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Currently, global warming, invasive alien species and tourism development pose major threats to Natural World Heritage sites, and the strengthening of conservation methods and management programs in buffer zones is urgent for the sustainable development of sites. Agroforestry, as a nature-based solution, not only promotes the buffer zone to effectively maintain the Outstanding Universal Value of the heritage site, but also balances the relationship between the conservation of the heritage site and the economic development of the buffer zone, and effectively enhances the protection of the buffer zone in response to various threats. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive understanding of research trends, research focuses, and recent developments, regarding the conservation of natural heritage sites and buffer zone agroforestry development. Therefore, this study utilized the Scopus database along with Excel and Bibliometrix software to conduct a bibliometric analysis and explore and visualize popular research topics and foreword issues related to Natural World Heritage conservation and buffer zone agroforestry development. We discuss the current publication trends and quantity, keyword and abstract word frequencies, thematic maps and evolutions, journal productivity, national publication outputs, collaboration relationships, and contributing institutions. The research shows that the relationship between biodiversity conservation and agroforestry has been the focus of research in the field since 1992, and the development of agroforestry has contributed to biodiversity conservation in heritage sites. However, there have been fewer studies addressing the geomorphic and aesthetic value of agroforestry conservation, and little attention has been paid to buffer zone development. Based on this, this manuscript suggests that in the future, emphasis should be placed on the linkage between the development of buffer zones and heritage conservation, especially in the Karst World Heritage Sites with ecologically fragile, and that the role of agroforestry development in buffer zones should be strengthened in the promotion of ecological balance and sustainable development of the sites, to provide scientific references for the conservation and development of other geoheritage sites around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The buffer zones between urban protected areas (UPAs) and their cities play a significant role in managing and protecting UPAs. However, they are also the frontier of conflicts due to complex functionality and a large number of stakeholders. Besides ensuring the buffer zone's function of protecting the UPA, it is also vital to understand how it can fulfill the diverse needs of multiple interest groups residing in or utilizing this area. To address the significant social science research gap in UPA buffer zone management, we establish a conceptual framework and explore how the public's overall satisfaction with the buffer depends on five essential buffer zone qualities, namely environmental quality, connectivity, infrastructure, cultural, and visual quality. We focus on China's Urban Scenic and Historic Areas (USHA), a major type of UPA with high cultural, social, and esthetic values. Using the buffer of Shugang-Slender West Lake Scenic and Historic Area in Yangzhou City as the case study, we conducted intercept and online surveys (n = 499), investigating the perceptions of three user groups—residents, businesses, and tourists. The results indicate high overall satisfaction for all three groups. Environmental, visual, and cultural qualities were rated higher than connectivity and infrastructure quality. Residents generally showed the highest satisfaction and tourists the lowest. For all three groups, environmental quality, connectivity, and infrastructure quality significantly influenced overall satisfaction, while cultural and visual quality did not. This suggests that the public expects the buffer zone to serve as high-quality multi-functional open spaces that enhance the quality of life while providing recreation, service, and transportation functions. Besides direct planning and management advice to China's UPAs and other countries with similar contexts, our study offers a transferable framework for incorporating social perceptions and highlights their significance in informing the functional planning of UPA buffer zones for public welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osun River, a UNESCO heritage site is currently under threat to unregulated mining activity along its course. Through remote sensing techniques, this study aimed to evaluate mining severity (number and size of mine pits) which was acquired and used to quantify landscape changes and degradation in water quality (turbidity) along the river. Studies were carried out using data for years 2020–2022 covering 2-km and 5-km buffer areas of the river's watershed. High-resolution Google Earth imagery and Landsat 8 imagery (OLI) were used for land-use land-cover assessment and computation of the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) respectively. The mining severity assessment for 2022 revealed a total of 32 mining pits within the 5-km buffer zone, where 21 mining pits (65.63%) of the total mining activities occurred within the 2-km buffer zone. The severity assessment in terms of both the number of mines and the land area covered revealed an extensive physical mining activity, with severe impacts on surface water quality. The predominantly irregular shapes of the mine pits, indicated by the mean perimeter-to-area ratio (X̅=0.22), linear regression (y = 0.1351x + 0.6102), and coefficient of determination (R2=0.88), portend challenges for post-mining reclamation, including erosion control and terrain stabilization. The declining trend in the upper limit NDWI values over the 3 years, 2020, 2021, and 2022 (0.053, 0.017, and −0.084476 respectively), indicates a significant reduction in water quality, plausibly associated with the heightened mining activity within the 2-km buffer areas of the river. The escalating habitat degradation and imminent effects on drinking water quality and biodiversity health underscore the pressing implications of unchecked mining, eroding the ecological and cultural significance of the Osun-Oshogbo Sacred Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Urgent governmental action is crucial to enforce mining regulations, curbing these threats, and preserving the site's ecological and cultural importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karst World Heritage Site (KWHS) combines high-grade landscape resources and a fragile ecological environment. As an essential tool for heritage conservation and maintaining local interests, its buffer zone is primarily located in remote villages, a crucial and challenging area for rural revitalization. The conflict between heritage conservation and development is particularly acute at the site. How to deal with the relationship between the heritage site's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development and realize the synergy between the two subsystems? Few studies have focused on it. There is an urgent need to explore the synergistic mechanism of the KWHS's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development. Accordingly, this study takes the Libo-Huanjiang KWHS, one of the 'South China Karst' series of heritage sites, as a case study. The coupling coordination degree model, gray correlation analysis (GCA), and Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis are used. The results show that: (1) There is a synergistic effect between the Libo-Huanjiang KWHS's OUV conservation and its buffer zone's tourism industry development, showing a favorable trend. The mean value of the coupling coordination degree increased from 0.57 in 2015 to 0.63 in 2020, and the overall situation improved from barely coupling coordination state to primary coupling coordination. (2) Influenced by the main driving factors, such as NDVI, landscape dominance, government support for tourism development, tourists' satisfaction, and residents' support, the coupling coordination of the four tourist scenic areas in the study area differed slightly in 2015 and 2020. Yaoshan Ancient Village Scenic Area is the highest in both years, increasing from 0.69 to 0.81, followed by the Mengliu Buyi Scenic Area (0.59), Wanmu Meiyuan Scenic Area is relatively stable with a slight increase, and Lianshanwan Scenic Area (0.45) is the lowest. (3) The four dimensions of ecological resources, policy drivers, economy drivers, and social facilitators work together to create a synergistic mechanism between the KWHS's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development. Future research can promote synergy between the two by formulating a comprehensive plan, encouraging sustainable tourism, establishing a diversified tourism industry, strengthening heritage education and training, enhancing community participation, and reinforcing stakeholder cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The melt electrowriting (MEW) has broad applications in regenerative medicine and micro-nano electronics. It is an efficient micro-nano scale additive manufacturing technology; however, the fiber jet lag effect of MEW limits the deposition precision and resolution of fiber shape. In this study, the principle of the jet lag effect is studied to overcome the defect of printed structure distortion and improve the ability to print complex structures. A mathematical model of trailing fiber trajectory is established. The study covers jet lag and liquid rope coiling analysis at different speeds. A strategy is adopted by introducing a buffer zone at the corner of the printing structure. The printing path is subdivided and optimized to suppress the influence of jet lag. The results show that the deposited fibers' corner radius is around 63.81±5.66 ìm, which is significantly smaller than that of unoptimized groups. Finally, by utilizing the improved printing paths, the high-precision and complex structures are printed, which demonstrates the feasibility of optimizing the buffer zone for the MEW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new corporate bond pricing model with credit migration risk is proposed. This model sets different thresholds for the rising or falling of credit ratings, which forms a buffer zone that could reduce the frequency of credit rating changes. Mathematically, this model is a system of partial differential equations with overlapping area. The existence, uniqueness, regularity and asymptotic behavior of the solution are obtained. Furthermore, a numerical scheme and its stability, convergence and accuracy are discussed in detail. Calibration and analysis of the parameters are also suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian zones act as ecological engineers through stream bank stabilization, pollutant buffering, energy provision to food webs, and groundwater recharge. In the ongoing situation of declining river water quality and global environmental changes, an integrated strategy involving aspects of riparian zone monitoring and management is essential for policy-making and socio-economic services. To address this, a review of papers and policies from 1980 to 2023 is conducted to identify existing technologies and their gaps. 298 articles were reviewed to understand riparian habitats and their ecological function. Analysis shows that field-based monitoring approaches have considerable limitations, including increased labor costs, and methodologies that result in ineffective riparian zone management. These issues can be overcome using geospatial technologies due to their high-quality and long-term inventories and ease of map updates. Unmanned aerial vehicles are widely used for low-cost monitoring in recent times. The result shows that there is no policy framework specifically addressing riparian zone management across the South Asian region which is home to the world's largest population. Riparian buffer width requires attention across all stakeholders which are missing in the South Asian region and a few other countries across the globe. The authors suggest the use of buffer width consisting of Vetiver grasses of at least 5 m used in conjunction with woody vegetation of a 25-m filter strip. Strategies from the USA and Australia can also show the path towards the riparian zone sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Heritage (WH) is an important achievement in the development of human civilization and a treasure shared by all humanity. In recent years, research on heritage conservation and heritage tourism has increased, but few studies have focused on the relationship between the integrity conservation of World Heritage sites (WHSs) and tourism industry development in buffer zones. The ecological environment in karst areas is more fragile, vulnerable to human intervention, and difficult to recover once damaged, so the integrity conservation of WH karst sites (WHKSs) and the development of tourism in buffer zones also need further research. This paper conducts a systematic literature review based on 177 related articles retrieved from the Web of Science database and CNKI database. The paper analyzes the selected literature in terms of annual numbers, research regions, countries, contents, and institutions; secondly, it summarizes the main progress and landmark results of related research at home and abroad; finally, it proposes seven key scientific questions to be addressed according to the current situation of WHKSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographic Profiling (GP) attempts to reconstruct the spreading centre of a series of events due to the same cause. The result of the analysis provides an approximated localization of the spreading centre within an area (often represented as a red red), where the probability of finding it is higher than a given threshold (typically 95%). The analysis has as an assumption that the events will be likely to occur at very low probability around the spreading centre, in a ring-shaped zone called the buffer zone. Obvious examples are series of crimes perpetrated by an offender (unwilling to perpetrate offences close to home), or the localities of spread of an invasive species, where the buffer zone, if present, depends on the biological features of the species. Our first aim was to show how the addition of new events may change the preliminary approximate localization of the spreading centre. The analyses of the simulated data showed that if B, the parameter used to represent the radius of the buffer zone, varies within a range of 10% from the real value, after a low number of events (7–8), the method yields converging results in terms of distance between the barycentre of the red zone and the "real" user provided spreading centre of a simulated data set. The convergence occurs more slowly with the increase in inaccuracy of B. These results provide further validity to the method of the GP, showing that even an approximate choice of the B value can be sufficient for an accurate location of the spreading centre. The results allow also to quantify how many samples are needed in relation to the uncertainty of the chosen parameters, to obtain feasible results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, World Heritage Sites (WHSs) have faced external severe threats in the context of global economisation and urbanisation. The buffer zone as a conservation layer and management tool for WHSs has attracted increasing scholarly attention and debate. However, there is limited understanding of buffer zones' social and ecological role in the conservation of World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHSs) and a lack of summary of research progress on buffer zones. To fill this gap, this study systematically reviews the existing knowledge and research gaps on buffer zones in WNHSs worldwide. We used a systematic literature review framework of Search, Assessment, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) through the WoS and CNKI databases to obtain 188 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The aim was to analyze the temporal and regional distribution of publications, types of studies, main processes and landmark achievements, gaps, and implications for future research. Results indicated that: (1) there is an overall upward trend in the number of publications, reaching a maximum in 2020, with the most published in Asia and Europe. The research process presents two main categories of ecologically and socially oriented. (2) The main landmark achievements include theoretical research, technology and methods, model construction, benefit monitoring and evaluation, experimental demonstration, etc. Among them, theoretical research is the most numerous (58.51%). (3) On this basis, 8 key scientific issues are summarised. Reviewing the research progress and summarising the critical scientific issues will provide practical guidance for the effective implementation of the role of buffer zones in global WNH conservation, especially for karst WNHSs with fragile ecological environments. (4) The future of Karst WNH conservation should be based on the effect of human-land relationship in promoting heritage protection. Examining the institutional factors of ecological problems and the management of degraded ecosystems from a socio-economic perspective. The purpose is to seek a socio-ecological system that is composed of the social, economic, ecological and cultural dimensions of the buffer zone. Focus on the coupling between eco-industrial development and WNH conservation, and strengthen buffer zone communities' adaptive and collaborative management. Explore techniques and methods of conservation adapted to the characteristics of the fragile ecosystem of karst itself, and conduct experimental demonstrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indigenous lands (ILs) from the Brazilian Amazon are in constant threat, especially regarding deforestation. This research aims to assess whether deforestation occurring outside ILs, in their Area of Direct Influence (ADI), influences the removal of vegetation within their areas, in the period from 1988 to 2021. We applied a log–log linear regression with deforestation data obtained by remote sensing. The results revealed that deforestation in the ADI was approximately eight times higher than deforestation inside the ILs. Additionally, deforestation inside the ILs grows at a 2/1 ratio, that is, a 1% increase in deforestation outside of the ILs can increase by about 0.47% the deforestation inside of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buffer zones help protect historical heritage sites' integrity, authenticity, and sustainability, and thus are an essential measure for protecting such sites. Traditional buffer zone delineation considers mainly the urban texture, a rigid boundary, visual corridor construction, and other factors. A more direct approach is designating a rated outer periphery that includes historic properties as a buffer zone. However, boundaries determined by single-value orientation tend to omit protected objects. A buffer zone formed by boundary translation and enclosure will include many low-value areas in the protection scope, thereby wasting resources and affecting historic towns' natural development, resulting in a severe contradiction between humanity and the earth. This paper proposes a new method for delimiting buffer zones. The method arises from the field that covers the value assessment of cultural heritage and from the principles of comprehensive protection, which combine cultural heritage's tangible and intangible properties. We used 29 historical preservation plans as samples to obtain statistics on their protection content, selected natural and agriculture landscapes, architectural features, construction quality, number of stories in a building, building age, protection class, street pattern, historical elements, urban texture, cultural industry, and cultural elements according to the frequency of occurrence as the primary factors affecting a buffer zone's boundary demarcation. These factors were weighed and evaluated by the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) to create a comprehensive evaluation map for helping determine a buffer zone's boundary. Using such method, we identified the value of historical heritage through employing the quantitative analysis method of MCDM. We also used the evaluation result to determine the buffer zone boundary objectively. This approach rectifies the problems found in previous studies, namely an incomplete accounting of all relevant factors and a lack of data; it also provides a definition of an historical heritage buffer zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the computation of compressible Navier-Stokes equations for viscous flows, if a uniform boundary condition is enforced at the inlet of computational domain without buffer zone, the thickness of boundary layer is underestimated while the inner-layer velocity is overestimated since the pressure is artificially added due to the growth of shear velocity at the surface of a flat plate. This results in unstable and inaccurate numerical solutions, and to solve this problem, a novel hybrid method is proposed to obtain an aligned prescribed inlet boundary condition. With a solution of perturbed velocity potential equation for compressible flow and the consideration of displacement thickness of laminar boundary layer at the earlier stage, the whole domain is solved rapidly to prescribe the modified velocity profile at the inlet boundary as a next step for the main solution of full Navier-Stokes equations. For faster convergence and better numerical stability, 2D-NSCBC(two-dimensional Navier-Stokes characteristics boundary condition) is applied in the solution of full Navier-Stokes equations. The results overall give a complete success for Ma < 0.9 at least, and are even improved remarkably for the numerical stability with adoption of specified velocity despite of considerable error in the transonic flow regime above the critical Mach number 0.9. With the present method, we succeeded to remove the whole buffer zone for the inlet boundary condition of subsonic compressible flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The species composition of eight shrub communities were investigated in order to understand the species diversity of plant communities in buffer zone and wetland of Momianhe stream along a long-term mine waste area, Lanping county, Yunnan province, China. Dominant plant species and soil samples were collected to analysis heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) accumulation characteristics. The results showed that 100% samples for Zn, Pb, Cd, and 87.5% samples for Cu in the investigated area exceeded the Yunnan geochemical background value of the heavy metals in the soil. There were 36 plants species in communities, among which Epilobium pyrricholophum, Elsholtzia argyi, Artemisia vestita, Tripogon chinensis were the dominant species. Plant species, the number of individuals, Ecological Dominance (Do), Shannon–Wiener index (H′), Simpson diversity index (Dsi) and Pielou evenness index (Epi) were affected by Cd and Cu contents of the soil and sediment. Therefore, the results indicate that Cu and Cd contents and ecological risk in the process of long-term vegetation restoration of small catchment in lead–zinc mine waste area should pay more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forested riparian corridors are a key management solution for halting the global trend of declining ecological status of freshwater ecosystems. There is an increasing body of evidence related to the efficacy of these corridors at the local scale, but knowledge is inadequate concerning the effectiveness of riparian forests in terms of protecting streams from harmful impacts across larger scales. In this study, nationwide assessment results comprising more than 900 river water bodies in Finland were used to examine the importance of adjacent land use to river ecological status estimates. Random forest models and partial dependence functions were used to quantify the independent effect of adjacent land use on river ecological status after accounting for the effects of other factors. The proportion of adjacent forested land along a river had the strongest independent positive effect on ecological status for small to medium size rivers that were in agricultural landscapes. Ecological quality increased by almost one status class when the adjacent forest cover increased from 10 to 60%. In contrast, for large rivers, adjacent forested land did not show an independent positive effect on ecological status. This study has major implications for managing river basins to achieve the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) goal of obtaining good ecological status of rivers. The results from the nationwide assessment demonstrate that forested riparian zones can have an independent positive effect on the ecological status of rivers, indicating the importance of riparian forests in mitigating the impacts of catchment-level stressors. Therefore, forested buffer zones should be more strongly considered as part of river basin management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider an optimal control model of groundwater pollution due to agricultural activities, the objective of the optimal manager being the optimization of the trade-off between the fertilizer use and the cleaning costs. The size of a buffer zone defined around the water production sites for limiting pollution effects may also be chosen by the manager. The spread of the pollution from crops to captation wells is modeled using a convection–diffusion–reaction equation. The main hydrogeological features of the dynamics are taken into account: the process is convection-dominated, dispersion effects are included, generic nonlinear reaction terms are considered. The existence and the uniqueness of the optimal solution is proven. Using asymptotic analysis, we then rigorously prove that a one-dimensional static model can be substituted to the full dynamic 3D model for the long time study of the optimal solution. We prove that this new optimal control problem is also well-posed. All these theoretical results are used for characterizing the optimal buffer zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The effects of long-standing industrialization processes and poor environmental management practices have often left a harmful legacy for marine-coastal sites worldwide, causing a wide range of unforeseen impacts on the ecosystem and on human health. A critical revision of available data from three highly contaminated Italian sites (Augusta Bay, Sicily; Cagliari Gulf, Sardinia; Pozzuoli Bay, Campania) revealed the crucial role of biogeochemical/physical dynamics and potential widespread delivery of contaminants as key components for a wider comprehensive sediment management. Materials and methods: Datasets of organic pollutants (ΣPAHs, ΣPCBs), heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn), radionuclides, and grain size composition of marine sediments of all three sites were critically reviewed and seafloor bathymetric data were analyzed. Results and discussion: A critical review of available physical and chemical information of sediments collected from the three marine sites provides a better understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of large-scale dispersion of contaminants in those areas, as well as new insights in terms of improved sediments management policies with actions of larger scale monitoring of the "buffer zone" confining with the national relevance and highly contaminated site to trace inputs and accumulation effects of pollutants deriving from the point-source. Conclusions: This study demonstrates how the presence of polluted sediments on the coastal areas can have, also after the closure of anthropogenic activities, a potential impact at a large scale. Then to better evaluate the effective impact, we suggest the adoption of a buffer zone contiguous to the national relevance sites (SIN) area. While SINs are optimized to define the state of the art of the near-source pollution, buffer zones may help to outline the rate of delivery of pollutants to the deep sea. Buffer zones must be designed by taking into account the local hydrodynamics, sedimentology, and geomorphology, and should be monitored, even if at a lower resolution, like SINs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is general agreement that the frequency of crime decreases with the distance from the offender's home. By way of exception to this distance decay pattern, the buffer zone hypothesis states that offenders avoid offending very close to home. The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity of this hypothesis. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of 4 bibliographic databases, in which we identified 108 studies on criminal distance decay, from which we selected 33 studies that include sufficient information to assess the existence of the buffer zone. Based on the full text of the research articles, we created a measure indicating whether the study supported or rejected the hypothesis and a measure summarizing the relative quality of the evidence as either weak-medium or strong. Results: Of the 33 studies, 22 rejected the buffer zone hypothesis and 11 supported it. Across the whole sample, the methodological rigor of the studies was limited, but unrelated to whether the buffer zone hypothesis was supported or rejected. Conclusions: Based on the available evidence the buffer zone hypothesis has gained limited support. We conclude by making recommendations on how to report data on the home-crime distance and suggesting a testing methodology for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian vegetation has a fundamental role in protecting water bodies due to its ability to retain potential contaminants. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of water according to the different land uses and state of conservation of forest vegetation in springs of tropical climate basins (Bahia, Brazil). Eighteen points at ten rural communities were selected in the Jacuípe and Joanes river basins. In relation to the degree of conservation, the areas were classified as preserved, disturbed or degraded. All the evaluated parameters presented values above the legal standards defined both by international legislation (USEPA and Decree-Law no 152/2017) and also by Brazilian legislation (CONAMA Resolution 357/05) for "degraded" zones. The aluminum concentration (Al3+) presented a variation of 0.01 to 4.20 mg L−1, iron (Fe) of 0.01 to 4.50 mg L−1, nitrogen (N) of 0.00 to 5.20 mg L−1, nitrate (NO3−) of 0.00 to 14.50 mg L−1, nitrite (NO2−) of 0.01 to 2.50 mg L−1, phosphorus (P) of 0.00 to 2.22 mg L−1, orthophosphate (PO43−) of 0.00 to 6.80 mg L−1 and the pH presented a variation between 4.30 and 6.80. In general, it was observed that the values of water quality parameters are directly related to the state of conservation of the riparian zone. Based on this, it is concluded that the water quality monitoring permits to evaluate the influence of changes in the environment and the role of riparian zones in the protection of those water bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Protected areas (PAs) are essential for biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services (ES), representing 15% of the earth's surface and targeted to increase until 17% by 2020. But previous studies showed different results on the effectiveness of PAs in preserving ES and biodiversity, which has implications for landscape conservation. Objectives: (1) To know whether the spatial distribution of ES (carbon stocks and water provision), biodiversity (woody and bird richness) and conservation variables (threatened bird richness, habitats and geology) varies between PAs (with different protection status) and buffer zones; and (2) to quantify and compare the percentage of high values (hotspots) of ES, biodiversity and conservation variables inside PAs (with different protection status) and buffer zones. Methods: We analyzed 108 PAs from a Mediterranean region using linear mixed models with ES, biodiversity and conservation variables as response factors, and type of zone (PA vs buffer) and protection status as fixed factors. Results: We found higher values of carbon stocks in PAs than in buffer zones. We also found more coverage of community-interest habitats, priority-habitats and geological-interest sites in PAs than in buffer zones. However, PAs with higher degree of protection did not provide higher levels of ecosystem services and biodiversity, or vice versa. We found more hotspots of woody richness, bird richness and threatened bird richness in buffer zones than in PAs. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of landscape planning in conservation, which should include PAs within broader landscapes by considering also their buffer zones and non-PAs. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating ES and biodiversity to define effective conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural watersheds are a crucial contributor of terrestrial dissolved organic matter (DOM) for the adjacent aquatic environment. Recently, ecological engineering of the buffer zone such as a rice-paddy field was established to reduce the export of nutrients and contaminants from a small agricultural watershed. However, the potential of the rice-paddy field to reduce the terrestrial signature of DOM is unclear. Therefore, two small agricultural sub-catchments (i.e., sub-1 and sub-2) with different land uses and hill slope angles in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area of China were studied from 2014 to 2015. The results showed that the terrestrial DOM signals are indicated by optical indices (SUVA254, SR, fluorescence index) in the steeper and more forest covered, but rice-paddy field buffered sub-catchment (i.e., sub-2) decreased significantly, as compared to the reference sub-catchment (i.e., sub-1). Regardless of seasonal variations, the rice-paddy field retained a buffering role to reduce the terrestrial property of DOM and the highest capacity was observed during the rice-growth period. However, during storm events, the differences of DOM properties for two sub-catchments were not significant, because the buffer system was weakened. Finally, environmental implications of the role of such a buffer zone in the TGR areas are discussed. These results demonstrate that rice-paddy fields are successful in mitigating the terrestrial property of exported DOM, but the weaker performance during storm events still needs to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buffer zones around parks/reserves are designed to maintain ecological integrity and to ensure community participation in biodiversity conservation. We studied the fund utilization pattern of buffer zone programs, mitigation measures practiced, and attitudes of residents in buffer zone programs of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. The buffer zone committees spent only a small portion (13.7%) of their budget in direct interventions to reduce wildlife impacts. Human-wildlife conflicts were inversely related to investment in direct interventions for conflict prevention and mitigation. Peoples' attitudes towards wildlife conservation were largely positive. Most of the people were aware of buffer zone programs but were not satisfied with current practices. We recommend that buffer zone funds be concentrated into direct interventions (prevention and mitigation) to reduce wildlife conflicts. Our findings will be helpful in prioritizing distribution of funds in buffer zones of parks and reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Geodynamic and seismic activation in the southeastern part of Far Eastern Russia is associated with nucleation of strain waves in the buffer zone of the Amurian Plate when it moves northeastward. The highest crustal seismicity is typical of Lower Priamurye, where a zone of М ≥ 4.5 earthquakes originated in its central part that was related to reactivation of the Bureya Orogen. The maximum of the regional compression is confined to the meridional dome, under which the depth of the Moho discontinuity increases from 36 to 40 km. The area of lower rock density in the central part of the Bureya Orogen is exhibited by an intense negative gravity anomaly. A contemporary uplift of the orogen initiated the centrifugal migration of seismicity during 1983-2009, when epicenters of М ≥ 5.0 earthquakes migrated from the center of the dome to its periphery. Strong earthquakes (М ≥ 5.0) are also concentrated south of the Bureya Orogen in the transregional Tan-Lu Fault zone, where the earthquake foci migrate in the northeastern direction. Geodynamic activation is controlled here by the tangential rotation (pressure) of the Amurian Plate, forcing the Central Sikhote-Alin tectonic block to move in the southern direction. North of the block, a 500 × 950 km crustal plate is formed due to extension, which is inclined along the Tan-Lu Fault. In the compression area, a mountain uplift of the same name is formed at the opposite boundary of the Central Sikhote-Alin block. Being rotated clockwise, the block interacts with the subduction zone of the Pacific Plate at a depth of 400-600 km, where deep-focus earthquakes with М ≥ 6.0 are generated due to bilateral pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complexity of factors that influence species density on a large geographical scale, the effectiveness of the species distribution model (SDM) is still debatable. That is why the buffer zone (the area within 100 m from the outside edge of the patch), the core, i.e. (patches excluding the 100 m buffer zone from the patch’s edge) and patch shape are explored in this study to see how they affect the density of habitat specialist and generalist bird species. Two sets of generalised additive models were generated separately for each of the four bird species: One set of models contained landscape configuration metrics as an additional predictor variable, and the other did not. The results showed that models including the core, the buffer zone and the shape of patches turned out to be definitely better than models without them. Specialist species, the Corn bunting and the Wood nuthatch, are more likely to occur in the core of the preferred patches, and they choose those of a simple shape; while generalist species, the Whinchat and the Tree pipit, are more probable to be present in the buffer zone of a more complicated shape. Thus, the results clearly show that specific landscape configuration models can improve the predictive power of SDMs and can be used as an effective tool for predicting species density and functional bird diversity (specialist and generalist). Furthermore, from the applied ecology perspective, detailed landscape configuration metrics can be considered as a surrogate of elusive habitat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using land use types in multiple spatial scales (entire basin, buffer zones, and slopes) as well as statistical and spatial analysis, relationships between land use types and concentrations of dissolved trace metals were determined in the Le'an River Basin, China. The result showed that farmland and urban land were determined as the source of the pollutants, while forestland and grassland were identified as the sink of the pollutants. The temporal differences of relationships between land use types and concentrations of dissolved trace metals mainly due to the discrepancy of rainfall characteristics. Land use type close to river was a better indicator for the effectiveness of concentrations of trace metals, especially at scale of 0-200 m. Forestland and grassland on lower slopes greatly affected the water quality, and the former had no significant or weak influences on higher slopes. Urban land had the greater positive correlations with concentrations of dissolved trace metals on higher slopes, which are mainly due to frequent mining activity. Further analysis suggested that the buffer zones with low slope needed to be seriously taken into consideration for effective land use management in similar basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental agencies are often faced with resource and time constraints in assessing waterbody health. We compared the strengths of varying levels of effort (field measures, laboratory chemistry, land use, and multiple combinations of these) to explain macroinvertebrate assemblage response along a gradient of urban land use intensity among 30 headwater streams in northern West Virginia. Because the spatial arrangement of human disturbance can govern biotic response, land use effects were analyzed at five spatial scales (whole catchment, and 100 m buffer zone at three fixed upstream distances and total stream network upstream of site); instream ecological measures included physical habitat, algal concentrations and water chemistry. Of the five spatial scales, we predicted that riparian land use nearest the site would explain the most variation but that instream measures would be the overall driver of the macroinvertebrate assemblages. Regression analysis evaluated the strength of single and multiple variables in explaining macroinvertebrate multimetric index (MMI) and ordination patterns, and revealed that assemblages were highly responsive to numerous stressors. In contrast to predictions, total upstream network riparian forest cover explained the most variation overall (83%) while specific conductance was the single best instream measure (64%). Stepwise regression models using combinations of field, laboratory, and land use variables all performed reasonably well but we found that a 3-variable model [% forest (catchment), road density, and specific conductance] that minimized colinearity and cost/effort explained 90% of the variation in the MMI. Validation and spatial autocorrelation results suggest that this model could potentially be used to forecast stream condition for prioritizing conservation and remediation efforts in headwaters within the ecoregion, and our general approach would be broadly applicable in other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xylella fastidiosa is an important plant pathogen that attacks several plants of economic importance. Once restricted to the Americas, the bacterium, which causes olive quick decline syndrome, was discovered near Lecce, Italy in 2013. Since the initial outbreak, it has invaded 23,000 ha of olives in the Apulian Region, southern Italy, and is of great concern throughout Mediterranean basin. Therefore, predicting its spread and estimating the efficacy of control are of utmost importance. As data on this invasive infectious disease are poor, we have developed a spatially-explicit simulation model for X. fastidiosa to provide guidance for predicting spread in the early stages of invasion and inform management strategies. The model qualitatively and quantitatively predicts the patterns of spread. We model control zones currently employed in Apulia, showing that increasing buffer widths decrease infection risk beyond the control zone, but this may not halt the spread completely due to stochastic long-distance jumps caused by vector dispersal. Therefore, management practices should aim to reduce vector long-distance dispersal. We find optimal control scenarios that minimise control effort while reducing X. fastidiosa spread maximally-suggesting that increasing buffer zone widths should be favoured over surveillance efforts as control budgets increase. Our model highlights the importance of non-olive hosts which increase the spread rate of the disease and may lead to an order of magnitude increase in risk. Many aspects of X. fastidiosa disease invasion remain uncertain and hinder forecasting; we recommend future studies investigating quantification of the infection growth rate, and short and long distance dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid field assessment indicators of ecological stress and disturbance may or may not reflect actual biological conditions. We tested the ability of rapidly assessed buffer quality to predict and classify wetland floristic quality across 106 sites in Oklahoma, USA. We used buffer zone metrics from a national-level rapid assessment tool (USA-RAM) to evaluate applicability at the state level. The rapid assessment relying on buffer quality did not relate predictably (linearly) with floristic quality, but the relationship improved after ecoregional stratification. Focusing on the Central Great Plains ecoregion with 55 wetlands sampled, we found 16 floristically intact sites and 13 floristically altered sites based on multivariate testing of the Floristic Quality Assessment Index and several component metrics. Distributions of buffer metrics across these sites were similar between the floristically intact and altered classes, suggesting potential for misclassification of wetland biological condition using rapid buffer assessment. Some of the disconnect may be attributed to bias in the buffer measurements and to using a national assessment protocol at the state level. Buffer metrics in the USA-RAM may offer little insight about wetland biological condition in some regions, and the use of such metrics should only complement direct bioassessments and not substitute for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effect of soil moisture content and forest canopy openness on the establishment of Dipterocarpus turbinatus saplings in Lawachara National Park (LNP) of Bangladesh. LNP is a tropical semi-evergreen forest and managed by protected area comanagement approach. We established 50 sample plots (plot size 20 × 20 m): 25 plots in each of the buffer and core zones by a stratified random sampling procedure. Results showed that sapling density, soil moisture content and canopy openness significantly varied between buffer and core zones (P < 0.001). Soil moisture positively affected the sapling density in the buffer zone (N = 25, r = 0.63, P < 0.01) where as in the core zone, soil moisture had no significant effect. Canopy openness was negatively related to sapling density of D. turbinatus in the core zone (N = 25, r = 0.52, P < 0.01) but had no significant effect in the buffer zone. These findings suggest that soil canopy openness is a determinant of sapling establishment in the core zone where as in the buffer zone, soil moisture content is crucial for D. turbinatus regeneration. The results have implications for the conservation and management of such a critically endangered species under protected area management in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of territorial defense focus on responses of either male or female residents but not both. In a laboratory study of Neolamprologus multifasciatus, a territorial, shell-inhabiting cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, we altered the distribution of shells to manipulate defense costs and examined resident pairs' behavioral responses to intruders. Given that defense costs are lower when territories are separated by visually distinctive structures, we used the presence/absence of a buffer zone, an area of bare sand, to alter defense costs. With a buffer zone, males and females invested 10.4 and 5.4 % of their time in defense, respectively. Without a buffer zone, males increased time in defense (30.1 %) more than did females (6.6 %). Females rarely performed highly aggressive acts; males performed such acts more frequently against male intruders than against female intruders and when there was no buffer zone. Overall, intrasexual aggression was more frequent, and males interacted with a greater proportion of same-sex intruders (71.6 %) than did females (33.4 %). Without a buffer zone, the proportion of intruders with which the males interacted increased with the number of intrusions. This was not the case for females or for either sex when a buffer zone was present. These findings show that males and females responded differently to changes in shell distribution. We interpret this finding as a sex difference in response to altered defense costs. The stronger tendency of males to intrude when a buffer zone was absent indicates that the shell-free area between territories may have acted as a visual landmark that reduced intrusions by neighboring territory holders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, high densities of domestic cats ( Felis catus) are found in urban habitats where they have the potential to exert considerable predation pressure on their prey. However, little is known of the ranging behaviour of cats in the UK. Twenty cats in suburban Reading, UK, were fitted with GPS trackers to quantify movement patterns. Cats were monitored during the summer and winter for an average of 6.8 24 h periods per season. Mean daily area ranged (95 % MCP) was 1.94 ha. Including all fixes, mean maximum area ranged was 6.88 ha. These are broadly comparable to those observed in urban areas in other countries. Daily area ranged was not affected by the cat's sex or the season, but was significantly larger at night than during the day. There was no relationship between area ranged and habitat availability. Taking available habitat into account, cat ranging area contained significantly more garden and other green space than urban habitats. If cats were shown to be negatively affecting prey populations, one mitigation option for consideration in housing developments proposed near important wildlife sites would be to incorporate a 'buffer zone' in which cat ownership was not permitted. Absolute maximum daily area ranged by a cat in this study was 33.78 ha. This would correspond to an exclusory limit of approximately 300-400 m to minimise the negative effects of cat predation, but this may need to be larger if cat ranging behaviour is negatively affected by population density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics, degradation, and conservation of forest ecosystems are matters of prime concerns worldwide at the present. Proper planning and management of a forest area are essentially needed to protect it from the grasp of burgeoning pressure of urban-industrial sprawl. Establishment of eco-sensitive zones (ESZs), which act as buffer areas around the core forests, is one of the key approaches towards achieving this goal. This paper deals with the applicability of geospatial techniques to identify the ESZ around an Indian wildlife sanctuary following the different rules and acts prescribed by the Government of India. Gumti Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the northeastern state of Tripura in India, has been selected here as a case study. Collected pieces of information on the distribution of biodiversity and human population in the area were also used to make the approach more holistic. As inferred from this study, remote sensing and geographical information systems were found to be easily implementable and time as well as cost-effective tools for this purpose with a distinct advantage of spatial as well as temporal accuracy in identifying the existing land use and land cover patterns in pilot assessments. However, the results indicated that only appropriate hybridization of field-based information on the biodiversity and ecological aspects of the forest as well as patterns of human interferences with the remote sensing and GIS-based data could make this approach more relevant in actual implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide pollution is one of the main current threats on water quality. This paper presents the potential and functioning principles of a 'Wet' forest buffer zone for reducing concentrations and loads of glyphosate, isoproturon, metazachlor, azoxystrobin, epoxiconazole, and cyproconazole. A tracer injection experiment was conducted in the field in a forest buffer zone at Bray (France). A fine time-scale sampling enabled to illustrate that interactions between pesticides and forest buffer substrates (soil and organic-rich litter layer), had a retarding effect on molecule transfer. Low concentrations were observed for all pesticides at the forest buffer outlet thus demonstrating the efficiency of 'Wet' forest buffer zone for pesticide dissipation. Pesticide masses injected in the forest buffer inlet directly determined concentration peaks observed at the outlet. Rapid and partially reversible adsorption was likely the major process affecting pesticide transfer for short retention times (a few hours to a few days). Remobilization of metazachlor, isoproturon, desmethylisoproturon, and AMPA was observed when non-contaminated water flows passed through the forest buffer. Our data suggest that pesticide sorption properties alone could not explain the complex reaction mechanisms that affected pesticide transfer in the forest buffer. Nevertheless, the thick layer of organic matter litter on the top of the forest soil was a key parameter, which enhanced partially reversible sorption of pesticide, thus retarded their transfer, decreased concentration peaks, and likely increased degradation of the pesticides. Consequently, to limit pesticide pollution transported by surface water, the use of already existing forest areas as buffer zones should be equally considered as the most commonly implemented grass buffer strips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Heritage is of outstanding universal value and has irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration to humanity. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of World Heritage site management. As a part of the South China Karst World Natural Heritage, Yunnan Shilin Karst was included in the World Heritage list on 27 June 2007. To quantify the effects of the Yunnan Shilin Karst site conservation, the changes in ecosystem service value of the Yunnan Shilin Karst area and the nearby buffer zone were analyzed by utilizing remote-sensing images, geographic information system and an ecosystem service value model. The results indicate that significant conservation effects of the Yunnan Shilin Karst have been made since 1992, and of the buffer zone since 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key activity in Phase 1 of REDD+-the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) forestry mitigation mechanism-is the development of policies and measures (PAMs) to define where and how emissions reductions and carbon stock enhancements and conservation will be achieved. This paper provides contextual data and information for the development of PAMs specifically for the buffer zones of protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon, sites where REDD+ has the potential to generate considerable social and ecological co-benefits. The study sites are the buffer zones of two national parks, Yanachaga-Chemillen (YChNP) in central Peru and Manu (MNP) in the south-east. Data were collected through smallholder household surveys ( n = 200), covering livelihood strategies, land use practices and preference rankings of five REDD+ criteria. The findings suggest that PAMs in buffer zones could realistically achieve an additional ~10 % conservation of remaining forest and between 25 and 70 % additional reforestation of non-forest areas on private lands. The paper argues that in areas where agricultural co-operatives exist, such as MNP, these should be engaged in national REDD+ PAMs and supported by an international NGO; in areas where smallholders operate individually, such as YChNP, international NGOs may be best placed to gain local trust and thereby raise participation rates. The environmental effectiveness of REDD+ conservation PAMs could be greater in areas of intense agricultural production, yet financial and technical support for reforestation may offer the most effective avenue for carbon mitigation in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of buffer zone size on the performance of a regional climate model (RCM) was investigated. In contrast to carrying out simulations where the buffer zone expands inward, numerical experiments were performed with the buffer zone expanded outward, which ensured an objective comparison on the effect of buffer zone sizes. Case simulations on the abnormal 1998 East Asian summer monsoon demonstrated that an RCM's performance depended on the outward expansion of the buffer zone. Moreover, a broader buffer zone is able to improve large-scale circulation simulation in the upper troposphere; however, a narrower buffer zone shows better performance in the middle and lower troposphere. Numerical experiments show that the performance of RCMs in simulating the seasonal evolution of rainbands over eastern China is not completely consistent with that of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH). A possible reason why the configuration with the buffer zone expanding inward can improve the extension/withdrawal of the summer monsoon and the associated precipitation evolution over eastern China is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background, aim, and scope Basically, technological innovations are associated with benefits and risks. This is also true for the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMO) into agriculture. In Germany, precautionary regulations currently demand isolation distances (i. e. buffer zones) for the cultivation of genetically modified maize (Bt-maize) in the vicinity of conventional (150 m) and organic maize fields (300 m). The Bt-toxin may harm non-target organisms (NTO) such as Lepidoptera. Despite this, corresponding regulations for the protection of nature reserves are lacking to date. Conventional and Bt-maize have been grown in the vicinity of the Flora-Fauna-Habitat (FFH) Ruhlsdorfer Bruch in Brandenburg, Germany. The aim of this study was to investigate whether exposure of maize pollen from surrounding Bt-maize fields to NTOs in the nature protection area could be excluded or not. Two types of exposure were investigated... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the lateral boundary scheme in regional climate model (RCM) on the track simulation of tropical cyclone (TC) was investigated using RegCM3, for the case of Winnie (1997), which formed in the Western Pacific and landed on China in August 1997. The results show that there is an inevitable simulation error in the track of Winnie, and the narrower buffer zone size (BZS) will make a great error. However, it was demonstrated that a much broader BZS does not allow a better track simulation of Winnie, and the optimal BZS does not reduce the track error substantially. Moreover, the configuration scheme of nudging parameters plays an important role in the track simulation, and different nudging parameter configuration scheme could make the root mean square errors (RMSEs) of simulated track by more than two times. Nevertheless, the optimal configuration scheme can reduce the track error effectively by maintaining the equilibrium between the two additional nudging terms in the prognostic equations in the buffer zone, whereas both the strong nudging scheme and the weak nudging scheme distort the track simulation of the Winnie. It is also found that the simulated weaker west Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), which leads to the turning of the TC ahead of time, is the reason for the track simulation error. A possible approach for reducing track simulation error of TCs is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Korea, the party walls of the flocculation basin consist generally of four parts, as three party walls and the outlet wall. The space between the third party wall and the outlet wall is therefore not the full extent of the flocculation basin and sedimentation basin. This space is theoretically totally unfounded. In order to practically apply the third party wall as an outlet wall, the volume capacity of the last third flocculation process needs to be determined on the ground that the perforated baffle (opening ratio 6%) is not ideal for the rectification effect. The buffer zone, according to the G value, is required in the last third flocculation process for a uniform flow at the outlet. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the size of the buffer zone in the last third flocculation process using CFD. Conclusions are made as follows: The difference of outflow rate percentage between the upper, middle and bottom part sections reduces according to the expansion of the third basin volume from 4.2 to 7.7 at each G value. We can suggest that the effluent percentage at the three sections is less affected by the G value than by the volume increase. For G values ranging from 11 to 16(1/s), the buffer zone needs to range from 10% to 20% compared with the last third volume by the velocity of standard deviation of 5 at the outlet. Also, when the velocity of standard deviation at the outlet is 2.5 or less, the buffer zone needs to range from 45% to 55%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal vegetation has been widely recognized as a natural method to reduce the energy of tsunami waves. However, a vegetation barrier cannot completely stop a tsunami, and its effectiveness depends on the magnitude of the tsunami as well as the structure of the vegetation. For coastal rehabilitation, optimal planning of natural coastal systems, and their maintenance, we need to quantitatively elucidate the capacity of vegetation to reduce the energy of tsunami waves. The limitations of coastal forests in relation to the magnitude of a tsunami and the maintenance of forests as natural disaster buffer zones have to be understood correctly for effective coastal vegetation planning. Demerits of coastal forests have also been revealed: for example, an open gap in a forest (i.e., a road, river, difference in elevation, etc.) can channel and amplify a strong current by forcing it into the gap. Floating debris from broken trees also can damage surrounding buildings and hurt people. However, many studies have revealed that these demerits can be overcome with proper planning and management of mangroves and coastal forests, and that coastal vegetation has a significant potential to mitigate damage in constructed areas and save human lives by acting as buffer zones during extreme natural events. However, mangrove forests have been damaged by anthropogenic activities (i.e., tourism, shrimp farming, and industrial development), making coastal areas increasingly vulnerable to tsunamis and other natural disasters. The effectiveness of vegetation also changes with the age and structure of the forest. This highlights the fact that proper planning and management of vegetation are required to maintain the tsunami buffering function of coastal forests. Although many government and nongovernmental organizations have implemented coastal vegetation projects, many of them have been unsuccessful due to a lack of proper maintenance. A pilot project in Matara City, Sri Lanka, revealed that participation and support from local authorities and communities is essential to make the planting projects successful. An integrated coastal vegetation management system that includes utilization of the materials produced by the forest and a community participation and awareness program are proposed to achieve a sustainable and long-lasting vegetation bioshield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the linkages between river water quality and land use in river catchments in Yamaguchi Prefecture, the western Japan, in order to examine the effect of land use changes of both entire catchment and buffer zone on river water quality. Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Suspended Solids (SS), Escherichia coli, Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) were considered as river water quality indicators. Satellite images were applied to generating the land use map. Multiple regression model was applied to linking the changes in the river water quality with the land uses in both entire catchment area and buffer zone. The results indicate that the integrative application of land use data from the entire catchment and the buffer zone could give rise to more robust model to predict the concentrations of Suspended Solids ( r 2=0.88) and Total Nitrogen ( r 2=0.90), rather than models which separately considered land use data in catchment and buffer zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the distribution of amphibians in terrestrial habitats surrounding wetlands is essential for determining how much habitat is required to maintain viable amphibian populations and how much habitat may be allocated to other land use practices. We apply univariate kernel estimation in a new manner to determine the distribution of amphibians during the non-breeding season. We summarized data from 13 radio telemetry studies that reported net maximum distance traveled from the breeding site for each individual (n - 404 individuals), and calculated a univariate kernel density estimate for all data combined. Kernel density estimation provides a function for the probability of an amphibian being present at a given distance from the breeding site and bootstrap methods allow for error estimates of isopleth values. Amphibians generally occurred at a short distance from the wetland (50% isopleth was at 93 m) and declined at greater distances (95% isopleth was at 664 m); however, use of habitat immediately adjacent (e.g., < 30 m) to the breeding site was lower than the peak for all species. The shape of the distribution was consistent for frogs and salamanders; however, the 95% kernel isopteth for the salamander estimate (245 m) was less than half the distance of the frog estimate (703 m), indicating that frogs distributed themselves at much greater distances from the breeding site than salamanders. Kernel estimates for the two western species, Rana luteiventris and Bufo boreas, did not peak near the breeding site as in the other species, suggesting that non-breeding habitat for these species is not located near breeding sites. We were unable to detect a statistical difference between sexes, but females tend to use habitat at greater distances from the wetland than males. Our results revealed that amphibians are not uniformly distributed in terrestrial habitats surrounding wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In regions with a distinct winter-period, nearly half of the annual runoff occurs during a short snow-melt period early in spring. During this time functioning buffer zones are important means of preventing the leaching of phosphorus from forest land into downstream watercourses. Sparse vegetation restricts biological P accumulation and high flows reduce the capacity of deeper soil layers to adsorb P, indicating that the effectiveness of buffer zones may be low. Our aim was to increase the understanding of phosphorus retention in a buffer zone area under such unfavourable conditions for P removal, and to estimate the amount of P sorbed by soil and taken up by vascular plants and mosses. Over a five-day period in spring we added 10kg (60kg ha-1) of PO4-P and 185MBq (1100MBq ha-1) 32P to a 25-50m wide buffer zone area (0.17ha) in southern Finland. We measured the total P retention and recovery during ten days after the beginning of the experiment. Recovery of 32P was 16% of added P, of which 90% was in soil, 3% in vascular plants and 5% in mosses. Thus, our results showed that the total P retention was low, most likely because the water flow did not slow down sufficiently and penetrate deeply enough to enable a close contact between P in the runoff and the soil matrix. Most of the recovered P was in the soil suggesting that adsorption by soil was the most important sink for P under early spring high flow conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most amphibians that breed in seasonal wetlands are predominantly terrestrial animals that require "upland" habitats for the majority of their life cycles. However, wetland regulations aimed partially at protecting wildlife values are often limited to the wetland basins and small terrestrial "buffer zones" that typically extend 30 m or less from the wetland edge. In this study, we assessed whether a common buffer zone (i.e., 30 m) is sufficient for the conservation of marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum). We installed and monitored two concentric and continuous drift fence arrays (3 m and 30 m from the pond margin) around each of three seasonal ponds in western Massachusetts, USA. We quantified the numbers and percentages of breeding adults and emerging juvenile salamanders that immigrated from and/or emigrated be- yond the 30-m fences. In addition, we recorded incidental year-of-emergence captures of juveniles at more distant drift fences that were in place for a broader study. Of the breeding adults captured immigrating to the basins at 3-m fences, 84-96% were first captured at 30-m fences, and corrections for capture probabilities suggested that nearly 100% of these individuals originated beyond 30 m from their breeding sites. Of the newly emerging juveniles captured emigrating from the basins at 3-m fences, 58-85% were subsequently captured at 30-m fences and 284 juvenile captures were recorded at distances between 111 and 1,230 m (median = 269.2 m) from natal ponds. Our findings highlight the dramatic limitations of existing wetland regulations with regard to upland habitat use by mole salamanders (family Ambystomatidae) and the need to approach conservation of these animals both at broader scales and with more comprehensive and innovative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valley bottom wetlands in agricultural landscapes often are neglected in national and regional wetland inventories. Although these areas are small, located in the bottomlands of the headwater catchments, and scattered in the rural landscape, they strongly influence hydrology, water quality, and biodiversity over the whole catchment area. Valley bottom wetlands often are considered as controversial wetlands. Awareness of the functional role of wetlands is increasing, in parallel with their progressive disappearance in intensive farming landscapes. The need to improve tools for controlling wetland management is a primary consideration for decision makers and land users. This article proposes a method for the inventory of valley bottom wetlands. The method is based on the functional analysis of potential, existing, and efficient valley bottom wetlands (the PEEW approach). Several indicators are proposed for checking the validity of such an approach. Potential wetlands are delineated by means of a topographic index using topographic and pedoclimatic criteria computed from a Digital Elevation Model and easily accessible databases. Existing wetlands are identified from observed surface moisture, the presence of specific wetland vegetation, or soil feature criteria. Efficient wetlands are defined through a given function, such as flow or pollutant regulation or biodiversity control. An analysis of areas at the limits between potential, existing, and efficient wetlands highlights land cultivated or drained in the past, which currently represents negotiating areas in which rehabilitation and other intended management actions can be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crowns of trees and shrubs often overtop temporary wetlands in forested regions. By shading pond basins, canopy can dramatically change the conditions experienced by residents such as amphibians. In this study, we estimated the presence of 8 amphibian species across 17 temporary wetlands at the Yale–Myers Forest in northeastern Connecticut, USA. In addition, we quantified the light environment using a grid of hemispherical canopy photographs to calculate Global Site Factor (GSF) within each wetland. Amphibian richness was low in most wetlands, and most wetlands were relatively shaded. Amphibian richness increased in lighter wetlands. This result was not confounded by relationships with wetland size. Most amphibian species tended to be absent from heavily shaded wetlands (‘open canopy specialists’). However, three species were often found in the shadiest wetlands (‘canopy generalists’). Field transplant experiments using one canopy generalist and one open canopy specialist showed that development of the generalist was less affected by wetland light levels compared with performance of the specialist. These findings suggest that canopy may be an important determinant of amphibian diversity patterns across wetlands. Further, conservation strategies dependent on universally applied, inviolate shoreline vegetation buffers may inadvertently contribute to species loss. Because species differ in their sensitivity to changes in canopy, these losses may be predictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-point-source pollution of surface and groundwater is a prominent environmental issue in rural catchments, with major consequences on water supply and aquatic ecosystem quality. Among surface-water protection measures, environmental or landscape management policies support the implementation and the management of buffer zones. Although a great number of studies have focused on buffer zones, quantification of the buffer effect is still a recurring question. The purpose of this article is a critical review of the assessment of buffer-zone functioning. Our objective is to provide land planners and managers with a set of variables to assess the limits and possibilities for quantifying buffer impact at the catchment scale. We first consider the scale of the local landscape feature. The most commonly used empirical method for assessing buffers is to calculate water/nutrient budgets from inflow–outflow monitoring at the level of landscape structures. We show that several other parameters apart from mean depletion of flux can be used to describe buffer functions. Such parameters include variability, with major implication for water management. We develop a theoretical framework to clarify the assessment of the buffer effect and propose a systematic analysis taking account of temporal variability. Second, we review the current assessment of buffer effects at the catchment scale according to the theoretical framework established at the local scale. Finally, we stress the limits of direct empirical assessment at the catchment scale and, in particular, we emphasize the hierarchy in hydrological processes involved at the catchment scale: The landscape feature function is constrained by other factors (climate and geology) that are of importance at a broader spatial and temporal scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian buffer zones can improve water quality and enhance habitat, but a comprehensive yet rapid method that can assist the resource manager in assessing the effectiveness of buffers is not available. The aim of this paper is to describe and illustrate the use of a newly developed field-based evaluation tool for riparian buffer zones in agricultural catchments. The Buffer Zone Inventory and Evaluation Form (BZIEF) incorporates criteria-based scoring systems developed from literature review, subsequent peer-review, and then a pilot field study. Use of the BZIEF is demonstrated by comparing buffer zones in three catchments established for water quality and habitat improvement under the Water Fringe Option agrienvironment scheme in England in order to assess whether the buffers were likely to provide environmental enhancement. Results among the three catchments were generally similar; buffer zones scored highly for their abundant vegetation cover, lack of erosion, stream habitat quality, and sufficient width. Furthermore, previous grassland or arable land use did not substantially affect buffer zone ratings. However, the BZIEF indicated that inappropriate soil characteristics in one catchment were likely to constrain buffer zone effectiveness for improving water quality. In another catchment, poor riparian vegetation diversity and structure may yield ineffective habitat enhancement, according to the BZIEF. It was concluded that the BZIEF might be a useful tool for buffer zone comparison and monitoring, even though more work is needed to test and validate the method. For example, the BZIEF could be used to target appropriate locations for buffer zones and is flexible, so could be adapted for different policies, objectives and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]