wetlands from image data cubes based on the method of inundation frequency. • Conduct a detailed analysis of tidal wetlands' evolution, tidal wetlands' losses and gains in the. • Bohai Rim region. • Conduct a detailed analysis of tidal wetlands' evolution at three typical areas. • Declaration of competing interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Journal of Compulsory Execution / Revista Română de Executare Silită is the property of Universul Juridic Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anthropologica is the property of CASCA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Revegetation is the most common procedure in the restoration of disturbed areas; this practice usually aims at reconstructing plant communities that can last without further management. A low‐cost strategy to assist these efforts is the application of ecological knowledge in the design of the restoration. Promoting ecological processes that enhance the functioning of the restored community could result in higher restoration success. Among these processes, plant–plant interactions, e.g., facilitation and competition, can play an important role, both facilitating and impeding the development of a self‐sustaining plant community. Although these processes have been well‐studied in nature, we rarely have sufficient knowledge about the whole plant community. To develop that knowledge, we leverage on a restoration experiment that took place after a mine toxic spill, where ~15,000 woody plants from 13 species were planted and geolocated. Species were planted in three mixtures mimicking natural communities found along soil moisture gradients (xerophyte, intermediate, and hydrophyte). Plantings also varied in density. Approximately 2,600 plants were monitored for damage status, survival, and growth, for 4 yr. We analyzed growth performance of six targeted species as a function of their damage status, planted mixture, and density. Growth was also assessed on the basis of neighboring plants, accounting for the species identity and distance to the focal plant. Results show that survival among planted species was relatively high and was mostly unaffected by mixture or density of the plantings. Only very damaged plants in one species experienced a decrease in survival with increasing density. Neighborhood effects on growth show positive, neutral, and negative interactions among the tested species; these also varied depending on the type of growth performance considered (height, crown area, diameter). The species‐specific results ranged from positive to negative, varying between pair of species and growth performance metric. Results gathered from our neighborhood analyses on plant growth provide valuable information for the design of planting schemes that could enhance the performance of the target species. The methods developed can be applied to other systems and species. Given the potential impacts that facilitation and competition may have during revegetation, these interactions could be considered in restoration operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Recent advancements in reclamation and recycling of waste carbon fibers. • Reuse of waste/recycled carbon fibers to remanufacture thermoplastic composites. • Reinforcing impact of waste/recycled carbon fiber on the mechanical properties of composites. • Environmental considerations, embodied energy, and economic benefits of waste carbon fibers. Carbon fibers are increasingly in demand due to their exceptional mechanical properties and low density affording a new generation of lightweight structures. However, concerns about their sustainability and energy consumption during manufacture may well represent a limit to their further proliferation. Consequently, the reclamation of waste carbon fibers and their reformatting using reclaimed carbon fibers has gained significant attention recently as a promising approach to address both of these challenges. This review paper seeks to deepen the understanding of waste/recycled carbon fiber and its role in enabling sustainable polymer composites and the wider use of carbon fiber during the transition to a net zero world. Although reclamation, reformatting, environmental considerations, and economic benefits are covered, the specific focus of this review lies in the reuse of waste/recycled carbon fibers as reinforcements in thermoplastic composites. Through an in-depth review, light is shed on the advantages and obstacles associated with utilizing waste/recycled carbon fibers with potential applications and future research directions are discussed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of reclamation on the water bird community in Whenzhou estuary have been studied for more than 7 months. There were significant differences in the bird diversity index among the earlier, later and reclaiming areas. The bird diversity index was the highest in the earlier reclaimed area, followed by the reclaiming and then the later reclaimed areas. There were significant differences in the densities of Anatidae, Charadriiformes, and Laridae between the three survey sites, but not for Ardeidae. A total of 37 species of zoobenthos where the density decreased from Crustacean, Polychaete, Gastropod to Bivalves were found. Only densities of Crustacean and Polychaete in the later reclaimed area differed significantly from those in the other survey sites. There were significant differences in the values of all environmental variables, with the exception of those in vegetation cover among the earlier and later reclaimed areas, and biomass of zoobenthos, indicating environmental differences among them. With different types of wetland birds being affected by different environmental factors, reclamation affected the distribution of water birds by changing these factors. The density of Charadriiformes correlated significantly with that of Crustacean and Polychaete suggested that these species were the main diet of Charadriiformes. Reclamation affected the composition, density, and distribution of wetland bird communities by influencing environmental factors, including food abundance and availability, and foraging and roosting time at high tide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Nigeria, spatial planning is inadequate in both the rural and urban cities because most neighborhoods emerge organically and have no layout. Lagos is particularly vulnerable as this densely populated city, projected to grow rapidly in the future, has large parts of its inhabitants living in poor informal settlements. Drawing from both secondary and tertiary types of data from relevant sources - local documentation and library research -this study subscribes to good urban governance which assures that political, social and economic priorities are based on the broad consensus of society; and that making Lagos a mega city requires creativity, vision, leadership, resources, and a culture that disrupts the traditional way of city planning and designing. Adopting the consensual and reformist approaches with a view to achieving an alternative vision of addressing environmental challenges in Lagos State, this study also suggests a shift in urban planning policy and strategies-such as improvement and access to social services, mixed housing schemes that combines a self-help housing improvement with land access, public involvement in community development effort and registration of informal settlements- for the development of Lagos State as a modern mega city with a view to achieving a sustainable urban system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Johor River is the main source of water in Johor Bahru and Singapore as well as a vital maritime passage in the eastern Straits of Johor. However, the Johor River Estuary (JRE) has been experiencing environmental degradation due to construction land sprawl and reclamation (CLSR), which shows a combined effect of anthropogenic environmental change. In this paper, the spatial and temporal variation of CLSR in the JRE was studied based on twelve multi-temporal Landsat images (Landsat MSS, TM and OLI) obtained from 1973 to 2017. The results showed that the area of construction land increased more than 10-fold from 1973 (13.33 km2) to 2017 (135.46 km2). Each type of construction land showed an increasing tendency, and their area-weighted centroids migrated towards the mouth of the Johor River. Over the last four decades, an increased land area of 40.32 km2 contributed by reclamation was mainly distributed in the Tekong Island and the eastern Singapore Islands, which shortened the minimum distance between lands in the JRE. The largest decrease in minimum distance was 1889 m between Johor Bahru and Tekong Island. CLSR is mainly driven by human activities such as population growth, economic development and policy change. To better protect the coastal environment in the JRE, construction land expansion and reclamation activities should be planned properly by the local government. Highlights • The spatiotemporal variation of construction land sprawl and coastal reclamation in Johor River Estuary had been studied. n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to concentrate on reclamation of African-American heritage in Ishmael Reed's Flight to Canada (1976) in the light of postmodern approaches. Reed represents a full spectrum of approaches to postmodern historical writing today, from the traditionally "realistic" to the radically anachronistic. Although Reed shares in the belief that history is textual and, therefore, available to him as material for his novel, he has very particular concerns for his brand of postmodern historical fiction, and the novel itself exemplifies diverse attitudes towards history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • First attempt to apply concept of corporate memory to study strategic planning. • Original empirical study on reclamation for a small open economy. • Original neo-institutional economic inquiry of reclamation. Abstract Informed by property rights economics, this paper explores some unique advantages of reclamation, as a form of expansionist dynamic zoning, compared to densification of existing built up urban land and conversion of rural and peri-urban land. One major argument is that modern reclamation package, in light of global circulation of capital, can be one comprehensive project that avoids old mistakes and tries out new ideas without upsetting pre-existing development or interests. It then explains, with the help of statistics collected from a historical study of land reclamation of Hong Kong, that the future urban development in this open economy will be arrested if she gives up reclamation. The loss of corporate memory, using civil service staff movements based on the Staff List, seldom used in Hong Kong studies on town planning, as a proxy, in strategic planning is advanced as a factor behind the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Landsat time series are used to assess vegetation changes on abandoned energy development sites relative to reference sites. • Statistical models help identify climatic, environmental and management factors that influence cover changes. • Median relative cover after five years was 26%, with large positive skew. • Sites with high vegetation cover are dominated by invasive annuals. • Wetter climate conditions in later years promoted higher vegetation cover. Abstract Oil and natural gas development in the western United States has increased substantially in recent decades as technological advances like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have made extraction more commercially viable. Oil and gas pads are often developed for production, and then capped, reclaimed, and left to recover when no longer productive. Understanding the rates, controls, and degree of recovery of these reclaimed well sites to a state similar to pre-development conditions is critical for energy development and land management decision processes. Here we use a multi-decadal time series of satellite imagery (Landsat 5, 1984–2011) to assess vegetation regrowth on 365 abandoned well pads located across the Colorado Plateau in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. We developed high-frequency time series of the Soil-Adjusted Total Vegetation Index (SATVI) for each well pad using the Google Earth Engine cloud computing platform. BFAST time-series models were used to fit temporal trends, identifying when vegetation was cleared from the site and the magnitudes and rates of vegetation change after abandonment. The time series metrics are used to calculate the relative fractional vegetation cover (RFVC) of each pad, a measure of post-abandonment vegetation cover relative to pre-drilling condition. Mean and median RFVC were 36% (s.d. 33%) and 26%, respectively, five years after abandonment, with one third of well pads having RFVC greater than 50%. Statistical analyses suggest that much of the high vegetation cover is associated with weedy invasive annual species such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and Russian thistle (Salsola spp.). Climate conditions and the year of abandonment also play a role, with increased cover in later years associated with a wetter period. Non-linear change at many pads suggests longer recovery times than would be estimated by linear extrapolation. New techniques implemented here address a complex response of cover change to soils, management, and climate over time, and can be extended to the operational monitoring of energy development across large areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Avian Conservation & Ecology is the property of Resilience Alliance and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract The main goal of the paper is an evaluation of the dynamics of golf course (hereafter GC[s]) construction in the Czech Republic (hereafter CR) after 1990 and an assessment of the impacts and the consequences of the GCs on the landscape. The construction of the GCs was evaluated from the point of view of the physical-geography with regards to human geography aspects with a focus on an assessment in relation to climatic, soil, hydrological parameters, land use and financial aspects. The paper is to present the localisation and the geographical description of the GCs and their assessment in the different regions of the CR. An original database was created for the purpose of the localisation and complex evaluation of all the GCs in the CR. The analysis was carried out on 114 GCs in the CR. These GCs covered a surface area of ca. 5106 ha, i.e., 0.06% of the total area of the CR in 2016. A significant share of the GCs was built on agricultural land with high quality (more than 34%), which is clearly a negative phenomenon. The reason for the construction of a large number of GCs on some high-yielding soils can be seen: a) in the low land price, b) in the low rent, c) in the negative results of entrepreneurial income (or in the surplus) of agricultural production up to the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU and d) the distance from large cities (location in regions) and spa town with rich clients. By 2004, the majority of the GCs had been built in the CR already. From the point of view land use, a total of 51% of the GCs area was registered as agricultural land in the Cadastre Land Register. Of the agricultural land, the largest share (35%) was registered as arable land and approximately one third of the GCs occupied permanent grassland. On the contrary, the other area, which should form the majority of GCs, because its areas are registered for sport activities, only accounted for 37% of the golf resorts' area in the CR. The GCs were also built on areas affected by human activity (mines, landfills, fly ash). The area of the GCs in the reclaimed territory was approximately 942 ha, i.e., more than 18% of the total GCs area. The reclamation of such territories by the construction of GCs is one of the variants of the use of such territories. Having assessed the climatic characteristics, it was determined that 20 out of the total of 114 GCs were endangered by potential drought. The theoretical and actual water demand for the irrigation of 9 selected GCs in drought-affected areas has been compared. It can be stated that all the selected GCs manage the irrigation water very well, the actual consumption is in line with the theoretical need. The observed difference in water between the calculated theoretical and realised irrigation of the GCs in mm/m2 of irrigated area, ranges from -10.8 mm to + 9.7 mm in 1 month for an individual GC. The study by model "runoff curve numbers" (CN) showed a positive impact of the grassland in the areas of GCs with regards to the direct runoff. The hydrological impact of grassing the arable land is positive, since it contributes to the retention and accumulation of water in the catchment area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following on from the previous paper on this coast in this journal (vol 42 (2) 2017), this paper deals with the period in which monasteries were largely responsible for creating the coast of south Lindsey and north Holland. The means of this achievement was the making of salt, carried out by large numbers of tenants. Their method of salt-making (‘sleeching’) created large quantities of silty wastes and these enabled the industry to expand seawards and hence create the shoreline. The dissolution of the monasteries and the increased dominance of imported salt coincided with the impulse to reclaim salt-marsh for grazing and tillage and so the industry declined into the early modern period. Salt-making created a distinct landscape type, the Tofts, which survives in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Reclamation plays an important role in alleviating the contradiction between the supply and demand of land. But its environmental negative effect is also obviously. Considerable research has been conducted on the environmental impact assessments of reclamation activities, but few and scattered studies have focused on how to reduce the negative impacts of reclamation projects on coastal ecosystems. Therefore, this paper considered the ecological technology integration study of reclamation construction as the breakthrough point. China, which has the highest reclamation scale worldwide, was also selected as the main research area, and its representative seaports were selected as the subjects of the study. Then, questionnaire survey and literature analysis were conducted. The ecological technology model and path of the seaport reclamation construction were studied by focusing on port site selection, port plane layout, wharf structure and plane form. Construction material selection and ecological restoration construction projects were also investigated. The suggestions regarding scientific demonstration and planning of port site selection, ecological port plane design and structure, application and innovation of recycling economy technology, and active construction of ecological restoration engineering were provided. The purpose of this research is to determine the effective implementation of ecological and environmentally friendly reclamation under a reasonable management scale, thus providing a reference for establishing the ecological technology model of reclamation and promoting the effective protection and sustainable development of marine resources from the perspective of source planning and management. Highlights • Ecological planning and design can reduce the negative impact of seaport reclamation from the source. • Offshore deep-water seaport construction is protective for natural coastlines. • The plane layout with the arc curve is "water friendly" in seaport construction. • The application of ecological technologies influences the seaports' environmental carrying capacity. • Scale control and ecological restoration are the two important aspects of ecological seaports reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, continuous chloride reduction was studied using a Continuous Virtual Countercurrent Ion Exchange setup (CVCIE). With this new laboratory scale setup constructed, ion exchange process which is inherently batchwise was conducted continuously. Lewatit Monoplus M800 OH and Amberjet 4500 OH resins were used for the first time for amine reclamation. According to the resins’ critical properties, Lewatit Monoplus M800 OH showed a better performance in chloride separation. The resin performance is pH-dependent. In this regard, amine-to-resin ratio at different influent chloride concentrations showed that Lewatit Monoplus M800 OH has the potential for higher chloride exchange at a pH of 10.5–11. During several experiments, the optimum amount of caustic needed for regeneration of the saturated resins was determined. Setup results showed that chloride concentration in amine tank was reduced to 50 ± 10 ppm and the pH increased to 11.85 ± 0.15 which were the averages of three different tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological stability of coastal areas is seriously affected by tidal flat reclamation. Understanding the spatial characteristics of the impact of reclamation on stability, as well as the contribution of different use types of reclamation to stability change, is important for mitigating the negative effects of reclamation. In this study, multi-source and multi-temporal remote sensing images were combined to quantitatively analyze the relationship between reclamation and stability in different regions of the coastal area in Jiangsu Province, as well as the relative contribution of different use types of reclamation to the stability change. The results showed that: Different forms of statistical relationships between reclamation and stability existed in reclaimed area and non-reclaimed area, respectively, while a significant quadratic function relationship existed in the whole affected area, and the stability index decreased first and then increased with the increase of reclamation amount, with a threshold of 1243 km2; In different buffer zones within the non-reclaimed area, the impact intensity of reclamation showed spatial decay characteristics; The use type of reclamation that has the greatest impact on stability in the reclaimed area is aquaculture land, while in the non-reclaimed area it is arable land. In addition, aquaculture land, arable land and hydraulic engineering land have negative effects on stability, while salt industry land has positive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landfill reclamation project took place in the period from 2008 to 2009. Forestry reclamation was carried out in 2009. The aim of this project was to establish the growth of particular plant species, quantify plant species survival and changes in species properties over time. A phased approach was utilized to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of the reclamation project; based on the results of these evaluations, in 2011 approximately 90 % of plant species survived during the first phase of landfill reclamation. The composition of wood species selected for the plantation can be evaluated as appropriate. The success is determined by the selection of wood species and the care that was taken of the seedlings after the plantation (frequent watering in the first months after plantation and also regular pruning, as a part of the mowing process; less prosperous seedling trees were hoed). This paper presents the researchers' landfill reclamation project experience, including an estimation of reclamation rates achieved during the project, project costs and estimated composition of the reclaimed materials. It is expected that a similar composition of wood species will be used for reclamation of the second phase of the landfill body. Only with regard to species Juniperus communis it is advisable to replace it with another species, due to lower rooting success (42 % in 2010 and 37.3 % in 2011). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spoil heaps, resulting from open-pit mining, are deprived of soil cover. A common method of reclamation for such sites is afforestation aimed at creating whole forest ecosystems. Forest stands planted on soilless areas make it possible to determine the effects of different tree taxa on the species composition of flora. The study focused on the vascular species of herb layers in young forest stands formed by Alnus glutinosa , Betula pendula , Pinus sylvestris , Quercus petraea and Robinia pseudoacacia , and mixed stands dominated by Acer pseudoplatanus or Betula pendula . The study included 227 randomly selected plots across the afforested Bełchatów Brown Coal Mine spoil heap. Species composition of the herb layer was composed mainly of synanthropic species (over 70%), and was clearly related to the overstory tree species composition of forest stands. TWINSPAN divided sample plots into two groups that developed under the canopy of stands formed by: (1) Betula pendula , Pinus sylvestris or Quercus petraea , or mixed stands with Betula pendula , or (2) Alnus glutinosa or Robinia pseudoacacia , or mixed stands dominated by Acer pseudoplatanus . The first group was dominated by meadow species (25.8%), while the second had higher richness of ruderal (18.6%) and forest-edge species (14.1%). Plant species associated with fertile and moist forest habitats were more frequent in the second group ( Alnus-Robinia ), whereas species of acidic and dry forests occurred only in the first group ( Betula-Pinus ). Non-parametric tests on Ellenberg’s indicator values showed that forest stands of Betula-Pinus group created habitat conditions for light-demanding species with low fertility requirements, whereas forest stands of Alnus-Robinia group created habitat conditions for nitrophilous and shade-tolerant plant species. Our data revealed that tree species composition of forest stands is a key factor shaping herb layer conditions and – as a consequence – herb layer species composition despite of initial habitat variability on the spoil heap. These results highlight a key role of forest stand composition in the development of herb layer richness on post-industrial habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment friendly development of mining applications progressed significantly due to the rapid increase in environmental awareness and requirement of available land. The reclamation studies of those lands, ruined during mining activities, should be evaluated and regained in the most effective and rational way. In recent years, especially in open pit coal mining, reclamation applications become crucial due to rapid spreading of mining companies on extensive lands. These applications were taken into account in feasibility studies and included in mining operations. The reclamation systematics of dump sites formed by stripping of open pit coal mines and depleted coal pits are investigated. In this study, the rehabilitation studies subsequent to mining activities are dealt technically and parameters affecting the success of these studies are determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lowland areas of east Lincolnshire are often aggregated in written accounts and maps as ‘marsh’ or ‘fen’ without regard for any subtleties of landscape type or history. Even less discrimination is usually applied to the coastline between Skegness and the river Witham, unless there is recognition of modern reclamations of salt-marsh. An attempt is made here to show how the early medieval landscape of the terrain between the Wolds and the sea evolved from a continuous wetland into a number of landscape types and in doing so created a moving coastline which included embayments. The agencies are partly natural, as with regional alterations in sea-level, and partly human-made as early settlements are established and create drier land. A variety of sources are used to build a sequence of landscape emergence that was the basis for later medieval and modern intakes of marsh and fen that underlie today’s coastal setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Derelict mines pose potential risks to environmental health. Several factors such as soil structure, organic matter, and nutrient content are the greatly affected qualities in mined soils. Soil microbial communities are an important element for successful reclamation because of their major role in nutrient cycling, plant establishment, geochemical transformations, and soil formation. Yet, microorganisms generally remain an undervalued asset in mined sites. The microbial diversity in derelict mine sites consists of diverse species belonging to four key phyla: Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes. The activity of plant symbiotic microorganisms including root-colonizing rhizobacteria and ectomycorrhizal fungi of existing vegetation in the mined sites is very high since most of these microbes are extremophiles. This review outlines the importance of microorganisms to soil health and the rehabilitation of derelict mines and how microbial activity and diversity can be exploited to better plan the soil rehabilitation. Besides highlighting the major breakthroughs in the application of microorganisms for mined site reclamation, we provide a critical view on plant−microbiome interactions to improve revegetation at the mined sites. Also, the need has been emphasized for deciphering the molecular mechanisms of adaptation and resistance of rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere microbes in abandoned mine sites, understanding their role in remediation, and subsequent harnessing of their potential to pave the way in future rehabilitation strategies for mined sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology / Yingyong Shengtai Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Food waste must be minimised to make food supply chains sustainable. This is especially relevant since food waste valorisation measures, such as energy recovery, have limited possibilities to fully recover the resources invested in food production. However, waste minimisation is costly when it includes new infrastructure or technology. Policy measures, on the other hand, can provide a low-cost option. Food rejection practices in supermarkets, such as take-back agreements (TBA), have long been identified as risk factors for food waste generation at the supplier-retailer interface, but given the relational, and often discreet, nature of these agreements, there is little evidence of their impact. In this study we provide, concrete evidence of different rejection practices. This is done by studying three types of food chains – those for bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, and milk – with different rejection practices in Sweden. Based on a combination of primary company information and stakeholder interviews, we found that a full TBA is in operation for bread. The retailer only pays for bread that is sold and any bread left unsold three days before the best-before date is returned to the supplier. For fresh fruit and vegetables, only goods of ‘inadequate’ quality are returned, but supermarkets have sole rights of determination on quality, posing a risk of categorising unsold fruit and vegetables as inadequate quality and returning them to suppliers. In the case of milk, suppliers take back unsold items, but only for waste management. The trend found in this study was that bread had the highest waste, and the most extensive take-back policy. Fresh fruit and vegetables had medium levels of waste, partly due to unverified rejections, while milk had a very low level of waste combined with an even lower level of rejections. It can be concluded that a food supply chain system where the direct costs of waste management or incentives for waste reduction are separated from the organisation responsible for generating the waste poses a significant risk factor in food waste generation and is therefore a potential hotspot for waste-reducing measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overburden and tailings materials from oil sands production were used as construction materials as part of a novel attempt to create a self-sustaining, peat accumulating fen-upland ecosystem. To evaluate the potential for elemental release from the construction materials, total elemental concentrations in the tailings sand, petroleum coke and peat used to construct a fen ecosystem were determined using microwave-assisted acid digestions and compared to a leaching experiment conducted under environmentally-relevant conditions. A comparison of solid phase to aqueous Na, Ca, S and Mg concentrations showed they were highly leachable in the materials. Given that the concentrations of these elements can affect plant community structure, it is important to understand their leachability and mobility as they migrate between materials used to construct the system. To that end, a mass balance of aqueous Na, Ca, S and Mg was conducted based on leaching experiments and materials analysis coupled with existing data from the constructed system. The data indicate that there is a large pool of leachable Na, Ca, S and Mg in the system, estimated at 27 t of Na, 14 t of Ca, 37.3 t of S and 8.8 t of Mg. Since recharge mainly drives the fen-upland system water regime, and discharge in the fen, evapo-accumulation of these solutes on the surface may occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal flat reclamation causes a series of negative consequences for the coast-estuary hydrodynamics and environment. This might lead to implementing the restoration of the reclaimed areas. However, the restoration induced hydrodynamics changes have not been comprehensively understood in estuaries. In this study, the hydrodynamic interactions between tide and runoff are investigated using a numerical modelling of the Luanhe River Estuary, China, a typical micro-tidal estuary just experienced the restoration from the densely covered reclamations. The focus of this study is on the changes of the tidal field, characteristics of tidal prism and asymmetry and evaluation of flood risk. The results indicate that the restoration has significantly decreased the flow velocity by as much as 60% in the estuarine river during flood season. In dry season, the interaction between runoff and tide will be enhanced with larger tidal velocity, longer tide intrusion and very tiny area with static water due to the restoration. The tidal prism has been significantly increased by more than twice in the dry season owing to the both enhancements in intrusion velocity and rising duration of the flooding tide. Also, the restoration has effectively dropped the flood water level and slow down current flow speed in the river channel. In conclusion, the restoration project is of great significance to reduce storm surge risk and to improve water quality. The restoration project provides an effective reference for the spatial arrangement of the aquaculture reclamation and primitive tidal flat, which is conducive to the efficient and coordinated utilization of coastal zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising of the "claiming land from tidal wetlands and sea" has gradually reduced tidal wetlands, resulting in a huge damage to the coastal ecological environment. It is of great significance to monitor tidal wetlands by remote sensing technology. However, due to the influence of tides and weather, monitoring tidal wetlands by remote sensing technology is often inaccurate. In this study, using dense time series images data cube constructed by the spatio-temporal data fusion algorithm, we monitored tidal wetlands at the estuary of the Yellow River and Laizhou Bay; and we analyzed their evolution and driving forces in detail. This study revealed several findings. Firstly, the area of tidal wetlands had shown a decreasing trend; the tidal wetland at the new estuary of the Yellow River had extended to the sea from 1976 to 2021; other tidal wetlands had shrunk year by year. Secondly, a more important finding was that sedimentation, erosion and reclamation had led to the changes of the tidal wetlands; and there were no obvious changing trends of the tidal wetlands' area caused by these three factors in each time period. Finally, we confirmed that salt field driving force, salt field and harbor driving force, aquaculture pond driving force and the erosion of natural factor driving force had reduced tidal wetlands; while the sedimentation of the natural factor driving force had made the tidal wetlands increase; and the newly added area of all driving forces had had no obvious regular changing trends. Our proposing to monitor tidal wetlands by using dense time series images data cube provides a general approach for tidal wetlands' study and our results demonstrate the need for better coastal management of the estuary of the Yellow River and Laizhou Bay. • Propose to monitor tidal wetlands by the spatio-temporal data fusion algorithm. • Use the constructed dense time series images data cube to monitoring tidal wetlands. • Conduct a detailed analysis of the evolution and driving forces of tidal wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Acid recovery efficiency of diffusion dialysis (DD) was affected by initial acid concentration. • Water consumption of DD was equal or more than the treatment capacity of waste acid. • Selective ED (SED) achieved efficient H+ transport at higher reverse concentration difference. • DD/SED integrated system achieved 93% of acid recovery while reducing water consumption by 50%. • Less alkali is required and less nitrate is released during DD/SED integrated system. Diffusion dialysis (DD) has shown promise in waste acid reclamation, while it presents excessive water consumption and incomplete acid recovery because mass transfer is concentration-gradient dependent. This study demonstrated the nonlinear relationship between mass transfer and water consumption in DD, and then constructed an integrated concentration and electro-driven membrane system for enhanced acid recovery and water-saved. Results showed that selective-electrodialysis achieved 80% secondary acid recovery via applying a cell potential-difference of 0.6 V at a 14.9-fold reverse concentration-difference. The integrated system hence achieved 93% acid recovery under conditions that reduced the water consumption in DD unit by 50%, while the concentrated acid reached ∼13% higher than the initial concentration of waste acid. Also, the system represented excellent heavy metal rejection (∼90%) and it demonstrated clear benefits as less alkali reagent was required and less nitrate was released into the environment, highlighting its vast potential for industrial waste acid reclamation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mine spoils (-the previous overburden of coal seams, inevitable by-product in the mining process) which are usually unfavorable for plant growth have different properties according to dumping years. The reclamation of overburden dumps (OBDs) through plantation by using efficient microbes with suitable bio-inoculants is an environmental friendly microbial technique for significant improvement in fertility status and biological activities of the OBD soil. A systematic greenhouse pot experiment program followed by field trial was conducted to investigate the influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and NFB on the performance of plant growth which have resulted in the development of environmental friendly bio-inoculant package for soil reclamation of abandoned mine land by revegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The up-to-date concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment materials of Victoria Harbour was investigated so as to evaluate the pollution potential associated with the reclamation projects in Hong Kong. A total of 100 sediment samples were collected at 20 locations. Except the control point in reservoir, the PAHs concentrations were detectable levels all sites (131–628.3 ng/g, dw) and such values were higher than Dutch Target and Intervention Values (the New Dutch standard in 2016). The PAHs concentration indicating that construction waste and wastewater discharges were the main pollutant sources. Results of correlation in single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay) studies also revealed that the PAHs concentration was highly correlated (< 0.01) with DNA migration (i.e. the length of tail moment of fish cells) in 5 mg/ml of PAHs. The above observation indicates that the PAHs present in the sediment may substantially effect the marine ecosystem. Although the dredged sediment can be a useful sea-filling material for land reclamation; however, the continuing leaching of PAHs and its impact on the aquatic environment need to be studied further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface mining is a global phenomenon. When dealing with the land disturbances caused by surface mining operations, the terms remediation, reclamation, restoration and rehabilitation (R4) are commonly used interchangeably or otherwise vaguely defined. Expectations associated with these terms may differ significantly from one stakeholder to another, however. Regulators, industry, environmental practitioners, local communities and the general public therefore stand to benefit from a precise terminology based on agreed-upon end-goals. The latter range from the avoidance of exposure to pollutants (remediation) to the full recovery of the original ecosystem (restoration). Although frequently claimed as the end-goal, restoration may often not be unachievable, because of altered hydrology, habitat fragmentation, contamination, climate change, prohibitive costs and other environmental and socio-economic boundary conditions. Mostly, the definitions of reclamation and rehabilitation may overlap in their definitions and approaches. Here we attempt the creation of a road-map that can clearly translate end-goals for each of the R4 terms. According to the definitions encountered and exposed here, reclamation, which aims to recover key ecosystem services and biogeochemical functions within a replacement ecosystem or rehabilitation, which implies a repurposing of the landscape, may be the best approaches to deal with surface mining legacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appalachian USA surface coal mines face public and regulatory pressure to reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) in discharge waters, primarily due to effects on sensitive macroinvertebrates. Specific conductance (SC) is an accurate surrogate for TDS and relatively low levels of SC (300–500 μS cm −1 ) have been proposed as regulatory benchmarks for instream water quality. Discharge levels of TDS from regional coal mines are frequently >1000 μS cm −1 . The primary objectives of this study were to (a) determine the effect of rock type and weathering status on SC leaching potentials for a wide range of regional mine spoils; (b) to relate leachate SC from laboratory columns to actual measured discharge SC from field sites; and (c) determine effective rapid lab analyses for SC prediction of overburden materials. We correlated laboratory unsaturated column leaching results for 39 overburden materials with a range of static lab parameters such as total-S, saturated paste SC, and neutralization potential. We also compared column data with available field leaching and valley fill discharge SC data. Leachate SC is strongly related to rock type and pre-disturbance weathering. Fine-textured and non-weathered strata generally produced higher SC and pose greater TDS risk. High-S black shales produced the highest leachate SC. Lab columns generated similar range and overall SC decay response to field observations within 5–10 leaching cycles, while actual reduction in SC in the field occurs over years to decades. Initial peak SC can be reliably predicted (R 2 > 0.850; p < 0.001) by simple lab saturated paste or 1:2 spoil:water SC procedures, but predictions of longer-term SC levels are less reliable and deserve further study. Overall TDS release risk can be accurately predicted by a combination of rock type + S content, weathering extent, and simple rapid SC lab measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Societe et Environnement is the property of Les Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Coral transplantation, including out-plantation, is performed worldwide to restore coral reefs. To date, >300 000 coral colonies have been transplanted in Japan, and the survival rate of transplanted corals is mostly <20% after 4 years. Here, I highlight problems that have arisen as a result of coral restoration projects in Japan and discuss solutions that may maximise transplantation effectiveness. The government, companies, and researchers have focused on the positive aspects of transplantation technology and new biological findings; however, negative aspects such as the high mortality rate for transplanted corals and high maintenance costs have garnered less attention. Uncritical and incomplete coverage of reef projects by the mass media has led to a misconception that the coral reef crisis can be resolved by current biological engineering solutions. Therefore, transplantation has been used to justify sea reclamation including marine leisure facilities and various other construction projects. Consequently, approximately 400 ha of coral reefs in Japan have been lost in only a decade. Understanding the limitations of transplantation techniques is necessary, and hence, I propose that coral transplantation guidelines be adopted to prevent further loss. Further advances in transplantation technology are required to increase scalability and cost-effectiveness and improve survival/performance; however, practitioners, researchers, companies, and governments, especially in environmentally unconscious countries, should clearly state that coral transplantation cannot restore large-scale coral reef ecosystems and should not be used to justify land reclamation affecting reefs, as mentioned in most international guidelines. Moreover, when coral transplantation and seedling production are used for environmental education, the death of transplanted corals and difficulties underlying artificial coral regeneration should be clearly explained. Effective coral transplantation use within a conservation framework is critical to avoid high and unfounded expectations. • Coral transplantation is used to mitigate existing coral reef destruction in Japan. • Past coral transplantation projects resulted in typically <20% colony survivorship. • Over-promotion of coral transplantation may result in unrealistic expectations. • Limitations of coral transplantation need to be acknowledged for coastal development planning and education. • Ethics Committees and Science Communication experts are needed to for more sustainable coastal management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, macrobenthic diversity data were collected from intertidal habitats of island wetlands in Yangtze Estuary before and after reclamation. Three survey regions based on habitat features were investigated: protected region, normal region, and self-restored region. The pattern of diversity variation showed a sharp decrease in reclamation sites and an obvious increase in vegetated sites of the self-restored region before and after reclamation. A declining trend in habitat health was observed in reclamation sites, but the degree of perturbation was relatively weaker in protected region than in normal region. The vegetated site showed a better self-restoration of biodiversity than the bald site. These results suggest that reclamation may have a negative influence on biodiversity and habitat health status in the intertidal wetland. Also, there is a possibility of self-restoration in tidal flats disturbed by reclamation and the resistance effect in nature reserve may reduce the disturbances resulting from reclamation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to develop feasible tools to investigate the cumulative impact of reclamations on coastal ecosystem health, so that the strategies of ecosystem-based management can be applied in the coastal zone. An indicator system and model were proposed to assess the cumulative impact synthetically. Two coastal water bodies, namely Laizhou Bay (LZB) and Tianjin coastal waters (TCW), in the Bohai Sea of China were studied and compared, each in a different phase of reclamations. Case studies showed that the indicator scores of coastal ecosystem health in LZB and TCW were 0.75 and 0.68 out of 1.0, respectively. It can be concluded that coastal reclamations have a historically cumulative effect on benthic environment, whose degree is larger than that on aquatic environment. The ecosystem-based management of coastal reclamations should emphasize the spatially and industrially intensive layout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]