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Land-use change from a rubber plantation into the ITERA campus area causes an ecological transition. The components of ecology affected are vegetation and wildlife (bird). Geographic information systems can be used to assess the condition of vegetation and its relation to the ecological component. This study analyses bird diversity, vegetation condition through the NDVI value distribution, and then analyses the bird distribution based on vegetation condition. Observation in transect is the method for collecting bird distribution data. Analyses of vegetation condition was carried out based on NDVI. Analyses of bird distribution based on vegetation condition was carried out spatially by overlaying thematic maps of vegetation with bird distribution. This research found 28 bird species belonging to 18 families with diversity index (H’) 1.84. The highest abundance species were Lonchura punctulata, Passer montanus, and Hirundo tahitica. The NDVI values ranged from -0.64-0.87. ITERA vegetation conditions are divided into five classes: very rare vegetation (VRV), rare vegetation (RV), m vegetation (MV), dense vegetation class (DVC), and very dense vegetation (VDV). Total encounters with birds in this study were 753. The distribution of birds to the vegetation conditions in ITERA has a higher tendency and diverse vegetation have implications of birds to use the vegetation. In the VRV class, there were 4 encounters, RV 37, MV 157, DVC 235, and VDV 315. Also, the number of bird species tends to increase along with the increasing vegetation value. Lonchura punctulata is a bird with the highest abundance in each vegetation class, followed by Passer montanus and Pycnonotus aurigaster. Key words: bird distribution, ITERA, land-use change, vegetation condition

The variations in the lake area, water level, and water volume change of the Aral Sea from 1987 to 2018 were analyzed in this study, which is based on the multi-temporal Landsat images and remote sensing water body index (Normalized Difference Water Index, NDWI). Lake shorelines were automatically digitized and visualized using Net Shoreline Movement (NSM) and Linear Regression Rate (LRR) by Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). The surface area, water level, and water volume change of the North Aral Sea were not changed significantly in 1987-2018. The maximum lake area appeared in March 2015 with 3550.15 km2, the minimum lake area appeared in October 2001with 2830.56 km2. However, since 2010 the South Aral Sea split into the East Aral Sea and the West Aral Sea, the area change has shrunk dramatically. The area of the East Aral Sea decreased by 17852.65 km2 (89.99 %) from March 2011 to September 2018. The area of the West Aral Sea decreased by 2203.62 km2 (35.96 %) from August 2014 to March 2017. The distance of lake shoreline changes and rates of net movement along transects were determined by DSAS. The two largest positive values of NSM were 18715.93 and 12268.67 m, which showed lake shoreline retreat, occurred in the periods of 2010-2018 in the East Aral Sea and 1987-1999 in the South Aral Sea, respectively. The two periods in which the largest negative value of NSM appeared was (1987-1993) and (2001-2010) in the North Aral Sea, and the lake shoreline expanding distance was 145.43 and 545.84 m, respectively.

The greater glider (Petauroides volans) is a difficult species to study because they are arboreal, spending the majority of their time in the canopy. Here we review methods used to capture greater gliders and describe methods that are more effective in capturing greater gliders while decreasing risks to animal welfare. The routine uses (1) detection surveys (three methods trialled) to identify hollows occupied by greater gliders, and (2) tree climbing of identified den trees by a qualified tree climber who extracts the greater glider by hand from the hollow if it is shallow enough or waits up to 60 min for the animal to emerge and then catches it by hand. Detection of gliders residing inside a hollow was most efficient by tracking gliders 2 h before dawn, when compared to stationary stag watching and spotlighting along short transects at last light. Once located, success rate for capturing greater gliders from a den by tree climbing and hand capture was 76% (22/29 attempted captures) compared to zero captures from a long-pole-and-net method. Detailed guidelines on the climb and catch method are provided.

The Basin and Range and Rio Grande rift (RGR) are regions of crustal extension in southwestern North America that developed after Laramide-age shortening, but it has not been clear whether onset and duration of extension in these contiguous extensional provinces were the same. We conducted a study of exhumation of fault blocks along a transect from the southeastern Basin and Range to across the RGR in southern New Mexico. A suite of 128 apatite and 63 zircon (U-Th)/He dates (AHe and ZHe), as well as 27 apatite fission-track (AFT) dates, was collected to investigate the cooling and exhumation histories of this region. Collectively, AHe dates range from 3 to 46 Ma, ZHe dates range from 2 to 288 Ma, and AFT dates range from 10 to 34 Ma with average track lengths of 10.8–14.1 µm. First-order spatiotemporal trends in the combined data set suggest that Basin and Range extension was either contemporaneous with Eocene–Oligocene Mogollon-Datil volcanism or occurred before volcanism ended ca. 28 Ma, as shown by trends in ZHe data that suggest reheating to above 240 °C at that time. AHe and ZHe dates from the southern RGR represent a wider range in dates that suggest the main phase of cooling occurred after 25 Ma, and these blocks were not reheated after exhumation. Time-temperature models created by combining AHe, AFT, and ZHe data in the modeling software HeFTy were used to interpret patterns in cooling rate across the study area and further constrain magmatic and/or volcanic versus faulting related cooling. The Chiricahua Mountains and Burro Mountains have an onset of rapid extension, defined as cooling rates in excess of >15 °C/m.y., at ca. 29–17 Ma. In the Cookes Range, a period of rapid extension occurred at ca. 19–7 Ma. In the San Andres Mountains, Franklin Mountains, Caballo Mountains, and Fra Cristobal range, rapid extension occurred from ca. 23 to 9 Ma. Measured average track lengths are longer in Rio Grande rift samples, and ZHe dates of >40 Ma are mostly present east of the Cookes Range, suggesting different levels of exhumation for the zircon partial retention zone and the AFT partial annealing zone. The main phase of fault-block uplift in the southern RGR occurred ca. 25–7 Ma, similar to what has been documented in the northern and central sections of the rift. Although rapid cooling occurred throughout southern New Mexico, thermochronological data from this study with magmatic and volcanic ages suggest rapid cooling was coeval with magmatism in the Basin and Range, whereas in the Rio Grande rift cooling occurred during an amagmatic gap. These observations support a model where an early phase of extension was facilitated by widespread ignimbrite magmatism in the southeastern Basin and Range, whereas in the southern Rio Grande rift, extension started later and continues today and may have occurred between local episodes of basaltic magmatism. These differences in cooling history make the Rio Grande rift tectonically distinct from the Basin and Range. We infer based on geologic and thermochronological evidence that the onset of extension in the southern Rio Grande rift occurred at ca. 27–25 Ma, significantly later than earlier estimates of ca. 35 Ma.

Snow insulates the soil from air temperature, decreasing winter cold stress and altering energy use for organisms that overwinter in the soil. As climate change alters snowpack and air temperatures, it is critical to account for the role of snow in modulating vulnerability to winter climate change. Along elevational gradients in snowy mountains, snow cover increases but air temperature decreases, and it is unknown how these opposing gradients impact performance and fitness of organisms overwintering in the soil. We developed experimentally validated ecophysiological models of cold and energy stress over the past decade for the montane leaf beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis, along five replicated elevational transects in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Cold stress peaks at mid-elevations, while high elevations are buffered by persistent snow cover, even in dry years. While protective against cold, snow increases energy stress for overwintering beetles, particularly at low elevations, potentially leading to mortality or energetic tradeoffs. Declining snowpack will predominantly impact mid-elevation populations by increasing cold exposure, while high elevation habitats may provide refugia as drier winters become more common.

We evaluated the influence of soil properties, climate, and space on the distribution of herbaceous-shrub species in the Cerrado biome. We determined species composition, cover, and richness along 25 line transects in Cerrado (savanna-like vegetation) in three protected areas with different soil types and altitudes. Soil physicochemical properties, climate, and geographic coordinates were included in the analysis as species distribution predictors. We observed high species richness in all sites, especially in the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park (PNCV) and the Brasilia National Park (PNB), with over 200 species each. Only 16% of the species were recorded in all sites, indicating high species turnover for Cerrado herbaceous-shrub layer. The transformation-based redundancy analysis indicated that differences in the herbaceous-shrub flora were associated with soil physicochemical properties and climate. Species composition was primarily influenced by higher annual precipitation for PNCV, by the highest clay content and soil pH for PNB, and by greater annual mean temperature for Terra Ronca State Park (PETER). Soil, climate, and their spatially structured fraction explained herbaceous-shrub species distribution in the Cerrado (43.6%). The spatial variation which is not correlated to the environment adds only 4.5% to the model. Taken together, our findings provide a basis for understanding the distribution patterns of herbaceous-shrub species across climate, soil, and geographic distance. These findings are critical for the development of strategies to protect biodiversity and endangered species in the Cerrado, especially in the region most threatened by deforestation (PETER).

Understanding habitat needs and patch utilization of wild and managed bees has been identified as a national research priority in the United States. We used occupancy models to investigate patterns of bee use across 1030 transects spanning a gradient of floral resource abundance and richness and distance from apiaries in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the United States. Estimates of transect use by honey bees were nearly 1.0 during our 3.5‐month sampling period, suggesting honey bees were nearly ubiquitous across transects. Wild bees more frequently used transects with higher flower richness and more abundant flowers; however, the effect size of the native flower abundance covariate (β^native = 3.90 ± 0.65 [1SE]) was four times greater than the non‐native flower covariate (β^non‐native = 0.99 ± 0.17). We found some evidence that wild bee use was lower at transects near commercial apiaries, but the effect size was imprecise (β^distance = 1.4 ± 0.81). Honey bees were more frequently detected during sampling events with more non‐native flowers and higher species richness but showed an uncertain relationship with native flower abundance. Of the 4039 honey bee and flower interactions, 85% occurred on non‐native flowers, while only 43% of the 738 wild bee observations occurred on non‐native flowers. Our study suggests wild bees and honey bees routinely use the same resource patches in the PPR but often visit different flowering plants. The greatest potential for resource overlap between honey bees and wild bees appears to be for non‐native flowers in the PPR. Our results are valuable to natural resource managers tasked with supporting habitat for managed and wild pollinators in agroecosystems., We investigated use of grassland patches by wild bees and honey bees. Our study showed that while honey bees and wild bees commonly co‐occurred at the same resource patches, they often visited different species of flowers within patches.

Shale-derived soils have higher clay, organic matter, and secondary Fe oxide content than other bedrock types, all of which can sequester Hg. However, shales also can be Hg-rich due to their marine formation. The objectives of this study were to determine the concentration and phase partitioning of Hg in seven upland weathering profiles from New York to Tennessee USA and use geochemical normalization techniques to estimate the extent of Hg inheritance from weathering of shale bedrock or sequestration of atmospheric Hg. Total Hg concentrations in unweathered shale ranged from 3 to 94 ng/g. Total Hg concentrations decreased with depth in the Ultisols and Alfisols, with total Hg concentrations ranging from 18 to 265 ng/g. Across all shale soils and rocks, the oxidizable fraction of Hg (15% H2O2 extraction) comprised a large portion of the total Hg at 68% ± 8%. This fraction was dominated by organic matter as confirmed with positive correlations between Hg and %LOI, but could also be impacted by Hg sulfides. Across all sites, the reducible fraction of Hg (citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite extraction) was only 10% ± 4% of the total Hg on average. Thus, secondary Fe oxides did not contain a significant portion of Hg, as commonly observed in tropical soils. Although colder sites had a higher organic matter and sequestered more Hg, τ values for Hg indexed to Ti suggest that atmospheric deposition, such as pollution sources in Ohio River Valley, drove the highest enrichment of Hg along the transect. These results demonstrate that shale-derived soils have a net accumulation and retention of atmospheric Hg, primarily through stabilization by organic matter.

Nepenthes spp. is kind of plant that arranged ecosystem in West Kalimantan, especially in the Sebomban hill area, Sanggau Regency. But, its existence is threatened so that several species are included in the endangered category according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The research aims to determine species, community structure, anddistribution patterns of Nepenthes spp. in the area of Sebomban hill, Bonti District, Sanggau Regency. The research method used purposive samplingand systematic sampling with transect. The results showed that there are 3 types of Nepenthes spp. namely N. ampullaria , N. mirabilis and N, gracilis . The density value of Nepenthes spp. ranged from 10 - 45 individual/ ha. The index of importance value of Nepenthes spp. ranged from 42% - 134%, the highest value being Nepenthes ampullaria in location III, while the lowest value was found in location I, namely N. gracilis . All Nepenthes spp. those found at the research location have a pattern of distribution as clustered.

Seaports are introduction hotspots for invasive alien species (IAS). This is especially true for rodents, which have accompanied humans around the globe since the earliest days of ocean-going voyages. The rapid spread of IAS soon after arrival in a new environment is facilitated by further human-mediated transport or landscape features, like roads. By measuring genetic diversity and structure to investigate dispersal pathways, we gained insight into the transport, spread and establishment stages of a biological invasion, leveraging the most common rodent species (R. norvegicus) in this setting. We characterized the genetic structure of three Norway rat populations along a busy industrial road used by trucks to access the Port area in Paranaguá city (Brazil). A total of 71 rats were genotyped using 11 microsatellite markers. The results revealed a pattern of gene flow contrary to the expected stepping-stone model along the linear transect, with the two furthest apart populations being clustered together. We hypothesize that the observed outcome is explained by natural dispersal along the corridor being lower than human-mediated transport. The sampled area furthest from the port is a gas station frequented by trucks which are considered the most likely mode of transportation. In terms of management strategies, we suggest more emphasis should be put on cargo surveillance to lower the risk of Norway rat dispersal, not only for biosecurity, but also for sanitary reasons, as this port is a major grain trading point.

With observed increases in retrogressive thaw slump (RTS) number, rates, and size in recent decades, there is a need to understand these highly dynamic landforms as they impact surrounding ecosystems and infrastructure. There is a general lack of detailed (e.g., daily) field observations of change in RTSs; we help fill this gap by monitoring three RTSs for much of the 2017 thaw period by setting up and tracking survey transects on a near daily basis. We correlated mean daily and cumulative retreat to mean daily air temperature (MDAT), total daily precipitation (TDP), and cumulative thawing degree days (TDD) using various polynomial regressions and Pearson correlation techniques. Our results show that July retreat was highly variable, and periods of increased RTS retreat did not always align with periods of increased air temperature. Also, multiple periods of increased retreat largely driven by sediment distribution in the RTS floor could occur within a single period of increased air temperature. Retreat rates decreased suddenly in early August, indicating a threshold of either air temperature, solar radiation or a combination of both must be reached for increased retreat rates. A statistically significant correlation was found between daily mean and mean cumulative retreat with MDAT (p > 0.001) and TDD (p > 0.001 and > 0.0001) but not with total daily precipitation. Correlating mean cumulative retreat and TDD using polynomial regression generated R2 values greater than 0.99 for all three sites. Both cumulative retreat and TDD account for past and current conditions, as well as lag responses, within the monitoring period. The high R2 values for the correlation of mean cumulative retreat and TDD suggest the potential for accurately modelling RTS retreat with minimal field data (air temperature and headwall position), however modelling is currently restricted to individual RTSs and only within short time scales. Monitoring RTSs on a daily scale allows RTS behaviour and trends to be identified that may be obscured at annual time scales and highlights the importance of all system inputs when considering RTS retreat dynamics.

A suspended particulate matter distribution against a hydrographical background was studied at the oceanographic transect across the equatorial Atlantic in the year 2000. An area of abnormally high suspended matter volume concentrations was found above the Sierra Leone Rise in the entire water column (eastern part of the transect). The suggested explanation for the anomaly is based on the ballast hypothesis whereby solid particles are incorporated as ballast into suspended biogenic aggregates, leading to increased velocities of sinking. This occurs within the Northwest African upwelling area, where the plankton exposed to the Saharan dust abundance form a significant number of aggregates, which are later transported equatorward via the Canary Current. An intermediate nepheloid layer associated with the Deep Western Boundary Current was recorded from the South American Slope at depths of 3200–3700 to 4300 m above the Para Abyssal Plain. Antarctic Bottom Water enriched in suspended matter was found mostly in the troughs at 40–41∘ W. It was detached from the bottom, coinciding with the core of the flow due to the bottom rise “dam” located up-stream. The grain size of particles along the entire transect has a polymodal distribution with 2–4 and 8–13 µm modes. The registered rise in percentage in some parts of the transect of the 7–21 µm sized particles suggests the presence of the well-known coarse mode (20–60 µm) formed by aggregation of transparent exopolymer particles (mucus).

San Pedro Mártir island is of high biological, ecological, and fishery importance and was declared a biosphere reserve in 2002. This island is the most oceanic in the Gulf of California, and information on its rocky reefs is scarce. The present study aimed to generate the first list of conspicuous invertebrate and fish species based onin situobservations and to examine the community structure of the shallow rocky reefs of the reserve. In addition, we estimated the ecological indicators of richness, abundance, Shannon diversity, and Pielou evenness to evaluate the conservation status of the biosphere reserve. Data were collected annually from 2007 to 2017 through 2,192 underwater SCUBA transects. A total of 35 species of invertebrates and 73 species of fish were recorded. Most of the species are widely distributed along the eastern Pacific. Overall, 64% of the species found in this study are commercially important, and 11 species have been listed as protected. The abundance of commercially important invertebrate species (i.e., the sea cucumberIsostichopus fuscusand the spiny oysterSpondylus limbatus) is decreasing, while commercially important fish species have maintained their abundance with periods of increase. The ecological indicators and the abundance and size of the commercial species indicate that the reserve is in good condition while meeting its conservation objectives.

The Kettara abandoned mine, Morocco, is a highly acid drainage-generating site with negative impacts. In order to impede the water–oxygen migration within tailings of Kettara mine, a store-and-release (SR) cover made with phosphate mine wastes (PMW) layers was implemented on the tailings of Kettara mine in five experimental cells. The characterization of vegetation is an important aspect of the monitoring strategy for the SR cover. In this optic, the objective of this study was to follow the local flora dynamic on the SR cover. Furthermore, this research highlighted the potential of this flora for the development of other appropriate phytomanagement plans of mining wastes. The monitoring surveys were carried out over five years (March 2015–April 2019). Six permanent transects were placed on five-constructed cells. The method of Line Intercept Transect was used to evaluate the vegetation cover and to determinate the floristic composition and relative frequency of the species. Plant diversity was quantified by Shannon diversity (H′) and Pielou evenness (J') indices. Four functional groups of plants were identified; therophytes and chamaephytes were the most abundant. Among 19 recorded families on SR cover, the most widely represented were Compositae (26.83%), Leguminosae and Poaceae with 9.76%, Apiaceae and Brassicaceae with 7.32% of the total taxa for each one of them. Of the 39 identified vascular species on SR cover, the most abundant were Anacyclus valentinus L., Calendula arvensis M.Bieb., Emex spinosa (L.) Campd., Hirschfeldia incana (L.) Lagr.-Foss., Spergularia rubra (L.) J.Presl & C.Presl, Stipa capensisthunb, and Herniaria cinerea L. Significant differences in Shannon diversity index (H′) were observed between the sampling areas (p > 0.05), it ranged from 0.739 to 3.857 bits/ind. on SR cover. The Pielou evenness index was not significantly different through transects; it varied from 0.578 to 0.978. These values indicated an equitable distribution of individuals within species on the investigated transects. The study revealed 29 vascular plant species that represent a great potential to be promoted for the phytomanagement of mine wastes in the context of arid and semi-arid environments.

Butterflies are insects that live cosmopolitan. Some butterflies in tropical forests look for food sources from sucking the juice of ripe fruits that have fallen on the forest floor. Fruit-feeding butterflies can adapt in finding food sources, selecting and sucking food effectively. Fruit contains varying concentrations of sugar and nitrogen. The existence of fruit-feeding butterflies in tropical rain forests is influenced by the availability and quality of food sources as well as other supporting factors such as temperature, humidity, and light intensity. The purpose of this study was to identify fruit-feeding butterflies and their preferences for banana and pineapple baits in the Soraya Research Station Area, Leuser Ecosystem, Aceh, Indonesia from September to November 2020. Six forest trail locations were selected as trap locations. A total of 360 cylindrical gauze baited traps (80 cm high and 35 cm diameter) were installed on six trails/line transects. Baited traps were set at three different heights, that is at the understorey level (± 0-2 m), midstorey level (± 5-6 m), and overstorey level (± 10-11 m) with a distance of ± 5-10 m. The distance between location points is ± 250 m. The fruit baits used in this trap were ripe bananas and pineapples. The results obtained were 37 species with 176 individuals trapped on banana bait and 50 species with 183 individuals on pineapple bait. However, the results of the t-test using the Man-Whitney test showed no significant difference between the banana and pineapple bait used.

This study delineates the role of small and medium river inputs, Low Saline Plume Advection (LSPA) and eddies in hydrography alteration and Chlorophyll a (Chl. a) in the Western Bay of Bengal. Samples were collected across five transects viz: Hooghly (HO), Mahanadi (MN), Rushikulya (RK), Visakhapatnam (VSKP) and Godavari (GD) during Fall Intermonsoon. Each transect consists of 7 or 8 locations from inshore to offshore. LSPA propagates southward concordance with the East India Coastal Current (EICC) and its southward flow strengthened by a cold-core eddy. LSPA results in the intermittent low salinity in the cross-shore section of HO, MN and RK. Upper layer Chl. a is 2–3 folds higher in inshore and in LSP-influenced locations than in its adjacent stations. The present study identified Double Chlorophyll a Maxima (DoCM) in LSPA-influenced slope regions of MN and RK. DoCM is less known in the BoB. DoCM has both the Surface Chl. a Maxima (SCM) and Subsurface Chl. a Maxima (SSCM). SSCM layer is relatively shallow and intense in slope and offshore regions of MN and RK due to their closeness with cold-core eddy. The present study highlights that freshwater discharge from small and medium rivers impacts hydrobiology around 10–50 km from the shore depends on the magnitude of river influx. LSPA is away from the local inputs and impacts hydrobiology (>500 km) along the path. EICC and eddies together regulated the direction of LSPA. Existing eddies nature alters vertical hydrobiology in slope and offshore regions.

Recreational activities worldwide have major impacts on the environment. This study examined the impact of different kinds of recreational activities on plant communities in a highly visited park in Mashhad, Iran. Vegetation in the park was sampled along 41 random 10-m transects with different human disturbances (trails, dirt roads, campsites) and undisturbed communities. Life form spectrum, species composition, species and phylogenetic diversity were determined for all communities. Disturbance increased the frequency of therophytes, but decreased the frequency of chamaephytes and percentage vegetated area. Recreational-mediated disturbance had variable impact on species composition, but decreased species and phylogenetic diversity compared with undisturbed areas. Roads and campsites caused the greatest damage, while trails had the smallest negative impact on vegetation. This study showed that damage to (semi-)natural park vegetation differs with recreation activity. This finding can help prioritise management activities to minimise negative impacts of recreation activities on local vegetation. The current visitor load to the urban park studied here appears too high to be sustainable over time, so better monitoring and restrictions on visitor numbers may be needed to minimise the negative impacts on park vegetation. The camping impacts can be managed by creating clusters of designated campsites to spatially concentrate the impact area. Low-impact practices should be communicated to visitors. This work was fnancially supported by Iran National Science Foundation, INSF (grant number: 98026163)

The Sebangau National Park is a major stronghold for Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) ranging from 6000 – 9000 individuals. In comparison with Bornean Orangutans, very little ecological fieldwork has been conducted to investigate sun bear biology, and there have been no thorough surveys of distribution or population densities. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the basic information on niche overlap between these two endangered species, specifically to quantify their relationship within the small-scale habitat in Punggualas area, SNP. Data was collected and measured during 15 – 21 June 2019; using line transects methods. A total of 6580 m was walked along 8 consecutive transects. Bear and aging sign follow Augeri protocols. A total 18 printed mark-claw and 17 Orangutan nests was measured according to the mentioned methodology. The relationships between signs use binary logistic regressions (StatPlus for Mac) and PCA model (using R), while interspecific relationships use Co-Occurrence modeling, ESP for Windows. The results showed that there is no difference between bear sign and orangutan nest (c2: 26.249; df :1, p-value : 0.001); While the results on habitat selection between transects is failed to reject the null hypothesis (c2 = 0.29; df :1, p-value : 0.490). The Mann-Whitney U test, also confirmed no distinctive overlap between the Orangutan and the Sun Bear (Z: 0.84; p-value: 0.40). The co-occurrence simulations also revealed significant results (C-Score = 1.00), by means both target animals co-existed in the habitat. Obviously, the Orangutan and Sun Bear occupy the same habitat. There is no distinctive overlap between them in terms of tree species selection and having a close interrelationship in terms of feeding ground, whereas the fruiting is not available. The only distinctive difference is that the Bear sign was tend hindering waterlogged terrain.

Mississippian carbonate and silica-rich reservoirs of northern and central Oklahoma formed along a regionally extensive carbonate ramp to basin transect. The stratigraphy, lithology, and porosity characteristics of the Mississippian Meramec and Osage series significantly vary as older ramp carbonates prograde southward and transition into younger calcareous and quartz-rich silt deposits of the Anadarko Basin. Lithofacies identified within the northern carbonate-dominated portion of the system commonly include altered chert, skeletal grainstones, peloidal packstones-grainstones, bioturbated wackestones-packstones, bioturbated mudstones-wackestones, glauconitic sandstones, and siliceous shale. Lithofacies within the southern siliciclastic-dominated portion of the system include structureless to bioturbated sandstones, siltstones, and laminated mudstones, each with varying degrees of carbonate content. We have grouped these core-based lithofacies into dominant lithologies/rock types, which tie to well-log properties. Electrofacies classification methods including the artificial neural network (ANN) and k-means clustering predict lithologies in noncored wells. ANN yielded the highest overall prediction accuracy of 85% for lithologies. Core, well log, and lithology log data establish the regional stratigraphic framework. The Mississippian interval of interest subdivides into 16 stratigraphic zones. A depositional-dip-oriented cross section and the associated reservoir models illustrate the proximal to distal and stratigraphic variability of the lithology and porosity. Lithology trends moving from north to south, from older to younger strata, reveal a carbonate-dominated succession capped by diagenetically altered chert northward shifting into a siliciclastic-dominated interval, which increases in clay content southward. Northward, prospective conventional reservoirs developed near cycle tops within diagenetically replaced cherts and cherty limestones associated with subaerial exposure and sea-level fluctuations. Southward, higher total porosity associates with increased clay content linked to the suppression of calcite cement, forming prospective unconventional targets near the bases of depositional cycles.

This study assessed the cooling ranges of small greenspaces (SGs) along the edges of surrounding areas and identified the spatial cooling distance threshold. Five SGs in a natural preserved public area located in College Station, Texas, USA, and a reference site (Rf) were selected for this study. Air temperature data collection took six rounds from fall to early summer. In each round air temperature was collected three times during a day (i.e., 10 h, 13 h, and 16 h). Temperature sensing units (TVCs) and loggers recorded air temperature every second via a transect survey. The cooling distance was determined according to each SG’s radius: (1) the centroid of the SG (GC), (2) the edge of the SG (GE), (3) 1.25 times the radius away from the GC (1.25R), and (4) 1.5 times the radius away from the GC (1.5R). Our findings showed the SGs’ cooling effect (∆TRf−i) surpassed their edges in general. The cooling degrees at the GC were higher and dropped continuously from the GE to 1.25R ending with 1.5R showing the lowest. In fall, the SGs’ mean cooling degree exceeded 9.24% at 1.5R compared to Rf. In early summer, the SGs’ mean cooling effects decreased significantly while showing a very small difference between the measurement points. Our findings contribute to uncovering some specific design features with SGs to cooling down cities by applying advanced technology. Our findings will help designers, planners, researchers, and local government officials by providing an optimal landscape planning and design guide for mitigating urban heat.

Restoration of natural forests previously replaced by plantations is a widespread challenge for forestry in Chile and elsewhere. However, there is little documented evidence for successful restoration, either through active or passive approaches. In this study, we aimed at (1) determining the potential for passive restoration in first-rotation Pinus radiata plantations through natural regeneration of native tree species and (2) identifying drivers of this advance regeneration. Across different regions in south-central Chile, we established nearly 260 plots to assess regeneration and environmental conditions along 26 transects running from plantations into adjacent natural forests. The regeneration was exclusively composed by native species, except for 7 individuals of P. radiata. Mean density and diversity of seedlings were significantly higher in natural forests than in plantations, but this was not the case for sapling density, and no differences in sapling diversity were supported. Additionally, significant differences in regeneration composition between plantations and natural forests were found only at two of the eight study sites. Compared to climatic and soil chemical variables, which varied mostly at regional scales, local environmental conditions showed little influence on regeneration, possibly due to the structural homogeneity of plantations. Yet, the significantly higher basal area, litter thickness and gap fraction of plantations compared to natural forests suggest that these factors may explain differences at the seedling stage. Our study indicates that the use of appropriate harvesting methods that maintain advance regeneration may facilitate the transition from plantations to native forests through passive restoration. The use this approach should be further investigated through analyzing regeneration’s response to different forms of plantation harvesting.

Bergmann’s rule predicts a larger body size for endothermic organisms in colder environments. The multiplicity of patterns and processes is expected because body size and temperature are two most fundamental factors on which many physiological, ecological and evolutionary processes depend, affecting all levels of biological organization, from individuals to communities. The confounding results from previous studies may be due to the differences in taxonomic (intraspecific, interspecific and community) and spatial (latitudinal vs elevational) scales. We compared Bergmann’s patterns for endotherms (Aves) and ectotherms (Lepidoptera:Sphingidae) along a same 2.6 km elevational transect in the eastern Himalayas. Using a large data spanning 3,302 hawkmoths (76 morpho-species) and 15,746 birds (245 species), we compared the patterns at the intraspecific (hawkmoths only), interspecific and community scales. At the interspecific scale, we account for phylogenetic non-independence in body mass by using a heirarchical linear mixed effects model for hawkmoths, and a phylogenetic generalised least squares model for birds. We assess the importance of using abundance-weighted metrics at the community scales, after accounting for spatial auto-correlation in communities. Hawkmoths exhibited positive Bergmann’s pattern at the intraspecific and abundance-weighted community scale. Intraspecific variation accounted for a substantial 33% variation at the community level. Contrary to this, birds exhibited a strong converse-Bergmann’s pattern at interspecific and community scales, both with- and without-abundance. Overall, all metrics which incorporate local traits and/or species abundances show stronger correlations than when this information is lacking. The multiplicity of patterns at a single location provides the opportunity to disentangle the relative contribution of individual- and species-level processes by integrating data across multiple nested taxonomic scales for the same taxa. We suggest that future studies of Bergmann’s patterns should explicitly address taxonomic- and spatial-scale dependency, with species relative abundance and intraspecific trait variation as essential ingredients especially at short elevational scales.

Soil samples from a transect from low to highly hydrocarbon-contaminated soils were collected around the Brazilian Antarctic Station Comandante Ferraz (EACF), located at King George Island, Antarctica. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA genes, 16S rRNA gene (iTag), and shotgun metagenomic sequencing were used to characterize microbial community structure and the potential for petroleum degradation by indigenous microbes. Hydrocarbon contamination did not affect bacterial abundance in EACF soils (bacterial 16S rRNA gene qPCR). However, analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed a successive change in the microbial community along the pollution gradient. Microbial richness and diversity decreased with the increase of hydrocarbon concentration in EACF soils. The abundance of Cytophaga, Methyloversatilis, Polaromonas, and Williamsia was positively correlated (p-value = .05) with the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and/or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Annotation of metagenomic data revealed that the most abundant hydrocarbon degradation pathway in EACF soils was related to alkyl derivative-PAH degradation (mainly methylnaphthalenes) via the CYP450 enzyme family. The abundance of genes related to nitrogen fixation increased in EACF soils as the concentration of hydrocarbons increased. The results obtained here are valuable for the future of bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils in polar environments.

A maior cidade brasileira, Sao Paulo, se destaca entre os municipios no pais com mais estudos ornitologicos. No entanto, algumas areas carecem de estudos basicos sobre a avifauna, incluindo aquelas sob intensa pressao do crescimento urbano e do desmatamento. A fim de suprir essa demanda, realizamos o levantamento da avifauna do Solo Sagrado do Guarapiranga (23°45’0”S, 46°44’0”W), um parque urbano no sul do municipio. Realizamos levantamentos mensais de aves de julho de 2008 a junho de 2009, usando o metodo de transeccao. Apos 250 horas de observacoes, registramos 180 especies, incluindo 31 especies endemicas da Mata Atlântica e duas especies ameacadas globalmente. As guildas alimentares mais bem representadas foram insetivoras, onivoras e frugivoras, com 70, 39 e 21 especies respectivamente. Especies ocasionais e raras compuseram a maioria da comunidade. A alta riqueza e a presenca de especies ameacadas indicam a importância da area para a conservacao das aves na maior cidade brasileira. AVIFAUNA OF THE SACRED SOIL OF GUARAPIRANGA (SAO PAULO, BRAZIL) : The avifauna of Sao Paulo, the largest Brazilian city, is one of the most studied in Brazil. However, some areas are lacking basic studies on the avifauna, including those under intense pressure from urban growth and deforestation. Here we present a list of bird species occurring in the Solo Sagrado do Guarapiranga (23°45’00”S, 46°44’00”W), an urban park in southern Sao Paulo. We carried out monthly bird surveys from July 2008 to June 2009, using transect method. After 250 hours of observations, we recorded 180 species, including 31 species endemics to Atlantic Forest and two species that are globally threatened. The insectivorous, omnivorous and frugivorous species were the most represented feeding guilds, with 70, 39 and 21 species, respectively. Occasional and rare species composed the community majority. The high species richness and the presence of threatened species indicate the importance of the area to the bird’s conservation in the largest Brazilian city.

In the context of major outcomes of a steadily changing climate, extreme climatic conditions and the associated events in various forms of weather-related natural disasters, e.g. droughts, floods, and heat waves, are more frequently experienced on the global scale in recent years. In support of this argument, there are adequate numbers of explicit signals over such a persistent outlook, which is greatly illustrated by historical data and observations. This study, which is mainly oriented to investigating the drought behaviour in Thracian, Aegean and Mediterranean transects of Turkey's major river basins, is actually inspired by the foreseen potential of using annual maximum drought severity series (based on drought definition through the standardized precipitation index (SPI)) within a framework that resembles the use of flood discharge directly from flow measurements in a river basin. To this end, a series of spatial analyses were employed to identify different aspects of flood appearance in the study extent, including trend views on annual average drought severity series, shifts in the starting time of the annually most severe flood periods, and changes in spatial coverage views of average drought conditions under different drought severity categories. The framework of the analytical approaches depends greatly on validated international datasets and open-source computational algorithms. The results from the analyses that were conducted in two consecutive periods of 1958-1980 and 1981-2004 revealed that Turkey's western and southern river basin systems seemed to have experienced quite different behaviours between the two periods in terms of drought severity magnitudes, drought durations and annual occurrence times.

Pengsong Mount Natural Tourism Park (NTP) is a habitat for long-tailed monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) in West Lombok. This study aims to determine the habitat characteristics of Macaca fascicularis in Pengsong Mount Natural Tourism Park (NTP), West Lombok. The object of this research is the long-tailed monkey (Macaca fascicularis) and all vegetation observed in the habitat of this species. Habitat characteristic data was collected using the plot method placed on an observation transect. Vegetation data taken includes vegetation at the level of seedlings, saplings, poles, and trees. Data on the physical conditions of the habitats collected included air temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, and soil pH. The data on the activity of the long-tailed monkeys studied were the daily activities of the monkeys in their habitat. The results showed that the habitat characteristics of long-tailed monkeys in Pengsong Mount Natural Tourism Park (NTP) is overgrown by 25 types of plants belonging to 15 families, has an average air temperature of 27.670C, an average air humidity of 650C, an average soil moisture of 55.67%, and the average pH of 5.2. The value of plant diversity in the Pengsong Mount Natural Tourism Park (NTP) area is 2.623 so that the value of plant diversity is classified as moderate. The value of plant evenness in the Pengsong Mount Natural Tourism Park (NTP) area is 0.815 so that the value of plant evenness is high.

Resumo Efeito de borda são modificações ambientais que, por sua vez, alteram a estrutura e a composição da vegetação marginal em uma floresta. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi verificar o comprimento, em metros, da faixa exposta ao efeito de borda em dois fragmentos de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual. O trabalho foi executado em duas áreas distintas. Em ambas as áreas foram plotadas 30 parcelas de 10 x 10 m, demarcadas a partir da borda florestal, dispostas em três transectos, nos quais foram amostrados e identificados todos os indivíduos com circunferência a 1,30 m de altura e diâmetro ≥ 15 cm. Para a avaliação da abrangência florística do método e suficiência amostral, foi elaborada a curva espécie-área, baseada na distância em relação à borda e calculada a regressão que melhor se ajustou à curva. Em seguida, dois dendrogramas de similaridade foram elaborados, baseados na presença/ausência das espécies em cada parcela e no número de indivíduos por parcela. No total, foram amostrados 955 indivíduos arbóreos. A curva espécie-área de um dos locais de estudo estabilizou a partir dos 40 m, indicando que nesta faixa não houve aparecimento de novas espécies. No entanto, a curva retomou aumento a partir de 50 m. Na outra área, a estabilização na riqueza das parcelas ocorreu a 60 m da borda, com aumento no surgimento de novas espécies a 70 m. Em uma das áreas avaliadas, o efeito de borda atingiu 30 m em direção ao interior da floresta, enquanto na segunda área avaliada, esta distância foi de 70 m. Abstract Edge effects are environmental settings that, in turn, alter the structure and composition of marginal vegetation in a forest. Thus, the objective of this study was to verify the length, in meters, in the strip exposed to the edge effect in two fragments of the Seasonal Semideciduous Forest. The report was carried out in two different areas. In such areas, 30 plots of 10 x 10 m were plotted, demarcated from the floral border, arranged in three transects, where all individuals with a circumference at 1.30 m in height and diameter ≥ 15 cm were sampled and cut. For an evaluation of the floristic scope of the method and the sampling sufficiency, a curve of specific area was elaborated, based on the distance in relation to the border and the regression that best fits the curve was calculated. Then, two similarity dendrograms were prepared, based on the presence/absence of species in each plot and the number of plots per plot. In total, 955 tree isolates were sampled. An area curve of one of the study sites stabilized after 40 m shows that there were no new species in this range. However, a curve resumed an increase from 50 m. In another area, the richness stabilization of the plots occurred at 60 m from the edge, with an increase in new species at 70 m. In one of the evaluated areas, the edge effect reached 30 m towards the interior of the forest, while in the second evaluated area, the distance was 70 m.

Shoreline change analysis is examined for around 140 km coastal belt between Paradip port in the southern and Dhamra port in the northeastern parts of Odisha using DSAS 5.0. The study area is reported of being through the severe landward movement of the sea. To examine this, multispectral satellite images obtained from 1973 to 2020 are taken into account. The vector data generated are fed into the DSAS application to figure out the rate of changes in the position of the shoreline. DSAS suggested statistical methods, i.e. Shoreline Change Envelope, Net Shoreline Movement, End Point Rate, Linear Regression Rate, and Weighted Linear Regression, are used for calculating the rate of change in shoreline positions. Also with the help of “beta forecasting”, the future shoreline positions for the period between the years 2030 and 2040 are forecasted. The mean change rate, average seaward gain, and average landward gain are found to be 1.236, 10.10, and 12.42 m/year, respectively. The highest seaward movement is measured as 1843.06 m and the highest landward movement is at 1547.5 m in the study area. The shoreline position is shifted up in an average of 286.03 m in 2/3rd (67.3%) cases of transects, where the maximum shift is 1843.06 m and the minimum being 11.58 m. The beta forecasting result is validated by collating satellite image Landsat 8 (acquired on 25.12.2020) and forecasted shoreline 2020. The results indicated that the shoreline has shifted up to 2 km from 1971 to 2019 atleast 2/3rd positions. This is such a serious concern and alerts with a strong warning of rapid shoreline changes. It further emphasizes the need for conservation and management of this coastal belt to protect coastal biodiversity.

The vertical distribution pattern of 19 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), together with microbial ester-linked fatty acid methyl ester (EL-FAME) profiles were investigated in sediments from an abandoned oxidation pond of Ya-Er lake, China, which had been heavily polluted by hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and chlorobenzenes in 1980s. Subsurface sediment samples were taken from five sediment cores along the transect running from the lakeshore (0.5~2.7 m in depth) to lakebed (0.1~0.4 m). The total OCP concentration ranged from 29.8 to 941.8 ng g−1 dw. Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), HCHs, and dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethanes (DDTs) were the three dominant OCP classes, accounting for 26.5–97.4%, 1.8–33.2%, and 0.4–15.5% of the total OCP concentration, respectively. Hot spots of HCB, HCHs, and DDTs were detected at 0.9~2.7 m deep layers of the lakeshore, where was once the main dredged sediment backfill site for in-situ remediation of the oxidation pond in 2002–2004. HCHs and HCB still showed high potential ecological risks. The sources of OCPs were identified and quantified using principal component analysis with absolute principal component scores-multiple linear regression model. The first three major sources were persistent residues, recent agricultural input, and historical industrial input, contributing on average 28.2%, 17.9%, and 17.1% of total OCPs, respectively. Redundancy analysis of microbial EL-FAME profiles and nine dominant OCPs revealed that the spatial variation in microbial community structure was significantly corresponded with the OCP composition. This is the first study highlighting the concern on historical industrial inputs of OCPs in subsurface sediments of the lakeshore disposal zone. The findings could help to distinguish the artificial backfill sediments from undisturbed polluted sediments for optimization of further dredging plans.

Understanding the fate of terrestrial organic carbon (OC) in a cascade impoundment system is critical for recognizing the role of carbon sink for reservoirs. Surface sediments collected from eight cascade reservoirs across the Wujiang River, southwestern China, were analyzed for elemental and stable carbon isotopic (δ13C) composition, and lignin phenols (Σ8 and Λ8) to investigate the spatial distribution, contribution, origin and degradation of sedimentary terrestrial OC. The values of total organic carbon (TOC) and Σ8 exhibited a remarkable reduction along the upstream–downstream transect suggesting the trapping effect of cascade-damming. A relatively broad range of δ13C (−26.61 to −25.54‰, 95% CI) and C/N (6.80–18.20) indicated mixed allochthonous/autochthonous OC sources in surface sediments. The quantitative simulation indicates that the OC of the sediments mainly was derived from terrestrial organic matter. Soil-derived OC rather than C3 vascular plant-derived OC makes a major contribution to sedimentary terrestrial OC in reservoirs on karst terrain. As evidenced by lignin compositions and δ13C, the predominant vascular plant origins of terrestrial OC along the Wujiang River are non-woody angiosperm C3 plants. The aged reservoirs showed a trend of increasing contribution of autochthonous OC, which potentially weaken the role of carbon sink for reservoirs. The relationship between runoff inputs, watershed area/water surface area ratios, and water residence time and Λ8 were explored, indicating the natural and anthropogenic influences on terrestrial OC remains very complex in a cascade-damming river.

Wildfire smoke is one of the most significant concerns of human and environmental health, associated with its substantial impacts on air quality, weather, and climate. However, biomass burning emissions and smoke remain among the largest sources of uncertainties in air quality forecasts. In this study, we evaluate the smoke emissions and plume forecasts from 12 state-of-the-art air quality forecasting systems during the Williams Flats fire in Washington State, US, August 2019, which was intensively observed during the Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) field campaign. Model forecasts with lead times within 1 d are intercompared under the same framework based on observations from multiple platforms to reveal their performance regarding fire emissions, aerosol optical depth (AOD), surface PM2.5, plume injection, and surface PM2.5 to AOD ratio. The comparison of smoke organic carbon (OC) emissions suggests a large range of daily totals among the models, with a factor of 20 to 50. Limited representations of the diurnal patterns and day-to-day variations of emissions highlight the need to incorporate new methodologies to predict the temporal evolution and reduce uncertainty of smoke emission estimates. The evaluation of smoke AOD (sAOD) forecasts suggests overall underpredictions in both the magnitude and smoke plume area for nearly all models, although the high-resolution models have a better representation of the fine-scale structures of smoke plumes. The models driven by fire radiative power (FRP)-based fire emissions or assimilating satellite AOD data generally outperform the others. Additionally, limitations of the persistence assumption used when predicting smoke emissions are revealed by substantial underpredictions of sAOD on 8 August 2019, mainly over the transported smoke plumes, owing to the underestimated emissions on 7 August. In contrast, the surface smoke PM2.5 (sPM2.5) forecasts show both positive and negative overall biases for these models, with most members presenting more considerable diurnal variations of sPM2.5. Overpredictions of sPM2.5 are found for the models driven by FRP-based emissions during nighttime, suggesting the necessity to improve vertical emission allocation within and above the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Smoke injection heights are further evaluated using the NASA Langley Research Center's Differential Absorption High Spectral Resolution Lidar (DIAL-HSRL) data collected during the flight observations. As the fire became stronger over 3–8 August, the plume height became deeper, with a day-to-day range of about 2–9 km a.g.l. However, narrower ranges are found for all models, with a tendency of overpredicting the plume heights for the shallower injection transects and underpredicting for the days showing deeper injections. The misrepresented plume injection heights lead to inaccurate vertical plume allocations along the transects corresponding to transported smoke that is 1 d old. Discrepancies in model performance for surface PM2.5 and AOD are further suggested by the evaluation of their ratio, which cannot be compensated for by solely adjusting the smoke emissions but are more attributable to model representations of plume injections, besides other possible factors including the evolution of PBL depths and aerosol optical property assumptions. By consolidating multiple forecast systems, these results provide strategic insight on pathways to improve smoke forecasts.

The joint population dynamics of the cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and bilberry (V. myrtillus) have been studied in a protected, subxeric Cladina–Vaccinium pine forest (boreo-nemoral zone) at the middle and late stages of postfire succession. Features of the sampling design included a long observation term (25 years), a large sample size on permanent transects, a reexamination interval of 5 years, and the determination of species rooted frequency on small (20 × 20 cm) quadrats. We propose a discrete Markov chain as a model of species replacement on the quadrats. It has the following four states: both species are absent on the quadrat, only cowberry is present, only bilberry is present, and both species are simultaneously present. It was found that all possible transitions between states occurred in each time interval in the forest; this results in a complete digraph (directed graph) of transitions. The frequency of transitions from one state to another varies between the observation intervals; however, the calculation of the Mantel–Haenszel statistical test shows that the samples are homogeneous for most of the of transition variants. This makes it possible to move from the averaging of transition matrices to the averaging of the transition probabilities. We have revealed a unidirectional trend in time changes for three of the chain states: the proportion of quadrats occupied only by bilberry V. myrtillus and those with both species constantly increases, while the proportion of “empty” quadrats decreases. The fourth state (quadrats occupied only by cowberry V. vitis-idaea) has a local maximum at the middle stages of succession, followed by a later decrease in its proportion. The distribution of quadrats by state (29.1% of quadrats are occupied only by bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus, 15.2% contain only by cowberry V. vitis-idaea, 44.4% have both species, and 11.3% are species-free) is expected to be the terminal stable outcome of the species dynamics. The results confirm that the coexistence of V. myrtillus and V. vitis-idaea can be stable at the final succession stages. Several succession stages are described: the proportion of dwarf shrubs is low at the first stage; then quadrats are dominated by V. vitis-idaea at the second stage; and, finally, V. myrtillus is dominant at the third stage (although the quadrats where both species grow together prevail). The total time of postfire succession in the subxeric Cladina–Vaccinium pine forest (in the boreo-nemoral zone) is estimated to be approximately 140 years (when the state differs from the equilibrium state by less than 5%). In terms of forest typology, the modeling result indicates that the Cladina–Vaccinium pine forest is gradually transforming into a bilberry–cowberry pine forest and then into a cowberry–bilberry pine forest.

The Andean forests of northern Ecuador are known for their high levels of plant diversity relative to the area they occupy. Typically, these forests grow on steep slopes that lead to dramatic habitat gradients across short distances. These extreme habitat gradients make the Andean forest ecosystem an excellent natural laboratory for understanding the effect of elevation on forest community diversity, structure and composition. We established 31 plots (50 m × 5 m) which are divided between two elevational transects in the cloud forest of the Siempre Verde Reserve in the western foothills of the Andes Mountains of northern Ecuador. All trees and tree ferns with a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥ 5 cm were measured and identified. We examined changes in community composition, structure, and diversity along and between the elevational transects and three elevational zones: low (2437–2700 m), middle (2756–3052 m), and high (3163–3334 m). We found four main trends associated with the elevational gradients at this site: (1) community composition differed between the two transects and among the three elevational zones according to N-MDS, ANOSIM, and percentage of shared species, with some species having limited distributions, (2) metrics of community structure showed opposite relationships with elevation, depending on the transect, with the only significant relationship (negative) found between basal area and elevation in the open trail transect, (3) alpha diversity, in general, peaked at mid-elevations, and (4) beta diversity consistently increased with distance between plots along elevation. The complexity of changes in community composition, structure, and alpha diversity along elevation may be related to the heterogeneity of the environment on a local scale, such as topography, soil composition, and even human impact, or to dispersal limitation and should be investigated further. These changes in community composition and the relatively high beta diversity found at this site exemplify the biological complexity of montane forest, reinforcing arguments from other studies on the importance of their conservation.

In this paper, the spatio-temporal variation and propagation direction of coal fire were studied in the Jharia Coalfield (JCF), India during 2006–2015 through satellite-based night-time land surface temperature (LST) imaging. The LST was retrieved from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) night-time thermal-infrared data by a robust split-window algorithm based on scene-specific regression coefficients, band-specific hybrid emissivity, and night-time atmospheric transmittance. The LST-profile-based coal fire detection algorithm was formulated through statistical analysis of the LST values along multiple transects across diverse coal fire locations in the JCF in order to compute date-specific threshold temperatures for separating thermally-anomalous and background pixels. This algorithm efficiently separates surface fire, subsurface fire, and thermally-anomalous transitional pixels. During the observation period, it was noticed that the coal fire area increased significantly, which resulted from new coal fire at many places owing to extensive opencast-mining operations. It was observed that the fire propagation occurred primarily along the dip direction of the coal seams. At places, lateral-propagation of limited spatial extent was also observed along the strike direction possibly due to spatial continuity of the coal seams along strike. Moreover, the opencast-mining activities carried out during 2009–2015 and the structurally weak planes facilitated the fire propagation.

Peningkatan emisi Gas Rumah Kaca (GRK) terutama karbondioksida (CO2) menyebabkan pemanasan global. Oleh karena itu diperlukan mitigasi emisi CO2 dengan memanfaatkan potensi lamun sebagai penyimpan karbon dalam bentuk biomassa. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui kemampuan lamun jaringan atas dan jaringan bawah dalam menyimpan karbon di perairan Pantai Pokemon pada Agustus 2020. Metode penelitian yang digunakan yaitu metode survei dan deskriptif eksploratif. Sampel diambil dari 3 stasiun pengamatan dengan line dan kuadrant transect menggunakan metode purposive sampling. Pengukuran parameter kualitas perairan dilakukan secara insitu. Analisis simpanan karbon lamun diukur menggunakan metode pengabuan atau loss on ignition (LOI). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan terdapat 4 jenis lamun yaitu Enhalus acoroides, Thalassia hemprichii, Cymodocea rotundata, dan Halophila ovalis dengan jenis T. hemprichii yang mendominasi. Total kerapatan sebesar 295,62 ind/m2 dan total penutupan yaitu 21,29%. Biomassa secara keseluruhan sebesar 74,42 gbk/m2 dengan biomassa jaringan atas sebesar 35,80 gbk/m2 dan jaringan bawah sebesar 38,62 gbk/m2. Simpanan karbon sebesar 0,23 ton C/ha dengan jaringan atas sebesar 0,10 ton C/ha dan jaringan bawah 0,13 ton C/ha. Total stok karbon mencapai 1,13 ton C dalam luasan padang lamun sebesar 4,903 ha dengan stok karbon jaringan atas bernilai 0,51 ton C dan jaringan bawah sebesar 0,62 ton C. Secara umum lamun jaringan bawah di Pantai Pokemon lebih besar menyimpan karbon.

The tropical cyclones are very destructive during landfall, generating high wind speeds, heavy intensive rainfall, and severe storm surges with huge coastal inundations that have massive socioeconomic and ecological catastrophic effects on human beings and the economic well-being. The sizable ecological effects of cyclonic storms cannot be ignored because of the uncertainty of impact, intensity induced by a warming ocean, and sea level rise. The Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan which falls under the category five classifications under the scheme of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), on the basis the maximum sustained wind speeds gusting up to 168 km/h affected parts of West Bengal and Odisha in India, and south-west Bangladesh between May 16 and 20, 2020. In this work, we have focused on the coastal districts of Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Balasore in Odisha, Purba Medinipur, and South Twenty-Four Parganas in West Bengal, India and, Khulna, Barisal division of Bangladesh that have been seriously affected by the Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan. The objective of the study is to analyze the eco-physical assessment of tropical cyclone Amphan using geospatial technology. Therefore, shoreline change detection and enhance vegetation index have been used in this research work to systematically analyze the eco-physical impact parameters of Cyclonic Storm Amphan using ortho-rectified Landsat 8/OLI imagery and MODIS dataset of USGS with high spatial resolutions of 30–500 m. The result highlights that about 60.33% of the total transects of the study area was eroded, but only 24.99% of the total transects experienced accretion, and 14.68% of the total transects depicted stability. The scientific study will benefit coastal managers and policymakers in formulating action plans for coastal zone management, natural resilience, and sustainable future development.

An improved understanding of the relationships among vegetation, groundwater level, and microtopography is crucial for making well-informed management decisions in areas with shallow groundwater resources. We measured plant species abundance/composition and richness in relation to depth to groundwater (DTW) and microtopography in Owens Valley, California, particularly in areas where DTW ranged from 0 to 4 m. Sampling occurred along 67 vegetation transects across three community types. Relationships between DTW and community composition were evaluated using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS), while non-parametric multiplicative regression was used to relate DTW and microtopography to species abundance. The dominant gradient in species composition (NMS Axis 1) explained ~51% of variation in our distance matrix and was most strongly associated (r = 0.55) with DTW. The graminoids Juncus arcticus, Leymus triticoides, and Distichlis spicata had strong affinities toward areas with the shallowest DTW ( 2.0 m). Variation in microtopography affected species abundance and increased species richness for vegetation communities at either extreme of the water table gradient, shallow, and deep DTW but not the intermediate DTW. Findings indicate that desert plant communities from shallow aquifers have adapted to different DTW and microtopography conditions and that considering those adaptations may be important to manage groundwater and vegetation resources in these areas.

The buoyancy properties of anthropogenic microparticles (AM) have contributed to their wide dispersion across rivers and oceans, as they tend to float and can be transported by wind and marine currents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the abundance and distribution of AM in relation to zooplankton abundance in three coastal localities from the southern Mexican Pacific. Thirty-nine zooplankton samples were collected along eleven transects perpendicular to the coast of Oaxaca; in three localities: Puerto Escondido, Huatulco, and Salina Cruz, from April 30 to May 12, 2017- Sixty-eight percent of samples showed evidence of AM (mainly microfibers), with abundances varying by locations between 0.004 to 8.72 microparticles per 1000 m3. The relationship between zooplankton biomass and AM abundance was not statistically significant (r2 = 0.0104), likely due to the dispersion of AM towards the open ocean by offshore winds that reduce coastal concentrations.

This research was conducted in the village of Sambungo, Silaut District, Pesisir Selatan Regency, West Sumatra Province in August 2020. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure of the macrozoobenthos community which includes: type, density, diversity, uniformity, dominance and distribution patterns. Sampling was done randomly at 3 stations, each station consists of 3 transects and each transect consists of 3 plots, namely in the upper middle and lower in the intertidal zone. The results of the study found 5 classes of macrozoobenthos with 9 species. The abundance values ​​obtained ranged from 3.33 - 5.11 ind/m2. The diversity index value ranges from 1.18-1.54 which is classified as moderate, while the dominance index value ranges from 0.39-0.52, namely there was no species that dominate, the uniformity index value ranges from 0.03-0.06 which is not balanced and the value of the distribution pattern ranges from 2.81 to 3.76 with the pattern of distribution in groups

Kasiak Island is one of the islands located in the waters of Pariaman, West Sumatra, and located right in front of Pariaman City. Around the sea, the island is surrounded by coral reefs and is a protected area. In the aquatic area of Kasiak Island has never been conducted research on the relationship of coral reef cover to the coral Pomacentridae and phytoplankton. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct research on this matter in the waters of Kasiak Island, West Sumatra Province. Data collection of coral reef cover is done by the LIT (Line Intercept transect) method with a transect length of 50 meters at a depth of 5 meters using scuba equipment. Coral fish observation is done by UVC (Underwater Visual Census) method with a transect length of 50 meters and an observation area of 2.5 meters left and right at a depth of 5 meters. Phytoplankton sampling is conducted during the day at 11.00 to 15.00 WIB at five points of the station with a depth of 5 meters using Vandorn water sampler volume 2 L with a total take of 100 L, then filtered using Plankton net no 25 and inserted into a sample bottle of 125 ml, then preserved using Lugol 4% as much as 4-6 drops, after which analyzed in the laboratory. Based on the results there is a very strong relationship between coral cover to the abundance of coral fish, where coral cover contributes to the abundance of coral fish by 93.87%, which means that the higher the percentage of coral cover the more species and abundance of coral fish are found. Then the a strong relationship between coral reef cover and phytoplankton abundance, where coral reef cover contributes to the abundance of phytoplankton by 56.37%, which means an increase in the percentage of coral reef cover along with the increasing abundance of phytoplankton.

Poncan Godang Island is included in the appropriate category based on the suitability of land for the Sibolga tourist area, with the presence of tourism activities that can also affect the amount of biodiversity in it. Considering the importance of coral reefs for biodiversity and sea urchins which also have a role in coral reef ecosystems, it is necessary to conduct research on the condition of sea urchins population and the percentage of coral reefs on Poncan Godang Island. Sea urchin and coral reef data were collected using the Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method by monitoring directly on the transect line along 50 meters. The results obtained indicate that the population of sea urchins in the waters of Poncan Godang Island, North Sumatra can be described, that sea urchins do not affect the coral reef ecosystem because at stations 1 and 5 there is no sea urchin and the percentage of coral cover is classified as bad, but at station 3 there are 32 individuals with coral reef cover conditions, while at stations with The percentage of good coral cover is that at station 4 there are only 25 individuals, as well as at station 2 where the percentage of coral cover is higher than station 3 and there are no sea urchins

This study was conducted in July-August 2020 by using sediment samples and macrozoobenthos in the southern part of Bengkalis Island, Riau Province. The aim of this study is to find out how much the organic matter content, the abundance of macrozoobenthos, and the correlation between the organic matter content of the sediments to the abundance of macrozoobenthos. This study used a survey method consisting of 3 stations with 3 transects in each station. The organic matter content of sediments revolved from 4.85 to 8.52% in the waters of the southern part of Bengkalis Island. The highest organic matter content was at station III, namely 8.52%, while the lowest organic matter content was at station II namely 4.85%. The abundance of organisms found at the three research stations was 4.04 to 5.96 ind/m2. The abundance average at all macrozoobenthic research stations was 4.93 ind/m2. The results of simple linear regression analysis of organic matter content and abundance of macrozoobenthos showed a very weak correlation

Landscape ecological study put forwards immense effectiveness for learning ecological connectivity in tropical coastal environments. Landscape ecology provides a well-developed theoretical and equipped structure for concentrating on sophisticated multi-scale questions concerning the influence of spatial outline on the ecological procedure. The present study deals with the climatic and altitudinal gradient which has resulted in a diversity of flora under the micro-geomorphological component of the delicate coastal setting. The native vegetation of coastal areas plays a significant role to stabilize the alluvium surface against wind erosion and provides habitat dissemination for wildlife. Accordingly, vegetation diversity has also been estimated through the randomly selected three transects (A, B and C) with 25 grids. Five types of vegetation communities are identified through the transact method (e.g., grasses, heaths, scrubs, small trees and large trees) and 25 types of micro-landscape units are identified in these transects of Ramnagar-I and Ramnagar-II coastal Administrative Blocks. The coastal vegetation is widely distributed and extended over the beach ridge surface; beach ridge fringed coastal plain; swale topography; inner coastal plain with abandoned creeks and older natural levee bank surfaces. The study divulges the relationships between vegetation and landform units of the coastal chenier plain surface and examined the morphological characteristics of the landscape instability. The interrelationship between habitats and morphological units demonstrates the interconnecting activities with each other in this particular sensitive ecosystem. The micro-morphological unit mainly beach ridge and natural levees has immense significance in connection with the floral species diversity as well as affluence of floral species.

Oil palm plantations bordering forests were thought to affect the biotic components that make up the diversity of ecosystems, especially species with high mobilization and adaptability, such as spiders. This study aims to identify spiders found in oil palm plantations and analyzing diversity and evenness at various distances of oil palm plantations from the forest. Observations of spiders were carried out on oil palm plantations bordered by forests in Nagari Gunung Selasih and Sungai Kambut, Pulau Punjung District, Dharmasraya Regency, West Sumatra Province. In oil palm plantations, a one km long transect line was made from the forest edge. In the sample plots, spiders were observed using a pitfall trap, knockdown, and hand collecting. Data were analyzed using the Shannon-Wiener diversity and evenness index. The highest spider species diversity index was found at a distance of 100–300 m from the forest, respectively 3.06, 3.05, and 3.11. The same is true for the highest evenness index at a distance of 100–300 m from the forest, respectively, namely 0.94, 0.94, and 0.95. In general, the results of this study indicate that the presence of forest bordering the forest is thought to affect spiders in oil palm plantations.

AbstractSea level rise threatens coastal wetlands worldwide, and restoration projects are implementing strategies that decrease vulnerability to this threat. Vegetation monitoring at sites employing new restoration strategies and determination of appropriate monitoring techniques improve understanding of factors leading to restoration success. In Central California, soil addition raised a degraded marsh plain to a high elevation expected to be resilient to sea level rise over the next century. We monitored plant survival and recruitment using area searches, transect surveys, and unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) imagery. We used random forest modeling to examine the influence of nine environmental variables on vegetation colonization and conducted targeted soil sampling to examine additional factors contributing to vegetation patterns. Limited pre-construction vegetation survived soil addition, likely due to the sediment thickness (mean = 69 cm) and placement method. After 1 year, about 10% of the initially bare area saw vegetation reestablishment. Elevation and inundation frequency were particularly critical to understanding restoration success, with greatest vegetation cover in high-elevation areas tidally inundated

A pesar de las crecientes investigaciones realizadas en los humedales del Callao se sabe poco sobre su diversidad biológica. El Parque Ecológico Municipal “El Mirador” se ubica en el distrito de Ventanilla y cuenta con 20 ha aproximadamente. La mayoría de los problemas que presenta este humedal son la reducción gradual de sus espacios, por la expansión urbana, incendios, arrojos de residuos sólidos e ingresos no autorizados. Nuestro objetivo es presentar un inventario florístico y lista de aves del mencionado humedal. Se realizaron visitas mensuales diurnas desde enero 2016 a diciembre 2018; el registro de las especies de flora se llevó a cabo mediante búsqueda intensiva dentro del área, para la evaluaciones de las especies de aves, se emplearon de manera combinada el conteo de puntos y transecto lineal; la identificación de las especies se realizó mediante literatura especializada. Se registraron en total 18 especies de plantas vasculares distribuidas en 11 familias, se comentaron aspectos sobre forma de crecimiento, procedencia y usos, siendo la familia más representativa la Poaceae con cinco especies; en cuanto a las aves se reporta 81 especies, distribuidas en 31 familias, presentando información sobre su estacionalidad y estado de conservación. Palabras clave: aves – Humedales – plantas vasculares – Región Callao – Ventanilla

Glaciers in the Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI) have been shrinking in recent decades, but due to a lack of field observations, understanding of the drivers of ablation is limited. We present a distributed surface energy balance model, forced with meteorological observations from a west–east transect located in the north of the SPI. Between October 2015 and June 2016, humid and warm on-glacier conditions prevailed on the western side compared to dry and cold conditions on the eastern side. Controls of ablation differ along the transect, although at glacier-wide scale sensible heat (mean of 72 W m−2 to the west and 51 W m−2 to the east) and net shortwave radiation (mean of 54 W m−2 to the west and 52 W m−2 to the east) provided the main energy sources. Net longwave radiation was an energy sink, while latent heat was the most spatially variable flux, being an energy sink in the east (−4 W m−2) and a source in the west (20 W m−2). Ablation was high, but at comparable elevations, it was greater to the west. These results provide new insights into the spatial variability of energy-balance fluxes and their control over the ablation of Patagonian glaciers.

El uso sostenible de la vida silvestre requiere información sobre los parámetros demográficos de poblaciones. Si bien, el uso del chigüiro se da en toda su distribución, en Colombia el aprovechamiento legal está suspendido hace dos décadas. Las sabanas inundables de Colombia y Venezuela albergan las mayores poblaciones de chigüiro y se encuentran en riesgo debido a transformaciones antrópicas. Estimamos densidad, tamaño poblacional, estructura de edad y tamaño de grupo de una población de chigüiro. Presentamos información de siete muestreos entre el 2004 y 2017 en una cuadrícula de 3600 ha con transectos espaciados 700 m en Paz de Ariporo, Casanare (Colombia). Se realizaron tres tipos de comparaciones: 1) Períodos climáticos interanuales, iguales en muestras de años contiguos, 2) Períodos climáticos estacionales, diferentes de años contiguos, y 3) por década, períodos climáticos iguales en intervalos de una década. Para todos los muestreos calculamos la tasa de crecimiento poblacional finito (λ) y el índice de producción máxima (Pmax); para los muestreos coincidentes con la cosecha legal en Colombia calculamos el índice de cosecha sostenida (h). En 2005, la población presentó el mayor tamaño (N = 12 802, D = 3,75ind / ha), mientras que en 2017 disminuyó (N = 6 928, D = 2,03ind / ha). En las comparaciones estacionales λ muestra una disminución cercana al 30 %, mientras que, por década, hay fluctuaciones positivas y negativas. Para 2005 y 2015, (h), indica que el aprovechamiento sustentable es viable, sin embargo, es necesario el monitoreo de las poblaciones y su hábitat.

Population monitoring of arboreal mammals should be informed by estimates of detection probabilities from different methods. We employed trapping and spotlighting across 36 transects to detect the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis). Repeat surveys were conducted over five sessions. We used multi-method occupancy to compare these methods. The probability of detection did not differ between one night of spotlighting (0.23 ± 0.04, mean ± s.e.), or one night of trapping (0.22 ± 0.03). Trapping continued for three nights, which led to the probability of detection rising to 0.41 ± 0.04. Spotlighting was only conducted once per session. These methods would require equivalent effort when conducted over three nights. Further investigation is required to compare this and other methods such as camera trapping and spotlighting with thermal cameras.