Anthropogenic impact Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The article presents an analysis of archaeological, archaeozoological data and historical documents and evidences on infl uence of human activity over the natural environment in Prut–Dniester area. The collected data revealed the original... more

The article presents an analysis of archaeological, archaeozoological data and historical documents and evidences on infl uence of human activity over the natural environment in Prut–Dniester area. The collected data revealed the original forested character of natural landscape on the main part of the region and chronology of large mammal species extinction on the territory under consideration.

BackgroundFungi strongly influence ecosystem structure and functioning, playing a key role in many ecological services as decomposers, plant mutualists and pathogens. The Mediterranean area is a biodiversity hotspot that is increasingly... more

BackgroundFungi strongly influence ecosystem structure and functioning, playing a key role in many ecological services as decomposers, plant mutualists and pathogens. The Mediterranean area is a biodiversity hotspot that is increasingly threatened by intense land use. Therefore, to achieve a balance between conservation and human development, a better understanding of the impact of land use on the underlying fungal communities

Zeekoevlei is the largest freshwater lake in South Africa and has a century-long history of anthropogenic impact that caused hyper-eutrophic conditions. We used biomarkers (alkanes and pigments), stable isotopes (d13C and d15N), rates... more

Zeekoevlei is the largest freshwater lake in
South Africa and has a century-long history of
anthropogenic impact that caused hyper-eutrophic
conditions. We used biomarkers (alkanes and pigments),
stable isotopes (d13C and d15N), rates of
primary palaeoproduction and total inorganic carbon
(TIC) accumulation rates in the lake sediments to
investigate changes in plankton and macrophyte
communities in response to anthropogenic activities
in this shallow lake. Specific alkanes and pigment
(chlorophyll a, b,b-carotene, echinenone, fucoxanthin
and zeaxanthin) concentrations in lake waters indicated
the present-day hyper-eutrophic condition and
seasonal fluctuations of cyanobacteria, zooplankton
and diatom populations. Eutrophic conditions were
initiated in the lake with the start of recreational
activities and construction of a sewage treatment plant
in the early 1920s. The lake transformed from a
eutrophic to a hyper-eutrophic waterbody following
damming, pondweed eradication and accelerated
catchment-derived nutrient input. The change in lake
trophic state was recorded by a sharp decline in the
terrestrial to aquatic ratio (TAR) of specific n-alkanes,
low carbon preference index (CPI) and increased d13C
values in the sediment core. In addition, the aquatic
macrophyte n-alkane proxy (Paq) values (1) indicated
a slow takeover by floating macrophytes after
the eradication of submerged pondweeds in 1951.
Elevated n-alkane, total alkane and pigment
(chlorophyll a, b,b-carotene, zeaxanthin and
zeaxanthin to b,b-carotene ratio) concentrations, low
d15N values and low TIC accumulation rates in the
upper middle section of the core indicated the
beginning of intense cyanobacterial blooms after the
dredging in 1983. Although the cyanobacterial population
has decreased in recent years, hyper-eutrophic
conditions are reflected by low CPI<0.04 and TAR<1
values at the top of the sediment core.

Multiple disturbances to ecosystems can influence community structure by modifying resistance to and recovery from invasion by non-native species. Predicting how invasibility responds to multiple anthropogenic impacts is particularly... more

Multiple disturbances to ecosystems can influence community structure by modifying resistance to and recovery from invasion by non-native species. Predicting how invasibility responds to multiple anthropogenic impacts is particularly challenging due to the variety of potential stressors and complex responses. Using manipulative field experiments, we examined the relative impact of perturbations that primarily change abiotic or biotic factors to promote invasion in coastal salt marsh plant communities. Specifically we test the hypotheses that nitrogen enrichment and human trampling facilitate invasion of upland weeds into salt marsh, and that the ability of salt marsh communities to resist and/or recover from invasion is modified by hydrological conditions. Nitrogen enrichment affected invasion of non-native upland plants at only one of six sites, and increased aboveground native marsh biomass at only two sites. Percent cover of native marsh plants declined with trampling at all sites, but recovered earlier at tidally flushed sites than at tidally restricted sites. Synergistic interactions between trampling and restricting tidal flow resulted in significantly higher cover of non-native upland plants in trampled plots at tidally restricted sites. Percent cover of non-native plants recovered to pre-trampling levels in fully tidal sites, but remained higher in tidally restricted sites after 22 months. Thus, perturbations that reduce biotic resistance interact with perturbations that alter abiotic conditions to promote invasion. This suggests that to effectively conserve or restore native biodiversity in altered systems, one must consider impacts of multiple human disturbances, and the interactions between them.

Daily stage data measured at the closing section of the Po River (Northern Italy), collected from historical archives of the “Hydrological Office of the Po River—Parma”, allowed to estimate daily discharges for the period 1807–1916,... more

Daily stage data measured at the closing section of the Po River (Northern Italy), collected from historical archives of the “Hydrological Office of the Po River—Parma”, allowed to estimate daily discharges for the period 1807–1916, therefore to extend the time series of Po River discharges for 110 years before the actually published time series. This paper provides a detailed description of the stage–discharge conversion and of the tests performed for checking homogeneity of reconstructed data. In particular, monthly discharge data were compared with approximated catchment-average data of precipitation and evapotranspiration for the period 1831–2003, which were estimated, respectively, from monthly data of local precipitation (at Milan, Turin and Parma) and local air temperature (at Milan and Turin). It emerges that estimated values of precipitation, evapotranspiration and discharge provide a coherent picture of the hydrological dynamics in the basin throughout the study period. Specifically, an apparent progressive depletion of basin reservoirs is observed since 1920, i.e., when concomitant sudden changes (regime shifts) occurred in precipitation (downward shift) and evapotranspiration (upward shift). The 1920-shift is amongst the likely causes of the fact that prolonged drought periods as those observed in the 1940s and since 2003 are not observed in the pre-shift period, when accumulation of reservoirs occurred. The increase in peak-flow discharges observed in recent decades, with values well above the maximum discharge estimated for the nineteenth century as well as for the early twentieth century, is apparently the result of the massive levee works along the river network that were completed in the 1960s. On decadal time scales, discharge variability is found to essentially reflect the changes in precipitation patterns. In particular, peaks of comparable magnitude are found in the 128-month (∼11 years) wavelet spectra of precipitation and discharge. Furthermore, concurrent changes are observed in the persistence (i.e., autocorrelation) of precipitation and discharge data. Since the red-noise background spectrum of discharge is much lower than that of precipitation, river discharge is the likely hydrological variable to be preferred for assessing the basin’s response to the background climatic variability occurring at the decadal and multi-decadal time scales, notwithstanding the fact that changes in water management and other anthropogenic impacts can be important on long time scales. Concerning the seasonal to interannual response to climatic forcing, a robust dependence of wintertime precipitation and discharges on the state of the NAO was observed. This dependence results in stronger (weaker) precipitation and higher (lower) discharges during negative (positive) anomalies of the NAO index.

Human intervention in the hydrologic basin of the Colorado River has eliminated water discharge and sediment supply to the river's mouth and its delta. After ∼95 years of applying strong flow control policies, the previous sedimentary... more

Human intervention in the hydrologic basin of the Colorado River has eliminated water discharge and sediment supply to the river's mouth and its delta. After ∼95 years of applying strong flow control policies, the previous sedimentary budget in the delta has changed, the delta now being entirely exposed to the hydrodynamic forces in its basin. In order to assess the anthropogenic impact of water diversion on deltaic sedimentary processes and short-term delta geomorphic evolution, textural and mineralogical analyses were performed on 68 sediment samples collected from the river, estuary, beach, continental shelf, delta plain and desert. The results show a consistent NE to SW textural gradient on the shallow-marine platform adjacent to the Colorado River delta (an area known as the Upper Gulf of California), and a net cross-basinal sediment transport occurring in the same direction. Two opposing littoral transport components exist along the Sonoran and Baja Californian coasts: (1) net sediment transport from SE to NW along the Sonoran coast delivers sediments from the ocean into the estuarine basin through the Sonora channel of the deltaic system of the Colorado River; and (2) sediment transport from N to S along the Baja Californian coast removes sediments from the estuarine basin of the Colorado River into the Northern Gulf of California (NGC). The residual sediment transport pattern observed suggests a counterclockwise path of exchange of materials between the estuarine basin of the Colorado River and the NGC. Multivariate cluster and factor analyses of the heavy-mineral data reveal the existence of a sedimentary system dominated by two end-members, representing two heavy-mineral sedimentary provinces: (1) the Sonora province is characterized by a heavy-mineral suite of garnet and zircon (G–Z), whose sediment supply originates from the sandy sediments of the Sonora Mesa deposits and Sonora's Gran Desierto; and (2) the Baja California province is characterized by a hornblende–epidote–pyroxene (H–E–P) suite, whose sediments originate from the earlier supply of the Colorado River. Since the Colorado River is no longer supplying sediments from its drainage basin, the H–E–P-rich sediments now actively dispersed in the system have mainly originated through intense reworking of the delta. Moreover, G–Z-rich sediments are starting to invade areas previously dominated by H–E–P sediments. On the basis of the prevailing hydraulic regime, textural and mineralogical characteristics of the sediments, and hydrographic and bathymetric information from the region, a hypothetical sediment dynamics model for the delta region is proposed, in which the tidally influenced, wave-dominated, sediment-reworked, slightly eroding Sonoran coast changes into a tide-dominated, depositional, very slowly prograding Baja Californian coast. This study shows that human intervention of the hydrologic basin of the Colorado River is not only responsible for inducing drastic hydrologic changes in its estuary (i.e., from brackish to hypersaline), but also for inducing drastic changes in the hydrographic circulation of the receiving basin (i.e., from long-basinal to cross-basinal). These changes are ultimately responsible for the relocation of massive volumes of the delta's sediment inventory, and for the serious ecological impact of habitat loss of indigenous species, such as the now endangered Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) and Vaquita (Phocoena sinus).

Understanding the effect of anthropogenic disturbance, and its interaction with carnivores and their prey, is crucial to support the conservation of threatened carnivores, particularly in rapidly changing landscapes. Based on systematic... more

Understanding the effect of anthropogenic disturbance, and its interaction with carnivores and their prey, is crucial to support the conservation of threatened carnivores, particularly in rapidly changing landscapes. Based on systematic camera-trap sampling of four protected areas in Riau Province of central Sumatra, we assessed the habitat occupancy and spatiotemporal overlap between people, potential carnivore prey, and four threatened species of medium-sized or large carnivores: Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), dholes (Cuon alpinus), and Sunda clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi). To assess spatial overlap of target species, we used single-species occupancy models and applied a Species Interaction Factor (SIF) to conditional two-species occupancy models. We also used kernel density estimation (KDE) to assess temporal overlap among these species. Our habitat use models showed that altitude (elevation) strongly influenced the occupancy of all large carnivores and potential prey species. Except for Sunda clouded leopards, the occurrence of large carnivore species was positively related to the spatial co-occurrence of humans (SIF > 1). In addition, we found that sun bears and dholes both exhibited high spatial overlap with tigers, and that sun bears alone exhibited high temporal overlap with people. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of the contemporary ecology of carnivores and their prey in rapidly changing, southeast Asian landscapes. Such knowledge is important to the conservation and recovery of large carnivores in conservation hotspots that are increasingly dominated by humans across Sumatra, as well as globally.

The provision of diverse ecosystem goods and services by lakes is vital to ecosystem health and economic well-being of nations or regions. Securing ecologically safe lake water quality and quantity through sustainable uses and management... more

The provision of diverse ecosystem goods and services by lakes is vital to ecosystem health and economic well-being of nations or regions. Securing ecologically safe lake water quality and quantity through sustainable uses and management practices concerns both present and future generations. The present study quantifies long-term impacts of human-induced disturbances including climate change on water surface areas of the 18 largest Turkish lakes. Spatiotemporal change detection analysis was carried out using long-term Landsat time series data between 1973 and 2014 with the aid of geographical information systems (GIS). Supervised and unsupervised classification techniques were combined to temporally differentiate and spatially delineate lake water surface areas using ancillary data. Over the period of about 40 years, lake surface area decreased for 15 lakes at a mean annual rate of 0.96 km2 but increased for three lakes at a mean annual rate of 0.17 km2. These spatiotemporal changes may be attributed to such human-induced pressures as drought, sectoral water uses/withdrawals, draining, and landfilling. These changes in turn lead to losses of or damages to both marketable and non-marketable ecosystem benefits that the lakes provide with humans at the local to-regional spatial scales in the long-to-short-term temporal scales. The integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques adopted in this study allows for dynamic monitoring of not only lake water quality and quantity but also other natural resources, thus facilitating a timely and effective development of preventive and mitigative measures.

Long-term non-linear ecosystem-scale changes in water quality and biotic communities in coastal lagoons have been associated with intensification of anthropogenic pressures. In light of incipient changes in Johnson Bay (an embayment of... more

Long-term non-linear ecosystem-scale changes in water quality and biotic communities in coastal lagoons have been associated with intensification of anthropogenic pressures. In light of incipient changes in Johnson Bay (an embayment of Chincoteague Bay, Maryland-Virginia, USA), examination of nitrogen sources was conducted through synoptic water quality monitoring, stable nitrogen isotope signatures (δ15N) of in situ bioindicators, and denitrification estimates. These data were placed in the context of long-term and broader spatial analyses. Despite various watershed protection efforts, multiyear summer time studies (2004-2007) suggested that high levels of terrestrially derived nutrients still enter Johnson Bay. Total nitrogen concentrations in Johnson Bay were 132% the concentrations in the broader Chincoteague Bay during the late 1970s (mean 2004-2007 was 40.0 to 73.2 μM). Comparing total nitrogen concentrations in Johnson Bay to St. Martin River (consistently the most eutrophic region of these coastal bays), Johnson Bay has increased from 62.5% to 82.5% of the concentrations in St. Martin River during the late 1970s. Though specific sources of nitrogen inputs have not yet been definitively identified, the long-term increase in total nitrogen concentrations occurred despite increased and continued conservation and protection measures. We suggest that investigating nutrient sources can reveal potentially ineffective nutrient policies and that this knowledge can be applied towards other coastal lagoons.

A multi-proxy approach study (cladocerans, diatoms, geochemistry, plant macrofossils, pollen), was performed on a sediment core from Lake Vrana (Vransko Jezero), a large and deep karstic lake on the northern Adriatic island of Cres,... more

A multi-proxy approach study (cladocerans, diatoms, geochemistry, plant macrofossils, pollen), was performed on a sediment core from Lake Vrana (Vransko Jezero), a large and deep karstic lake on the northern Adriatic island of Cres, Croatia. Considerable lake-level changes occurred during the last approx. 16,000 years. The stratigraphic evidence suggests that periods of enhanced pre- cipitation and the post-LGM rise in

Виявлення масштабів антропогенного впливу на екосистеми з метою оцінки сучасного екологічного стану територій та екологічного нормування антропогенних навантажень сьогодні є пріоритетними в еколого-географічних дослідженнях. Територія... more

Виявлення масштабів антропогенного впливу на екосистеми з метою оцінки сучасного екологічного стану територій та екологічного нормування антропогенних навантажень сьогодні є пріоритетними в еколого-географічних дослідженнях. Територія Чорногори є давньоосвоєною, однак, порівняно з іншими територіями Українських Карпат, малозміненою. Цьому сприяли важкодоступність, а також деякою мірою заповідний режим території. Проте протягом останнього десятиріччя екосистеми Чорногори почали зазнавати дедалі більшого та різноманітнішого антропогенного впливу, який вже сьогодні спричинив деградацію деяких територій. Отож дослідження антропогенного впливу, його видів, масштабів, глибини має важливе значення для подальшого сталого розвитку екосистем Чорногірського масиву.

The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish species that utilize acoustic communication for spawning purposes. The goal of this study was to quantify and examine the risk of boat noise on... more

The impact of boat related noise on marine life is a subject of concern, particularly for fish species that utilize acoustic communication for spawning purposes. The goal of this study was to quantify and examine the risk of boat noise on fish acoustic communication by performing acoustic monitoring of the May River, South Carolina (USA) from February to November 2013 using DSG-Ocean recorders. The number of boats detected increased from the source to the mouth with the highest detections near the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Boat noise frequency ranges overlapped with courtship sounds of silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), black drum (Pogonias cromis), oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). In the May River estuary, red drum may experience the greatest risk of auditory masking because of late afternoon choruses (21% time overlap with boat noise) and only one spawning location near the noisy ICW.

This essay argues that the tendency to invoke modern historical thinking in trying to make sense of the Anthropocene amounts to an untenable, self-contradictory, and self-defeating enterprise. There is a fundamental contradiction between... more

This essay argues that the tendency to invoke modern historical thinking in trying to make sense of the Anthropocene amounts to an untenable, self-contradictory, and self-defeating enterprise. There is a fundamental contradiction between the prospect of unprecedented change as entailed by the Anthropocene and the deep continuity of a processual historical change. On the one hand, conceiving the Anthropocene as the prospect of the unprecedented creates a demand for immediate action to prevent future catastrophe. On the other hand, pointing out the inequalities in the historical process of bringing about the Anthropocene creates a demand for social justice. Although both are legitimate and important demands, they are incompatible. They represent different temporalities, different conceptions of change, and different modes of action. Inasmuch as the Anthropocene appears as unprecedented, it does not have a processual history; and inasmuch as it has a processual history, it is not the Anthropocene.

1 SUMMARY Mediterranean traps harvest the ancestral migratory flow of bluefin tuna at a fixed site. Therefore it is reasonable to consider that environmental alterations generated by social and economic events at a local scale are... more

1 SUMMARY Mediterranean traps harvest the ancestral migratory flow of bluefin tuna at a fixed site. Therefore it is reasonable to consider that environmental alterations generated by social and economic events at a local scale are disruptive to the pathways of tuna schools and thus account for catches variability. The southwestern area of Sardinia has been the location of important trap fisheries and historically was prized for lead and zinc mining resources from the 16 th century. The cumulative impacts of environmental alteration resulting from mining are well documented on land and in the coastal zones but there is little information on fisheries. We applied an asymmetrical ANOVA to test for perturbations due to mining processes on catch variability in three nearby traps. We used Auto Correlation Functions and Spectral Analysis to verify cyclical fluctuation in landings and environment variables relating to the mining industry. We found that the Run-off variable had significant e...

ADE, a result of domestic, economic, and agricultural activities in and around human settlements, are noted for their extraordinary fertility and resilience and for the significant quantities of organic carbon, much in the form of... more

ADE, a result of domestic, economic, and agricultural activities in and around human settlements, are noted for their extraordinary fertility and resilience and for the significant quantities of organic carbon, much in the form of charcoal. The deepest and most extensive areas of ADE are generally located on the bluffs of major rivers adjacent to floodplains, but significant areas of ADE have also been found in floodplains and in headwater and interfluvial areas. Our research aims to shed light on the distribution of modified soils in distinct regions of the Amazon in relation to landforms and the environment. Although research on ADE has led to a proliferation of studies on charcoal in soil management and the development of a ‘biochar’ industry that promotes the incorporation of charcoal into the soil for the dual purpose of improving fertility and sequestering carbon, there is a notable lack of research attempting to quantify the carbon over the scale of a site or region in Amazonia. We undertook this challenge in the Upper Xingu region of southeastern Amazonia in partnership with the local Kuikuro indigenous community who have shared their valuable traditional knowledge on the creation and management of ADE. We used data from over 3500 soil samples from diverse contexts, both ancient and modern, that we collected and analyzed over the past two decades for organic carbon and a range of other chemical and physical properties. Dark earth samples from profiles down to 1 m depth in archaeological sites ranged from 20% to 150% more OC than unmodified forest soil and dark earth profiles in current and historic villages ranged from 20-90% more. We used the results from soil sample transects to estimate the carbon in landuse zones within and surrounding modern, historic, and ancient settlement sites. In continuing work, we are attempting to use satellite remote sensing and artificial intelligence with ground truth data to extrapolate our results across the Upper Xingu region and beyond.

With the increasing severity and frequency of wildfires in California, agencies and researchers are turning to the past to develop more effective fire management protocols. With this in mind, archaeologists are recognizing an opportunity... more

With the increasing severity and frequency of wildfires in California, agencies and researchers are turning to the past to develop more effective fire management protocols. With this in mind, archaeologists are recognizing an opportunity to inform these protocols through research on California Indian burning strategies. However, while the lack of lightning-ignited fires on California’s central coast is providing favorable study areas for researchers to observe evidence of these burning practices, the abundance of lightning-ignited fires in the Sierra Nevada has deterred some from exploring such evidence therein. In this paper, I discuss my own and others’ fieldwork and research in the Sierra Nevada and the unexpected revelation that, through utilizing lighting-strike and fire history data, one can isolate suitable study areas within the Sierra Nevada that experience relatively little or no lightning-ignited fires. To conclude, I expand on the importance of this research in the Sierra Nevada, in particular.

In this video, the speaker is reading out his paper on "THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: ECOTAGING FOR DISTANT ECOTOPIA" by countering, through ecosophical cum eco-ethical means, the short-sighted "technical quick-fixes" offered by green-capitalism... more

In this video, the speaker is reading out his paper on "THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: ECOTAGING FOR DISTANT ECOTOPIA" by countering, through ecosophical cum eco-ethical means, the short-sighted "technical quick-fixes" offered by green-capitalism in subsuming a portion of the global environmental movement by asserting market fundamentalism without heeding the environmental variables. The speaker emphasizes the eco-ethos of Permaculture and highlights the sustainability ideal of "eco-swaraj", following the Deep Ecologists' Ecotopia and the Gandhian "Gram Swaraj", as well as Rabindranath Tagore's eco-philosophical underpinnings. In doing so, the speaker highlights the role of Urban Agriculture in obliterating the parasitic status of the modern city in the post-industrial era.

A botanical inventory of the plant communities at Tasik Bera, Pahang covered a mosaic of habitats, namely, open water, rassau swamp, Lepironia reed-bed, seasonal freshwater swamp forest, and the surrounding lowland dipterocarp forest, and... more

A botanical inventory of the plant communities at Tasik Bera, Pahang covered a mosaic of habitats, namely, open water, rassau swamp, Lepironia reed-bed, seasonal freshwater swamp forest, and the surrounding lowland dipterocarp forest, and resulted in an annotated checklist of 807 species of vascular plants in 400 genera and 128 families. The checklist includes previous collections. The largest family was Euphorbiaceae (24 genera, 59 species), followed by Dipterocarpaceae (6 genera, 58 species) and Rubiaceae (31 genera, 56 species) and the largest genera were Shorea (20 species), Syzygium (14 species) and Dipterocarpus and Hopea (both with 11 species).