bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Man and Nature on Rodrigues: Tragedy of an Island Common
Authors: Gade Daniel W.
Published: August 2009

One of the most isolated islands on Earth, Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean stands as a modern-day ‘morality play’ of the consequences of environmental abuse. This tiny piece of land on the fringe of the tropics, emerged as an island through volcanic action some 1.5 million years ago, and acquired its biota mainly by long-distance dispersal from the west. Rodrigues was not inhabited by any people until 1691, and since then has always been administered from Mauritius which lies 650 km to the west.

Burning, browsing, and woodcutting, have almost completely removed the indigenous forest. Close to a third of the native plant species have disappeared, and another third are on the brink of extinction. Giant land-tortoises, sea-turtles, and the Dugong, have vanished. Only two of the ten native species of land-birds survive. The endemic Solitaire was killed off even before the human population started to grow. Forest removal opened new habitats for introduced plants and animals, some of which are now highly invasive pests.

Human impact on Rodrigues has gone beyond biotic effects. Cultivation of row-crops on the hilly terrain, and the keeping of domesticated animals in excessive numbers, led to the loss of most of the topsoil by the beginning of the twentieth century. Soil removal and compaction drastically modified the hydrology of the island, and silt deposition in the lagoon has contributed to fish decline. The inherent vulnerability of the native biota, the twin hazards of cyclones and droughts that befall the island, and demographic pressure, have all exacerbated the rate and degree of resource degradation.
Analysis of Forest Land-use and Vegetation in a Part of Central Himalaya, Using Aerial Photographs
Authors: Tiwari A.K. , Singh J.S.
Published: August 2009

The forest canopy, biomass, and basal tree-trunk cover, of an area of about 200,000 ha, comprising 10 subcatchments in the Indian Central Himalaya, were mapped by employing aerial photographs and non-destructive field sampling. This method provides basic information on the current forest land-use and biomass for enlightened environmental planning and conservation. Regression equations developed to describe predictive relationships between crown-cover and basal tree-trunk cover; biomass and crown-cover; basal tree-trunk cover and bole biomass; and basal tree-trunk cover and total above-ground biomass, for different forests occurring in the area, should prove of value for future ecological studies in the Central Himalaya.
Institutional Arrangements for Individual Environmentally Significant Areas: The Case of Aishihik, Yukon
Authors: Nelson J. Gordon , Grigoriew Paul
Published: August 2009

A method is described of applying institutional arrangements to an individual environmentally significant area (ESA). It is assumed that an ESA has been recognized by park, wildlife, or other groups, on the basis of abiotic, biotic, and/or cultural, characteristics, as well as judgements about significance and constraints. National park, wildlife reserve, or other, institutional arrangements, may also have been suggested for the ESA. The goal is to decide whether these or other arrangements are appropriate— through analysis of relevant: (1) legislation; (2) agencies; and (3) reserve designation or land management types.
Conservation and Protected Areas on South-Pacific Islands: The Importance of Tradition
Authors: Carew-Reid Jeremy
Published: August 2009

The natural environments of the South Pacific islands are degrading rapidly. The region suffers one of the highest rates of species extinction in the world, and has probably the world's highest proportion of endangered species per unit land-area. Most island ecosystems in the South Pacific are totally unprotected, and many are rapidly diminishing in area or at least deteriorating in quality. The practice of conservation through conventional forms of protected areas has been ineffective in Pacific countries, having been applied in ignorance or denial of traditional practices or tenurial arrangements when such traditional patterns are often crucial to the maintenance of South Pacific cultures. Only approaches to conservation which embrace the multiple and subsistence uses of natural resources by island communities are having success.
Long-term Constraints on Human Activity
Authors: Lovins Amory B.
Published: August 2009

Biophysical and other ‘outer limits’ of food, land, water, climatic change, stratospheric chemistry, energy, hazardous substances, non-fuel minerals, human stress, and social and ecological stability, raise fundamental questions about present trends in management methods and in global organization. The diverse outer limits surveyed in this paper reflect complex, poorly perceived, and often unsuspected, interconnections between numerous biological and geophysical processes, many of which are obscure or still unknown. Our lack of predictive power, let alone of quantitative understanding, implies a need to treat essential life-support systems with great caution and forbearance, lest we erode safety margins whose importance we do not yet appreciate.

Even those outer limits which now seem remote are relevant to present policy, as their timely avoidance may require us to discard otherwise attractive short-term policies in favour of others that offer less immediate advantage but that retain options which may be needed later. Such alternative policies may have to rely more on social than on technical innovation in order to address underlying disequilibria rather than merely palliating their symptoms. Moreover, some outer limits are sufficiently imminent, or require such long lead-times to avoid, that fundamental changes in policy, in institutions, and in the degree of global interdependence, seem necessary if we are to live to enjoy some of the later and more interesting limits to human activity.
Solar Photothermal Power Generation
Authors: Meinel Aden Baker , Meinel Marjorie Pettit
Published: August 2009

Solar energy could be a major resource for the semiarid regions of the United States and the world. This source of energy is a popular topic in the media at this time, but is it really the option which many would like to see or is it more likely to remain the illusion it has been up to now? Many ways of using solar energy have been proposed, and each appears to have a good technological basis. The additional factors that will see many solar schemes fall by the wayside are the hard facts of economics and the realities of social assimilation of technological advances.

The major options of house-heating and cooling and electrical power production need to be examined. Home uses depend upon the degree to which people are willing to put up with the inconveniences associated with bulky roof-top units. It is more likely that solar energy will subsequently find wider acceptance when it can be converted into power and transportable fuels at remote solar power-farms located in the arid regions of the United States and other lands that are fortunate enough to have these sunny regions. The savings to the environment could be very considerable.
Tourism and Environmental Conservation: Conflict, Coexistence, or Symbiosis?
Authors: Budowski Gerardo
Published: August 2009

A new and promising field has appeared as a result of the increased tourist industry based on natural resources, though too often such expansion has been achieved without due planning and has taken many people by surprise. Conservationists and their organizations have often reacted adversely to this ‘invasion’, but this need not be so. There are many reasons and examples which prove that a change of attitude, leading to a symbiotic relationship between tourism and conservation in the wide sense, can offer a very large variety of advantages and benefits—physical, cultural, ethical, and economic—to a country.

A tourist industry can expect a brilliant future, based on natural assets of the environment, provided due consideration is given to the ecological principles which must guide resource-use. The alliance of those responsible for tourism with ecologists and conservationists is a natural one, that should contribute greatly to development—the right kind of development involving the right kind of change—leading to a better quality of life for all concerned.
Field Studies of the Effects of Cement Dust on the Growth and Yield of Olive Trees in Turkey
Authors: Sheikh Khalid Hamid , Öztürk Münir A. , Seçmen Ö. , Vardar Y.
Published: August 2009

The effects of cement dust emissions from a cement factory on the growth and yield of trees in the adjacent Olive plantation were investigated. Some characteristics of the soils in the polluted and non-polluted areas of the plantation were studied.

In the polluted area the cement dust had formed a crust ca 1 cm thick on the soil surface, and the leaves of Olive trees in this area were also covered with a cement crust. The amount of dust deposited on the leaves of the polluted trees was around 2.55 mg/sq. cm of leaf surface, but they did not show any visible symptoms of injury. However, as compared with a non-polluted tree, the polluted trees showed up to 50 and 55.6 per cent reduction in growth and fruit yield, respectively. Moreover, the length and width of the fruits of the polluted trees were, respectively, some 15 and 20 per cent shorter.

As regards herbaceous plants, there were only 6 species growing in the polluted area and these were practically confined to the soil under the trees whereas there were 26 species growing virtually at random in the non-polluted area. The soil of the polluted area had a lower moisture-content, less organic matter, a lower water-holding capacity, and a markedly reduced content of calcium carbonate, than that of the non-polluted area, which, however, had a somewhat lower content of other salts.

The marked reduction in the growth and yield of Olive trees in the polluted area may be explained in terms of the shading effect of the foliar cement crust as well as through the changes in soil characteristics that had been brought about by the cement factory effluents. Thus the uncontrolled emissions of a cement kiln can affect the growth of the adjacent vegetation through both the air and the soil.
Changing Trends in the Biosphere and in Biogeochemical Cycles
Authors: Kovda Viktor A.
Published: August 2009

The examples discussed here show how closely connected are purely natural biogeochemical processes with the consequences of Man's impact on Nature in the present-day biosphere—especially if this impact takes the form of deforestation, largearea irrigation without drainage, or massive introduction into the biosphere of complex compounds utilized in industry, farming, and other branches of economy and life. Reconstruction of Man's economic activities on a planned scientific basis is becoming imperative now. We need implementation of the principles of science-based, waste-free technology, maximum reutilization and recycling of the rejects and by-products, and adoption of an extremely delicate approach to Nature and its links. Regular observations of the status of Nature (monitoring) at suitable biospheric stations are necessary. This means that a lot of various technological, field, and laboratory studies, with experiments and modelling, have to be done. They will help us to unravel further the mysteries of the biosphere-man system, and to use with greater effect all available mineral wealth, energy, soils, water, plants, and other natural resources. Then we shall better understand the aridization and other depletion phenomena with which we are confronted, and be able to devise methods of fighting them and of multiplying the productivity of land and water.

Our environment and natural resources should be used and controlled in such a way as to maintain normal biospheric functions and efficiently prevent cases of functional disorganization of this complicated system. We must also try to reduce the possible negative after-effects of any disruptive processes in order to protect Man and his health and also Nature.

We have to preserve the biosphere of our beautiful and unique planet Earth for ourselves and for future generations.
Establishing Spartina alterniflora Marsh in North Carolina
Authors: Seneca Ernest D. , Broome Stephen W. , Woodhouse William W. , Cammen Leon M. , Lyon Joseph T.
Published: August 2009

Spartina alterniflora salt-marsh has been established from seed and transplants on dredged materials and sandy shorelines along the North Carolina coast. Transplants were more successful than seeding over a greater portion of the intertidal range and under more rigorous environmental conditions, but seeding was successful in the upper half of protected sites. Seeding at the rate of 100 viable seeds per square metre from April through May can result in complete vegetational coverage by the end of the first growing-season. At the end of the second growing-season, above-ground biomass accumulation from seeding approached that produced by transplants which had originally been planted on a 0.9-metre centre. Both above-ground and below-ground production of planted marsh compared well with values for these components in natural marshes. There were no differences in production by epiphytes between planted and natural S. alterniflora marsh at two different locations. Faunal production in the upper 13 cm of sediment was significantly less in planted than in natural marsh, and where marsh plants accumulated sediments, faunal numbers and biomass were less in planted than in unplanted areas. Sediment carbon content indicated that 4 to 25 years might be required for a newly-planted marsh to resemble a natural marsh.

Based on our studies, the techniques developed to plant S. alterniflora on dredged material and along sandy shorelines can be employed to initiate new and functional salt-marsh where none existed previously. The length of time required for man-initiated marsh to resemble natural marsh depends upon how closely the new substrate resembles natural marsh in the type of sediment accumulated, in the elevation of the new substrate, in the natural sedimentation rate in the area, and in the relative maturity of the natural marsh system.
Planning and Management of Water Resources in the Ljubljana Region of Yugoslavia
Authors: Angotti Thomas R.
Published: August 2009

In spite of a relatively pollution-free ground- and surface-water system in the Ljubljana region of Yugoslavia, large public investments are planned for waste-water treatment systems. This is due to a high level of public awareness of pollution dangers and to particular characteristics of the decentralized economic and political institutional framework of the Yugoslav self-management system. The decentralized framework leads to a trend towards parsimonious decisionmaking—that is, adoption of the simplest solutions to otherwise complex policy-problems.

The new ‘water self-management communities’ in Slovenia may potentially become the instruments for regional basin-wide planning, but face four major existing problems: (1) the proliferation of local wastewater facilities throughout the region; (2) without consideration of their cost-effectiveness, the major policy goal is simply to provide sewers for 90% of the population, and not optimization of water-quality or investments; (3) the fragmentation of water management institutions hinders a comprehensive basinwide approach; and finally (4) the system of waterquality monitoring is not related to the planning process, while discharge standards and stream classifications are not based on utilization of in-stream assimilative capacity.

Three alternative systems of waste-water treatment and disposal are considered: decentralization, regionalization, and the present trend towards local communal treatment facilities but with a centralized system. Even taking into account scale economies, regionalization is probably the most costly because of the low-density urban pattern in the region, and the last-mentioned trend should be the least costly in terms of short-run capital outlays. The study could have wide implications as an example.
Environmental Problems Associated with Arctic Development Especially in Alaska
Authors: West George C.
Published: August 2009

Rapid development for the exploration and extraction of mineral and petroleum resources in the cold-dominated arctic tundra and subarctic taiga regions of the world has resulted in a series of unexpected potential impacts on the environment, wildlife, and human health and safety.

Surface transportation, especially over low wet-tundra areas in summer, causes long-term changes in vegetation through reduction of insulation to the underlying permafrost. The number of passes over the same track, ground pressure of the vehicle, and speed of travel, affect the degree of degradation. For permanent roads, gravel removed from adjacent stream-beds or hillsides and laid directly on the tundra mat, has provided the most suitable road-bed. These roads, and the removal of gravel, however cause aesthetic and practical problems such as spreading of dust, impoundment of water, behavioural barricading of animals, alteration of river channels, and siltation of streams.

Anadromous fishes constitute a major food resource; alteration of stream channels or siltation of rivers can affect their movement and reproductive success. Oil-spills in aquatic systems, especially in rivers, are harder to control and clean up than terrestrial ones. Recovery of ponds in which oil has been spilled takes several years. The oil-rich outer-continental shelves in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas, now under exploration for oil, are especially sensitive, as they are highly productive and contain unique populations of marine mammals and birds.

Human habitation of the Arctic requires transport of food, fuel, and construction materials for lodging, and disposal of refuse and human wastes which, due to the permafrost-underlain vegetative mat, is difficult in arctic areas. Heating by fossil fuels results in ice-fogs in winter and accumulation of atmospheric pollutants at ground-level during thermal inversions at all seasons.

Perhaps the greatest impact on arctic ecosystems is simply the increased intervention of the human population. Where native people were previously only sparsely settled or nomadic in the tundra, and on coasts where they tended to congregate, now the economic need for resources has resulted in increased pressure overall which will result in decreasing habitats for wildlife, destruction of wilderness areas, and increased access to humans for further exploration and recreation.
Reafforestation in the U. S. Pacific Northwest
Authors: Waring Richard H.
Published: August 2009

The Pacific Northwest is economically dependent upon its forest resources, which at present represent about 30% of the nation's softwood supply. Predicted decreases in the available supply have encouraged more intensive forest management, and new methods of planting, harvesting, and transport, have been developed.

Even with these improvements, problems exist in reducing erosion and accommodating other uses of forest lands and streams. With adequate planning and effort, however, most of these problems can be solved. But costs are high, and State laws controlling all forest practices are forcing Federal, State, and private, landowners to cooperate in planning for the future. Decisions that must soon be made should reflect an ecological understanding that could ensure the economic future of the Pacific Northwest.
Man's Impact on the Natural Environment of Peninsular Malaysia: Some Problems and Human Consequences
Authors: Aiken S. Robert , Moss Michael R.
Published: August 2009

Malaysia is one of the world's most successful ‘developing’ countries. As such it provides some excellent examples of rapidly changing man–environment relationships of a type that are soon to be expected in many other Third World nations.

The examples selected for this paper have been chosen to show both the degree of Man's impact on the natural environment of Peninsular Malaysia and also the changing relationships between Man and his environment. These two themes are inextricably related. The case-studies used illustrate these themes on different areal scales.

The impact of oil spillage from grounded supertankers using the Straits of Malacca and Singapore illustrates the international implications of a potentially widespread ecological disaster. The need for international control is stressed. In Malaysia, effluent from palm-oil processing mills is becoming an increasingly serious water-pollution problem in many of the Peninsula's rivers. Although the effects may be confined to individual drainage-basins, the results can be catastrophic to both aquatic and marine ecosystems and to the people who obtain their livelihood from them.

Land development and forest clearance have resulted in the opening up of vast areas to new rural settlements, a process paralleled by rapid urbanization. The third case-study considers Man's changing relationship to his disease environment in both rural and urban areas from the point of view of man–mosquito relationships. Finally, as a local problem, the Batu Caves situation is taken to illustrate conflicting resource demands for a unique limestone habitat. The impact of industrial pollution on the local population is emphasized.

These problems are finally considered from the point of view of the quality of life and human welfare in developing countries. It is argued that raising levels of human welfare through development without giving due consideration to environmental impact may be a self-defeating process. Local issues probably make the individual aware of this paradox. Perhaps only when the cumulative environmental and individual impact of human activities is appreciated at local, regional, and national, scales will effective legislative controls be introduced.
Conservation of Butterflies in Garden Habitats
Authors: Owen Denis F.
Published: August 2009

Sixteen species of butterflies occur in a small suburban garden in Leicester, England. During a five-years' survey, 9,000 individuals were caught, marked, and released, and it is suggested that this astonishing total is evidence that English gardens support a vast and highly mobile community of butterflies.

The contrived vegetational diversity of gardens provides an excellent environment for adult butterflies, but apart from Pieris rapae and Pieris brassicae, rather few seem to breed in gardens. One attractive species, Anthocharis cardamines, may have recently become adapted to breeding on Arabis albida, a common plant in rock-gardens. Suggestions are offered as to how gardens can be made attractive for butterflies.
The Conservation of Fitzroya cupressoides and Its Environment in Southern Chile
Authors: Veblen Thomas T. , Delmastro Roberto J. , Schlatter Juan E.
Published: August 2009

The giant conifer, Fitzroya cupressoides (Mol.) Johnston, or Alerce (ah-laír-say), which is native to southern Chile and Argentina, has been intensively exploited for its durable wood since the European colonization of southern South America. Today, it persists only in relatively small stands mostly in very remote and inaccessible areas. While location in national parks provides most of the few remaining Alerce stands in Argentina with effective protection, Alerce continues to be exploited in Chile. Conservation of Chile's largest and longest-lived trees is complicated by inadequate ecological knowledge of Alerce, as well as by the socio-economic conflicts that are often associated with protection of rare but commercially valuable species.

Following exploitation, Alerce regenerates extremely poorly, though for reasons which are still unknown. Possible explanations include (1) inadequate seed production or seedling establishment in all but unusually favourable years occurring at intervals of at least ten years, (2) deterioration of the soil due to the potent leaching effect of the coniferous litter, or (3) a directional change in the climate of southern Chile since the time of establishment of much of the once-extensive forests of Alerce.

Historically, Alerce has played an important role in the economy of southern Chile since the late sixteenth century, and it continues to be commercially important. The great scientific and cultural importance of Alerce justifies giving it total protection with the status of a national monument.
Year-in-advance Forecasting of the Indian Monsoon Rainfall
Authors: Bryson Reid A. , Campbell William H.
Published: August 2009

The paper starts out by discussing factors which influence the Indian monsoon rainfall—including Northern Hemispheric temperature changes, long-period soli–lunar tides, and the tidelike phenomena associated with the wobble of the Earth relative to its spin-axis. When the effects of these factors on precipitation are quantified and integrated into a thermodynamical–statistical model, long-range climatic forecasts can be made that are better than chance or than predicting ‘normal’ up to two or more years in advance.

Climatic changes have had profound effects on the peoples of India through the controlling influence of the monsoon on Indian agriculture. We now have a technological tool, never before available, that might lessen the impact of variations of the monsoon by forecasting these variations one to two years in advance. The two-years-in-advance 1982 monsoon rainfall forecast for June and July, using the same station models that produced the excellent 1981 forecast, indicates that there is a two-to-one chance that the 1982 Indian monsoon rainfall will be less, in general, in June and July, than it was in 1981. The question which we wish to ask the reader is: How can this new technology be used? For example, how can this type of information be used for planning and policy-making in order to ensure less uncertainty about food supplies in the future than in the past?

This region cannot depend upon the monsoon to bring plentiful rain every year, and, therefore, it is essential that we should continue to improve our forecasting capability and that others learn to make optimum use of these forecasts.
The Jonglei Canal—Needed Development or Potential Ecodisaster?
Authors: el Moghraby Asim I.
Published: August 2009

The Nile is the major source of water for irrigation in northern Sudan and Egypt. The need for water is most acute during the dry season, which coincides with the period of low-flow of the Nile. Consequently, intensive studies have been made, since 1904, on the hydrology of the Nile and its control, while dams have been built on the Blue Nile, the White Nile, and the River Nile (i.e. after the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile at Khartoum). The concept of storage in the equatorial lakes was also entertained, before the decision was taken on the current excavation of the Jonglei Canal to by-pass the ‘Sudd’ swamps.

A vast literature is available on the hydrology and hydrobiology of the Nile. Nevertheless the present manuscript is seemingly the first attempt to present unpublished notes with a compilation of the published literature. I have also attempted to outline the existing Jonglei Canal Project, which is often confused with earlier-suggested projects.

I advocate that the need for water and the present state of knowledge justify undertaking ‘Phase One’ of the Project, but not ‘Phase Two’. A future paper (now in preparation) will deal in detail with claims that the excavation of the Canal will have drastic ecological repercussions, and will affect the way of life of the local Nilotic tribes.
Off-road Motorcycle Effects on a Desert Soil
Authors: Webb Robert H.
Published: August 2009

The effects of controlled motorcycle traffic on a Mojave Desert soil in California were studied in order to describe soil compaction quantitatively. Four experimental trails, representing 1, 10, 100, and 200, passes each with an off-road motorcycle were established in a loamy sand at 6.2% by weight moisture content. Penetration resistance, density, infiltration rate, and response to rainfall, were measured for the undisturbed soil and for the experimental trails immediately after the conclusion of the impact, and soil cores were measured in the laboratory to determine pore-size distributions. The soil density was remeasured again one year after the impact, to determine the amount of recovery.

Immediately after motorcycle use, the average density of the soil in the 0 to 60 mm depth increased from an average of 1.53 metric tons/cubic metre in the undisturbed soil to 1.77 t/m3in the 200 pass trail, and the average density in all the trails could be expressed empirically as a logarithmic function of the number of motorcycle passes. The soil penetration resistance profile for the 200-passes-trail showed that the maximum compaction occurred between 30 and 60 mm depth, and that changes in penetration resistance could be measured to a depth of 0.21 to 0.25 m. The infiltration rate after 2 hours decreased from an average of 98 mm/hr in the undisturbed soil to 29 mm/hr in the 200 pass trail.

The undisturbed soil infiltrated artificial rainfall up to an intensity of 46 mm/hr before surface ponding occurred in the 100- and 200-passes-trails at intensities greater than 25 mm/hr. Decreases in the soil-pore volume were greatest in pores with effective radii greater than 150 μm, with incremental decreases occurring in pores with radii between 150 and 4.5 μm; the total volumes of smaller pores were similar in the compacted and undisturbed soils. One year after the impact, the density of the soil at a depth of 0–30 mm had decreased significantly in the 10-, 100-, and 200-passes-trails but the densities at 30–60 mm depth remained unchanged.
The Desertification of Central Otago, New Zealand
Authors: Mather Alexander S.
Published: August 2009

The utilization of tussock grasslands in the semi-arid and sub-humid tussock grasslands of Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand, by European sheep farmers, began during the 1850s. Many of the sheep farmers and their hired shepherds migrated from the Scottish Highlands, and brought with them the management practices with which they were familiar. The extensive sheep farms or ‘runs’ were rented on government-owned land, and the graziers did not enjoy long-term security of tenure; nor did they receive compensation for any improvements which they might have undertaken during their occupancy.

The combination of frequent burning of the vegetation and overgrazing soon resulted in a perceptible decrease in vegetation cover, such that land deterioration accelerated in the 1870s and 1880s when a rabbit pest irrupted. No effective action was taken to deal with the problem of land deterioration, and by the early part of the twentieth century parts of Central Otago were described as man-made desert. The tussock grassland had given way to almost bare soil interspersed with patches of Scabweed (Raoulia lutescens), and accelerated soil erosion resulted in slope-wash and gullying. Remedial action was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War, but a major Commission of Inquiry at the end of the war concluded that unsuitable forms of land tenure had contributed significantly to the desertification and land deterioration.

Eventually, changes in land tenure were introduced, providing for security of tenure, entitlement to compensation for land improvements, and controls on husbandry and stocking levels.
To Prevent Aridization, Combat Salinity
Authors: Kovda Victor A.
Published: August 2009

With some 8% of the world's land-surface occupied by absolute desert, and up to another 40% estimated to be covered or threatened by less-extreme deserts or semideserts, it is clear that still-increasing desertification imposes one of the most critical situations and hence important considerations for the future of Man and Nature. All the inhabited continents are involved to varying degrees, with Australia (80% desertified) the worst-hit areally. And yet the area of the world that is affected by desertification, soil-degradation, erosion, and/or recurrent droughts, continues to increase at a rate of 5–7 million hectares annually in the face of ever-increasing overall human population. This survey warns again of foreseeable dangers for the future.

Aridization and more advanced desertification of land result from the combined action of natural tendencies and ecological mistakes made by Man in the course of his manifold activities. Most alarmingly, the velocity of what is mainly anthropogenic aridization is commonly measured in terms of a few years or at most a single human generation. But help should come from the maintenance of rain-fed farming in less arid areas, and especially from the widespread establishment of irrigation systems which now involve some 250 millions of hectares. There are, however, very serious problems engendered by continuing irrigation, which is apt to be wasteful of fresh water. To begin with, river-water resources are becoming increasingly limited and artesian waters are too-easily depleted or become brackish. Worse still, with the high rate of evaporation in arid regions, salinization of the surface and the uppermost soil horizon commonly ensues, and gradually penetrates to lower strata in which plants mainly root. Most existing irrigation systems lack the piping or consistent lining of water-bringing canals and the deep (2.5–3 m) horizontal drainage-ducts that are needed to evacuate excessive soluble salts. The ultimate disposal of the salt, moreover, still causes problems when the sea cannot be used or salt-lakes be created for fish and waterfowl. Meanwhile, revegetation is becoming more and more widely practised and some success is attending efforts to develop salt-resistant crops in USA, India, and USSR.
Small-scale Hydroelectric Power for Developing Countries: Methodology of Site-selection Based on Environmental Issues
Authors: Cada Glenn F. , Zadroga Frank
Published: August 2009

Small Hydropower Projects (SHPs), defined as including hydroelectric generating facilities with capacities of 1,000 kW or less, have great potential for elevating the standard of living and contributing to the economic growth of isolated rural communities especially in Third World countries. However, construction and operation of an SHP can result in adverse environmental impacts that should be assessed in the initial stages of site-selection and avoided in the development.

Environmental concerns can be factored into a site-selection process both at the screening and feasibility stages. The screening study is the process by which a large number of potential sites are reduced to a much smaller number of candidate sites based on coarsegrained engineering, socio-economic, and environmental, criteria. Although many of the factors determining the suitability of a given site at the screening stage involve basic engineering or economic questions, fundamental environmental issues that should be addressed include an appropriate resource-development strategy to accompany the SHPs, the quality and quantity of water available for all project needs, the presence of near-by protected areas, habitats, or important species, and the adequacy of local support for environmental protection requirements of the project.

The feasibility study is the final stage of site selection, where a relatively small number of candidate SHP sites are examined in proper detail and the best are selected for development. Potential environmental impacts of SHPs range from flow-disruption downstream to the spread of water-borne diseases and parasites, and are related to the design and size of the facility. We provide a check-list of environmental data that should be collected at this stage in order to judge the significance of projected impacts of candidate SHPs.

It is important that site selection and impact evaluation be conducted by competent individuals with formal training and experience in an appropriate environmental field. After compiling relevant information (e.g., through literature searches and contacts with government agencies or universities), the feasibility study team should visit the site of each at all likely-to-be chosen SHP. This will allow the interdisciplinary team's members to identify any previously unanticipated problems, to receive inputs from the local community, and to weigh the various benefits and consequences of SHP development before making their final selection.
History, Distribution, and Conservation, of Large Mammals and Their Habitats in Jordan
Authors: Hatough-Bouran Alia , Disi Ahmad M.
Published: August 2009

Jordan lies at a meeting-point of three zoogeographical areas: the Palaearctic, the Afrotropical, and the Oriental—circumstances which were conducive to habitat diversity in Jordan and hence the diversity and often abundant occurrence of different floral and faunal elements.

The present paper gives information about the history and past occurrence of large mammalian species and their populations in Jordan, while also focusing on the present status of the large mammalian species, and gives the reasons for extinctions and the preventive measures that are being taken to conserve the populations remaining. In addition, this study gives a future prospective outlook for habitat and mammalian conservation, and the reintroduction programme that is being implemented in Jordan.

The first part of the paper sheds light on the past existence of large mammals in Jordan. The historical sequence of events starting from the Upper Palaeolithic and continuing right up to the present, and the succession of civilizations, had a negative impact on the large mammalian populations. This section gives tabulated data on the past occurrence of 26 species, supported by evidence of their past existence such as bone remains, rock drawings, engravings, mosaics, and frescos, found in various archaeological sites in Jordan.

The second part of the paper deals with the present status of large mammalian populations, their distribution being reflected through maps indicating recent sightings in some outstanding cases. Among those are reintroduced species such as the Arabian Oryx and the Syrian Wild Ass, and highly threatened species such as the Nubian Ibex. This part also investigates the reasons for extinction, which mainly link the destruction of habitats with the direct deterioration of mammalian populations. Habitat destruction was chiefly due to the rapid decline of the natural pasture areas, overgrazing, urban expansions, unorganized construction plans, human impact, mismanagement of the highlands, fire, and hunting. All of these factors led to deforestation and soil erosion, resulting in a patchy, fragile ecocomplex. The decrease of rainfall assisted the severe deterioration of natural forests.

The future outlook of this study includes plans to restore ecosystems and, with them, much of the overall ecocomplex. For this and other reasons it also stresses the urgent need to establish more reserves, both grazing and natural. This concluding part of the paper encourages the improvement of national parks, and urges the authorities to look seriously at the often disastrous effects of mismanagement. The importance of collaboration between Jordan and the various international agencies is emphasized, as well as the need to speed up work on the National Conservation Strategy of Jordan.
East Australian Rain-forests: A Case-study in Resource Harvesting and Conservation
Authors: Whitehouse John F.
Published: August 2009

Human interactions with rain-forest on the Australian continent have played, and will continue to play, a vital role in their distribution and survival. The presence and significance of rain-forest in Australia lies in the evolutionary history of the Australian plate since the break-up of the Gondwanan supercontinent. Its continued survival and distribution illustrates and encapsulates the history of plant evolution and biogeography in Australia.

Since human arrival in Australia at least 40,000 years ago, human interactions with rain-forest have been marked by a number of phases — ranging from Aboriginal use of rain-forest resources to the impetus given by the hunt for the prized Red Cedar, and from the early European settlement on the east coast of Australia in the midto late-19th century to the wholesale clearing of rain forests for agricultural settlement and dairying in the late 19th century. In more modern times, human interactions with rain-forest have focused on adapting forest management techniques to rain-forest logging, restructuring the native forest timber industry in the face of mechanization, changing markets and resource constraints, convulsions as a result of conservationist challenges in Terania Creek and Daintree, and finally the implications of conserving rain-forests in the context of natural processes including fire, climate change, and the impact of human visitors and their recreation.

The course of the controversies over rain-forest conservation in Australia has meant that rain-forest logging either has been dramatically curtailed or is in the process of generally ceasing. The protection of rainforests from logging and forestry operations in the future seems secure, given the widespread community support for rain-forest conservation. Threats to rain-forest conservation in the future are likely to be found in more subtle processes: the impact of fire regimes on the spread and contractions of rain-forests, the impacts of exotic species such as Lantana (Lantana camara) and Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), the impacts of human uses through tourism and recreation, the diminution of the viability of isolated pockets by ‘edge effects’, and the damage to the remaining stands on freehold property by conflicting land-uses.

Overlying all of these potential threats is the impact of global climate change. Climate change since the Tertiary has reduced the once widespread rain-forest communities of Australia practically to the status of relicts in refugia. Will the remaining rain-forests be able to withstand the projected human-induced climate changes of the future?
ModernizationversusSustainability: Disintegrating Village Agro-ecocomplexes in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka
Authors: Ulluwishewa Rohana
Published: August 2009

The agro-ecocomplexes of traditional villages in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka included four major components, namely crop cultivation, animal husbandry, fishery, and forestry. While these four components collectively provided practically all the food and other needs of the village inhabitants, the ecological interactions between these components contributed to the sustainability of the village agro-ecocomplex. Thus the livestock were used to provide draught power for farming, and were fed on crop residues and straw, their dung being used to fertilize the soil. Fishery was mainly on irrigated paddy fields and in the irrigation system, while the fish on the paddy fields consumed harmful insects and worms, and provided fertilizer in their excreta. The village forest on the catchment area, and the trees sparsely grown on the cultivated area and in the irrigation system, substantially contributed to maintain the natural productivity, yielding firewood, timber, and various foods. In this manner, the village agro-ecocomplex functioned to satisfy the needs of its human inhabitants without impairing its own sustainability.

This village agro-ecocomplex system is now in the process of disintegration owing to structural, technological, and institutional, changes brought about by modem development. The reason is that these modern development strategies were basically designed to raise the production of the land-area rather than to preserve the productivity of the given agro-ecocomplex. For while farm mechanization displaced the draught animals, the increased population pressure of more and more humans reduced the grazing lands. Both modern development and population pressure had destructive effects on the forest cover, while increased utilization of agrochemicals adversely affected the fish culture on paddy fields. In this way, livestock, fishery, and forestry, all became insignificant or at least insufficient, and were de-linked from crop cultivation. In consequence, the village agro-ecocomplex has become de-stabilized, and dependence on external inputs has increased so greatly that self-sustainability of the village agro-ecocomplex has ceased to exist except in some remote areas.
Reducing Air Pollution from Electric Power-generation in China
Authors: Wang Zhiyong
Published: August 2009

This paper addresses current and future concerns regarding the air-pollution situation in China, and focuses on reduction of particulates', SO2, and CO2, emissions in China's electric power-generation sector. Technical aspects of control methods include an assessment of innovative approaches such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Suggestions are made pertaining to the technical planning and management aspects of air-pollutant control.

In a technological context, improving coal-use efficiency, increasing the proportion of coal pretreatment, and using EOR technology, should be considered; these measures have proven effective and relatively economical elsewhere. If the measures could be adopted in China's electric power-generation sector, as much as about 50% of the particulates, 34% of the SO2, and 95% of the CO2, emitted from power-plants, could be removed. If fully engaged, these actions would improve China's air environment significantly.

In a planning and management context, five suggestions are made with respect to air quality regulations: administrative measures, coal prices, developing ‘clean’ energy systems, reforestation, and transferring to new energy-saving and pollution-controlling technologies. In addition to domestic efforts, active engagement in international cooperation would be extremely beneficial to China.
Accumulation of Fishing Debris, Plastic Litter, and Other Artefacts, on Heard and Macquarie Islands in the Southern Ocean
Authors: Slip David J. , Burton Harry R.
Published: August 2009

Sections of coastline of Heard and Macquarie Islands were surveyed for marine debris in the summer of 1987–88 and 1989, respectively. These surveys were carried out at the same sites as previous surveys in 1986–87 at Heard Island, and in 1988 at Macquarie Island. The minimum rate of artefact accumulation was 13 objects per km of shoreline per year for Heard Island, and 90 objects per km of shoreline per year for Macquarie Island. Drift-cards, released from known locations and collected on the two islands, show a similar artefact catchment area.

Plastic litter was a major component of the debris at both islands. Fisheries-related debris accounted for 40% of all artefacts on Heard Island, compared with 29% on Macquarie Island. Entanglement of Fur Seals appears to be more common at Heard Island, while plastic ingestion by seabirds appears to be more common at Macquarie Island.