A flood risk decision making approach for Mediterranean tree crops using GIS; climate change effects and flood-tolerant species

The aim of this study is to estimate flood risk in the Mediterranean island of Crete in Greece, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The island of Crete, covering an area of 8265 km², is one of the most intensively Mediterranean agricultural areas dominated by fruit tree crops. In this study, the factors that are directly related to the creation of a flood are combined in a GIS environment in order to identify the most prone flooding areas. These factors are: (a) the Flow accumulation (F), (b) the Rainfall intensity (R), (c) the Elevation (E), (d) the Geology (G), (e) the Land use (L), and (f) the Slope (S). The initials of these factors gave the name to the proposed method: “FREGLS”. The above factors are presented in the form of grid maps and are used in order to determine the final flood risk map. Subsequently, the flood prone fruit tree areas of Crete can be estimated by applying a methodology based on weighting coefficients. The reliability of the final flood risk map is verified using historical flooded data. Additionally, the impact of global climate change scenarios A2 and B1, on flood risk in Crete is examined. Based on the above, this study highlights the flood prone fruit tree areas in the island of Crete under current and future climate conditions. Also, flood-tolerant fruit trees which appear to be economically important for Greece are recommended, especially for the high flood risk areas of the island. The proposed methodology can be applied as a decision making tool for flood risk mitigation to any river basin where tree crops are cultivated.     

Effects of pollution on hormone content of ornamental trees

Elm and black locust samples were collected in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece from a number of locations with different pollutant concentrations and the hormonal content was determined using radioimmunoassay tests. In both tree species, a considerable decrease in endogenous cytokinins was detected in symptomless leaves from the polluted city center, suggesting latent senescence and thus latent injury. Similarly, cytokinin content was found to be lower in seedlings exposed to SO₂‐O₃ fumigation than in controls. Thus cytokinin levels may serve as useful indicators of the onset of pollution stress and/or of the degree of stress experienced by urban trees.

Several environmental stresses were reported to promote an ABA increase. An increased ABA content in black locust samples from the polluted city center was also detected. This observation did not hold in elm, where comparable ABA levels were detected in trees in the city center, the suburbs, and in controls grown in filtered air. Hence ABA content cannot serve as an unequivocal indicator of pollution‐induced latent plant senescence.     

Does defoliation induce chemical and morphological defenses in the leaves of silver birch seedlings under changing climate?

Summary.  We examined the effects of defoliation con-currently with elevated temperature and CO₂ on some chemical and morphological characteristics in the leaves of silver birch seedlings (Betula pendula). We also analyzed the consequent changes in the palatability of leaves for adult blue alder leaf beetles (Agelastica alni). Under the different climatic treatments, the seedlings were subjected to three fertilizer treatments (0 kg, 130 kg and 270 kg N ha⁻¹) and defoliation treatments (0%, 25% and 50% of the total leaf area). In each climatic treatment, fertilization increased the nitrogen content in the leaves, but decreased total concentrations of soluble phenolics, detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and insoluble condensed tannins. Defoliation, both independently and in combination with elevated temperature and CO₂, decreased the concentrations of the phenolics. Compared to the intact controls, the leaves of the defoliated seedlings were smaller and tougher. Under elevated temperature, the beetles consumed a smaller amount of the leaves of plants subjected to the high fertilization, while under ambient climatic conditions, fertilization increased the feeding. The total leaf consumption was higher under the ambient climatic conditions than under elevated temperature, elevated CO₂ or the combination of elevated temperature and CO₂.     

Landscape Character and Fish Assemblage Structure and Function in Western Lake Superior Streams: General Relationships and Identification of Thresholds

As part of a comparative watershed project investigating land-cover/land-use disturbance gradients for streams in the western Lake Superior Basin, we examined general relationships between landscape character and fish assemblage structure and function. We also examined the shape of those relationships to identify discontinuity thresholds where small changes in landscape character were associated with marked shifts in the fish assemblages. After completing a geographic analysis of second- and third-order watersheds in the western Lake Superior drainage, we randomly selected 48 streams along mature forest and watershed storage gradients in 2 hydrogeomorphic regions as our study sites. During the summers of 1997 and 1998, we used electrofishing to sample fish assemblages from each stream. Each of the landscape factors was significantly associated with fish assemblage structure and function based on analysis of covariance. Watershed storage was related to the greatest number of fish assemblage characteristics, but hydrogeopmorphic region and mature forest cover were strongly associated as well. The hydrogeomorphic region also mediated relationships between watershed character and fish assemblages. Discontinuity thresholds for our fish assemblages averaged 11% for watershed storage and 50% for watershed mature forest cover based on piecewise regression analysis. Although many of the landscape–fish relationships might have been manifest through effects on in-stream habitat, our results highlight the importance of management and land-use planning decisions at the watershed and landscape scales.Published online     

Evaluation of Heritage Trees for Conservation and Management in Guangzhou City (China)

The recent fast pace of urbanization in China and other developing countries has exerted pressure on urban trees, which constitute a key urban environmental asset. The most outstanding trees should be treated as natural-cum-cultural heritage. Guangzhou Citys growth has threatened its rich urban-tree endowment, a diversified assemblage of 200,000 trees represented by 254 species and located in three major habitats: roadside, park, and institutional grounds. Mainly based on age and performance, 348 trees were officially designated as heritage specimens. They were evaluated in the field for tree dimensions, habitat, performance, and landscape contribution, to establish enhanced conservation and management strategies. With only 25 species, heritage trees were dominated by five cultivated natives and encompass some of the citys rare species; some common urban-forest species were not represented. Older districts and roadside habitats, despite their compact town plan and limited growing space, had the largest tree dimensions and largest share of heritage trees. Many heritage trees were large with long life expectancy and the potential for biomass expansion, and had pivotal cityscape impacts where they occur. Old neighborhoods, traditional haven for the arborescent treasure, are being changed by construction activities and periodic typhoon and windstorm damages. Increasing development density could degrade the heritage trees and their growing space, and reduce tree quality and life span. Upgrading the statutory-administrative systems and arboricultural care can enhance long-term survival of the precious natural-cum-cultural heritage. The experience of Guangzhou in identifying and preserving its high-quality urban trees can provide management strategies for other cities.     

Prioritizing the provision of urban ecosystem services in deprived areas,a question of environmental justice

The distribution of urban ecosystem services (UES) is often uneven across socioeconomic groups, leading to environmental justice issues. Understanding the distribution of UES across a landscape can help managers ensure an equitable distribution of services. While many past studies have focused on the distribution of green spaces in relation to socioeconomic variables, this research analyzes the distribution of UES provided by these green spaces. This research quantified air pollution removal, atmospheric carbon reduction, and surface runoff mitigation provided by urban trees in Strasbourg city (France). The provision of these three UES was studied at the census block scale by creating an index of UES delivery, which was contrasted with a constructed social deprivation index. Our results show that there is no significant association between the delivery of UES and social deprivation. Some deprived populations benefit from high UES delivery. Results also suggest that mapping associations between UES delivery and social deprivation should be integrated with future development plans to enhance the equitable distribution of UES. This study provides insights into the French context where studies about the distribution of UES at a small-area level remain lacking.     

Nitrogen removal influence factors in A/O process and decision trees for nitrification/denitrification system

In order to improve nitrogen removal in anoxic/oxic(NO) process effectively for treating domestic wastewaters, the influence factors, DO( dissolved oxygen), nitrate recirculation, sludge recycle, SRT( solids residence time), influent COD/TN and HRT( hydraulic retention time) were studied. Results indicated that it was possible to increase nitrogen removal by using corresponding control strategies,such as, adjusting the DO set point according “to effluent ammonia concentration; manipulating nitrate recirculation flow according to nitrate concentration at the end of anoxic zone. Based on the experiments results, a knowledge-based approach for supervision of the nitrogen removal problems was considered, and decision trees for diagnosing nitrification and denitrification problems were built and successfully applied to NO process.     

Age and spatial distribution of the world's oldest trees

Extremely old trees have important roles in providing insights about historical climatic events and supporting cultural values, yet there has been limited work on their global distribution and conservation. We extracted information on 197,855 tree cores from 4854 sites and combined it with other tree age (e.g., the OLDLIST) data from a further 156 sites to determine the age of the world's oldest trees and quantify the factors influencing their global distribution. We found that extremely old trees >1000 years were rare. Among 30 individual trees that exceeded 2000 years old, 27 occurred in high mountains. We modeled maximum tree age with climatic, soil topographic, and anthropogenic variables, and our regression models demonstrated that elevation, human population density, soil carbon content, and mean annual temperature were key determinants of the distribution of the world's oldest trees. Specifically, our model predicted that many of the oldest trees will occur in high-elevation, cold, and arid mountains with limited human disturbance. This pattern was markedly different from that of the tallest trees, which were more likely to occur in relatively more mesic and productive locations. Global warming and expansion of human activities may induce rapid population declines of extremely old trees. New strategies, including targeted establishment of conservation reserves in remote regions, especially those in western parts of China and the United States, are required to protect these trees.