Search results for: aquatic biodiversity

Authors: Derradji Chebli, Abdallah Bouguettoucha, Zoubir Manaa, Amrane Abdeltif

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Pharmaceutical products, such as sulfamethoxazole (SMX) are rejected in the environment at trace level by human and animals (ng/L to mg/L), in their original form or as byproducts. Antibiotics are toxic contaminants for the aquatic environment, owing to their adverse effects on the aquatic life and humans. Even at low concentrations, they can negatively impact biological water treatment leading to the proliferation of antibiotics-resistant pathogens. It is therefore of major importance to develop efficient methods to limit their presence in the aquatic environment. In this aim, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) appear relevant compared to other methods, since they are based on the production of highly reactive free radicals, and especially ●OH. The objective of this work was to evaluate the degradation of SMX by microwave-assisted Fenton reaction (MW/Fe/H2O2). Hydrogen peroxide and ferrous ions concentrations, as well as the microwave power were optimized. The results showed that the SMX degradation by MW/Fe/H2O2 followed a pseudo-first order kinetic. The treatment of 20 mg/L initial SMX by the Fenton reaction in the presence of microwave showed the positive impact of this latter owing to the higher degradation yields observed in a reduced reaction time if compared to the conventional Fenton reaction, less than 5 min for a total degradation. In addition, increasing microwave power increased the degradation kinetics. Irrespective of the application of microwave, the optimal pH for the Fenton reaction remained 3. Examination of the impact of the ionic strength showed that carbonate and sulfate anions increased the rate of SMX degradation.

Keywords: antibiotic, degradation, elimination, fenton, microwave, polluant

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Authors: Viktoriia Malinovska, Iryna Kuklina, Katerina Grabicova, Milos Buric, Pavel Kozak

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Personal care products, including organic UV filters, are considered emerging contaminants and their toxic effects have been a concern for the last decades. Sunscreen compounds continually enter the surface waters via sewage water treatment due to incomplete removal and during human recreational and laundry activities. Despite the environmental occurrence of organic UV filters in the freshwater environment, little is known about their impacts on aquatic biota. In this study, environmentally relevant concentrations of 5-Benzoyl-4-hydroxy-2-methoxybenzenesulfonic acid (BP-4, 2.5 µg/L) and 2-Phenylbenzimidazole-5-sulfonic acid (PBSA, 3 µg/L) were used to evaluate the cardiac and locomotor responses of signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus during a short time period. The effects of these compounds were evident in experimental animals. Specimens exposed to both tested compounds exhibited significantly bigger changes in distance moved and time movement than controls. Significant differences in changes in mean heart rate were detected in both PBSA and BP-4 experimental groups compared to control groups. Such behavioral and physiological alterations demonstrate the ecological effects of selected sunscreen compounds during a short time period. Since the evidence of the impacts of sunscreen compounds is scarce, the knowledge of how organic UV filters influence aquatic organisms is of key importance for future research.

Keywords: aquatic pollutants, behavior, freshwaters, heart rate, invertebrate

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Authors: M. K. Sheikh, Y. M. Laghari., P. K. Lashari., N. T. Narejo

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The Indus River is one of the longest important rivers of the world in Asia that flows southward through Pakistan, merges into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Sindh Province, and forms the Indus Delta. Fish are an important resource for humans worldwide, especially as food. In fish, healthy nutriments are present which are not found in any other meat source because it have a huge quantity of omega- 3 fatty acids, which are very essential for the human body. Ichthyologic surveys were conducted to explore the diversity of freshwater fishes, distribution, abundance and current status of the fishes at different spatial scale of the downstream, Indus River. Total eight stations were selected namely Railo Miyan (RM), Karokho (Kk), Khanpur (Kp), Mullakatiyar (Mk), Wasi Malook Shah (WMS), Branch Morie (BM), Sujawal (Sj) and Jangseer (JS). The study was carried in the period of January 2016 to December 2019 to identify River and biodiversity threats and to suggest recommendations for conservation. The data were analysed by different population diversity index. Altogether, 124 species were recorded belonging to 12 Orders and 43 Families from the downstream of Indus River. Among 124 species, 29% belong to high commercial value and 35% were trash fishes. 31% of fishes were identified as marine/estuarine origin (migratory) and 05% were exotic fish species. Perciformes is the most predominated order, contributing to 41% of families. Among 43 families, the family Cyprinidae was the richest family from all localities of downstream, represented by 24% of fish species demonstrating a significant dominance in the number of species. A significant difference was observed for species abundance in between all sites, the maximum abundance species were found at first location RM having 115 species and minimum observed at the last station JS 56 genera. In the recorded Ichthyofauna, seven groups were found according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature status (IUCN), where a high species ratio was collected, in Least Concern (LC) having 94 species, 11 were found as not evaluated (NE), whereas 8 was identified as near threatened (NT), 1 was recorded as critically endangered (CR), 11 were collected as data deficient (DD), and while 8 was observed as vulnerable (VU) and 3 endangered (EN) species. Different diversity index has been used extensively in environmental studies to estimate the species richness and abundance of ecosystems outputs of their wellness; a positive environment (biodiversity rich) with species at RM had an environmental wellness and biodiversity levels of 4.566% while a negative control environment (biodiversity poor) on last station JS had an environmental wellness and biodiversity levels of 3.931%. The status of fish biodiversity and river has been found under serious threat. Due to the lower diversity of fishes, it became not only venerable for fish but also risky for fishermen. Necessary steps are recommended to protect the biodiversity by conducting further conservative research in this area.

Keywords: ichthyofaunal biodiversity, threatened species, diversity index, Indus River downstream

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Authors: Mousa Keshavarz, Abdul-Reza Dabbagh, Maryam Soyuf Jahromi

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The diversity of mangrove macrobenthos assemblages at mudflat and mangrove ecosystems of Port Khamir, Iran were investigated for one year. During this period, we measured physicochemical properties of water temperature, salinity, pH, DO and the density and distribution of the macrobenthos. We sampled a total of 9 transects, at three different topographic levels along the intertidal zone at three stations. Assemblages at class level were compared. The five most diverse and abundant classes were Foraminifers (54%), Gastropods (23%), Polychaetes (10%), Bivalves (8%) & Crustaceans (5%), respectively. Overall densities were 1869 ± 424 ind/m2 (26%) in spring, 2544 ± 383 ind/m2(36%) in summer, 1482 ± 323 ind/m2 (21%) in autumn and 1207 ± 80 ind/m2 (17%) in winter. Along the intertidal zone, the overall relative density of individuals at high, intermediate, and low topographic levels was 40, 30, and 30% respectively. Biodiversity indices were used to compare different classes: Gastropoda (Shannon index: 0.33) and Foraminifera (Simpson index: 0.28) calculated the highest scores. It was also calculated other bio-indices. With the exception of bivalves, filter feeders were associated with coarser sediments at higher intertidal levels, while deposit feeders were associated with finer sediments at lower levels. Salinity was the most important factor acting on community structure, while DO and pH had little influence.

Keywords: macrobenthos, biodiversity, mangrove forest, Khamir Port

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Authors: Marref C., Marref S., Melakhssou M. A.

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The halophytic vegetation of Chott Gamra (Gadaïne Eco-complex, High Plateaus of Eastern Algeria) is characterized by a very rich cover. It is structured according to the variation in soil salinity and moisture. The objective of this study is to understand the biodiversity, distribution, and classification of halophytic vegetation. This wetland is characterized by a Mediterranean climate in the semi-arid to cool winter stage. The wetland area of the High Plateaus of Eastern Algeria constitutes a biodiversity reservoir. It is considered exceptional, although it remains little explored and documented to date. The study was conducted over consecutive spring seasons (2020/2021). Indeed, the inventory we established includes forty plant species belonging to fourteen different families, the majority of which are resistant to salinity and drought. These halophytic species that thrive there establish themselves in bands according to their tolerance threshold to salinity and their affinity to the hygroscopic level of the soil. Thus, other edaphic factors may come into play in the zonation of halophytes in saline environments. Species belonging to the Juncaceae and Poaceae families dominate by far the non-flooded vegetation cover of this site. These plants are perfectly adapted to saline environments.

Keywords: halophytes, biodiversity, salinity, wetland

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Authors: Nushrat Khan, Mike Thelwall, Kayvan Kousha

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Making research data openly accessible has been mandated by most funders over the last 5 years as it promotes reproducibility in science and reduces duplication of effort to collect the same data. There are evidence that articles that publicly share research data have higher citation rates in biological and social sciences. However, how and whether shared data is being reused is not always intuitive as such information is not easily accessible from the majority of research data repositories. This study aims to understand the practice of data citation and how data is being reused over the years focusing on biodiversity since research data is frequently reused in this field. Metadata of 38,878 datasets including citation counts were collected through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) API for this purpose. GBIF was used as a data source since it provides citation count for datasets, not a commonly available feature for most repositories. Analysis of dataset types, citation counts, creation and update time of datasets suggests that citation rate varies for different types of datasets, where occurrence datasets that have more granular information have higher citation rates than checklist and metadata-only datasets. Another finding is that biodiversity datasets on GBIF are frequently updated, which is unique to this field. Majority of the datasets from the earliest year of 2007 were updated after 11 years, with no dataset that was not updated since creation. For each year between 2007 and 2017, we compared the correlations between update time and citation rate of four different types of datasets. While recent datasets do not show any correlations, 3 to 4 years old datasets show weak correlation where datasets that were updated more recently received high citations. The results are suggestive that it takes several years to cumulate citations for research datasets. However, this investigation found that when searched on Google Scholar or Scopus databases for the same datasets, the number of citations is often not the same as GBIF. Hence future aim is to further explore the citation count system adopted by GBIF to evaluate its reliability and whether it can be applicable to other fields of studies as well.

Keywords: data citation, data reuse, research data sharing, webometrics

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Authors: Gadinga Walter Forje, Martin Ngankam Tchamba, Nyong Princely Awazi, Barnabas Neba Nfornka

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Ecotourism is viewed as a double edge sword for the enhancement of conservation and local livelihood within a protected landscape. The Campo Ma’an National Park (CMNP) adopted ecotourism in its management plan as a strategic axis for better management of the park. The growing importance of ecotourism as a strategy for the sustainable management of CMNP and its environs requires adequate information to bolster the sector. This study was carried out between November 2018 and September 2021, with the main objective to contribute to the sustainable management of the CMNP through suggestions for enhancing the capacity of ecotourism in and around the park. More specifically, the study aimed at; 1) Analyse the governance of ecotourism in the CMNP and its surrounding; 2) Assessing the impact of ecotourism on local livelihood around the CMNP; 3) Evaluating the contribution of ecotourism to biodiversity conservation in and around the CMNP; 4) Evaluate the determinants of ecotourism possibilities in achieving sustainable livelihood and biodiversity conservation in and around the CMNP. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained from household surveys (N=124), focus group discussions (N=8), and key informant interviews (N=16). Data collected were coded and imputed into SPSS (version 19.0) software and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Findings from the Chi-square test revealed overall poor ecotourism governance in and around the CMNP, with benefit sharing (X2 = 122.774, p <0.01) and conflict management (X2 = 90.839, p<0.01) viewed to be very poor. For the majority of the local population sampled, 65% think ecotourism does not contribute to local livelihood around CMNP. The main factors influencing the impact of ecotourism around the CMNP on the local population’s livelihood were gender (logistic regression (β) = 1.218; p = 0.000); and level of education (logistic regression (β) = 0.442; p = 0.000). Furthermore, 55.6% of the local population investigated believed ecotourism activities do not contribute to the biodiversity conservation of CMNP. Spearman correlation between socio-economic variables and ecotourism impact on biodiversity conservation indicated relationships with gender (r = 0.200, p = 0.032), main occupation (r = 0.300 p = 0.012), time spent in the community (r = 0.287 p = 0.017), and number of children (r =-0.286 p = 0.018). Variables affecting ecotourism impact on biodiversity conservation were age (logistic regression (β) = -0.683; p = 0.037) and gender (logistic regression (β) = 0.917; p = 0.045). This study recommends the development of ecotourism-friendly policies that can accelerate Public Private Partnership for the sustainable management of the CMNP as a commitment toward good governance. It also recommends the development of gender-sensitive ecotourism packages, with fair opportunities for rural women and more parity in benefit sharing to improve livelihood and contribute more to biodiversity conservation in and around the Park.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, Campo Ma’an national park, ecotourism, ecotourism governance, rural livelihoods, protected area management

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Authors: Javier Muro, Anja Linstadter, Florian Manner, Lisa Schwarz, Stephan Wollauer, Paul Magdon, Gohar Ghazaryan, Olena Dubovyk

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Monitoring the trade-off between biomass production and biodiversity in grasslands is critical to evaluate the effects of management practices across environmental gradients. New generations of remote sensing sensors and machine learning approaches can model grasslands’ characteristics with varying accuracies. However, studies often fail to cover a sufficiently broad range of environmental conditions, and evidence suggests that prediction models might be case specific. In this study, biomass production and biodiversity indices (species richness and Fishers’ α) are modeled in 150 grassland plots for three sites across Germany. These sites represent a North-South gradient and are characterized by distinct soil types, topographic properties, climatic conditions, and management intensities. Predictors used are derived from Sentinel-1 & 2 and a set of topoedaphic variables. The transferability of the models is tested by training and validating at different sites. The performance of feed-forward deep neural networks (DNN) is compared to a random forest algorithm. While biomass predictions across gradients and sites were acceptable (r2 0.5), predictions of biodiversity indices were poor (r2 0.14). DNN showed higher generalization capacity than random forest when predicting biomass across gradients and sites (relative root mean squared error of 0.5 for DNN vs. 0.85 for random forest). DNN also achieved high performance when using the Sentinel-2 surface reflectance data rather than different combinations of spectral indices, Sentinel-1 data, or topoedaphic variables, simplifying dimensionality. This study demonstrates the necessity of training biomass and biodiversity models using a broad range of environmental conditions and ensuring spatial independence to have realistic and transferable models where plot level information can be upscaled to landscape scale.

Keywords: ecosystem services, grassland management, machine learning, remote sensing

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Authors: Soomal Hamza, Uzma Imran

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Organochlorine pesticides bio-accumulate into the fat of fish, birds, and animals through which it enters the human food cycle. Due to their persistence and stability in the environment, many health impacts are associated with them, most of which are carcinogenic in nature. In this study, the level of organochlorine pesticides has been detected in Keenjhar Lake and remediated using Rhizoremediation technique. 14 OC pesticides namely, Aldrin, Deldrin, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Endrin, Endosulfun I and II, DDT, DDE, DDD, Alpha, Beta, Gamma BHC and two plants namely, Water Hyacinth and Slvinia Molesta were used in the system using pot experiment which processed for 11 days. A consortium was inoculated in both plants to increase its efficiency. Water samples were processed using liquide-liquid extraction. Sediments and roots samples were processed using Soxhlet method followed by clean-up and Gas Chromatography. Delta-BHC was the predominantly found in all samples with mean concentration (ppb) and standard deviation of 0.02 ± 0.14, 0.52 ± 0.68, 0.61 ± 0.06, in Water, Sediments and Roots samples respectively. The highest levels were of Endosulfan II in the samples of water, sediments and roots. Water Hyacinth proved to be better bioaccumulaor as compared to Silvinia Molesta. The pattern of compounds reduction rate by the end of experiment was Delta-BHC>DDD > Alpha-BHC > DDT> Heptachlor> H.Epoxide> Deldrin> Aldrin> Endrin> DDE> Endosulfun I > Endosulfun II. Not much significant difference was observed between the pots with the consortium and pots without the consortium addition. Phytoremediation is a promising technique, but more studies are required to assess the bioremediation potential of different aquatic plants and plant-endophyte relationship.

Keywords: aquatic plant, bio remediation, gas chromatography, liquid liquid extraction

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Authors: Rajendra Kumar Pandey

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Forest genetic resources not only represent regional biodiversity but also have immense value as the wealth for securing livelihood of poor people. These are vulnerable to ecological due to depletion/deforestation and /or impact of climate change. These resources of various plant categories are vulnerable on the floor of natural tropical forests, and leading to the threat on the growth and development of future forests. More than 170 species, including NTFPs, are in critical condition for their survival in natural tropical forests of Central India. Forest degradation, commensurate with biodiversity loss, is now pervasive, disproportionately affecting the rural poor who directly depend on forests for their subsistence. Looking ahead the interaction between forest and water, soil, precipitation, climate change, etc. and its impact on biodiversity of tropical forests, it is inevitable to develop co-operation policies and programmes to address new emerging realities. Forests ecosystem also known as the 'wealth of poor' providing goods and ecosystem services on a sustainable basis, are now recognized as a stepping stone to move poor people beyond subsistence. Poverty alleviation is the prime objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, environmental sustainability including other MDGs, is essential to ensure successful elimination of poverty and well being of human society. Loss and degradation of ecosystem are the most serious threats to achieving development goals worldwide. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005) was an attempt to identify provisioning and regulating cultural and supporting ecosystem services to provide livelihood security of human beings. Climate change may have a substantial impact on ecological structure and function of forests, provisioning, regulations and management of resources which can affect sustainable flow of ecosystem services. To overcome these limitations, policy guidelines with respect to planning and consistent research strategy need to be framed for conservation and sustainable development of forest genetic resources.

Keywords: climate change, forest ecosystem services, sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation

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Authors: C. Makwana, S. R. Dave

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Arsenic is toxic to almost all living cells. Its contamination in natural sources affects the growth of microorganisms. The presence of arsenic is associated with various human disorders also. The attempt of this sort of study provides information regarding the performance of our isolated microorganisms in the presence of Arsenic, which have ample scope for bioremediation. Six isolates were selected from the polluted sample of industrial zone Vatva, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, out of which two were Thermophilic organisms. The thermophilic exopolysaccharide (EPS) producing Bacillus was used for microbial enhance oil recovery (MEOR) and in the bio beneficiation. Inorganic arsenic primarily exists in the form of arsenate or arsenite. This arsenic resistance isolate was capable of transforming As +3 to As+5. This isolate would be useful for arsenic remediation standpoint from aquatic systems. The study revealed that the thermophilic microorganism was growing at 55 degree centigrade showed considerable remediation property. The results on the growth and enzyme catalysis would be discussed in response to Arsenic remediation.

Keywords: aquatic systems, thermophilic, exopolysacchride, arsenic

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Authors: Mohammed Sghir Taleb

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Located at the northwest corner of the African continent between 21 ° and 36 ° north latitude and between the 1st and the 17th degree of west longitude, Morocco, with a total area of 715,000 km2, enjoys a privileged position with a coastline of 3 446 km long opening to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. Its privileged location with a double coastline and its diverse mountain with four major mountain ranges: the Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas and Anti Atlas, with altitudes exceeding 2000 m in the Rif, 3000 m in the Middle Atlas and 4000 m in the High Atlas. Morocco is characterized by an important forest genetic diversity represented by a rich and varied flora and many ecosystems: forest, preforest, presteppe, steppe, Sahara that spans a range of bioclimatic zones: arid, semiarid, subhumid, and humid. The vascular flora of Morocco is rich and highly diversified, with a very significant degree of endemism. Natural flora and ecosystems provide important services to populations represented by grazing, timber harvest, harvesting of medicinal and aromatic plants. This work will be focused on the Moroccan biodiversity and natural ecosystem services and on the interaction between local populations and ecosystems and on the strategies developed by Morocco for restoring and conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Keywords: morocco, biodiversity, forest ecosystems, local population

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Authors: Alma Mendoza-Ponce, Rogelio Corona-Núñez, Florian Kraxner

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Mexico is a megadiverse country and it has nearly halved its natural vegetation in the last century due to agricultural and livestock expansion. Impacts of land use cover change and climate change are unevenly distributed and spatial prioritization to minimize the affectations on biodiversity is crucial. Global and national efforts for prioritizing biodiversity conservation show that ~33% to 45% of Mexico should be protected. The width of these targets makes difficult to lead resources. We use a framework based on vulnerability and irreplaceability to prioritize conservation efforts in Mexico. Vulnerability considered exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity under two scenarios (business as usual, BAU based, on the SSP2 and RCP 4.5 and a Green scenario, based on the SSP1 and the RCP 2.6). Exposure to land use is the magnitude of change from natural vegetation to anthropogenic covers while exposure to climate change is the difference between current and future values for both scenarios. Sensitivity was considered as the number of endemic species of terrestrial vertebrates which are critically endangered and endangered. Adaptive capacity is used as the ration between the percentage of converted area (natural to anthropogenic) and the percentage of protected area at municipality level. The results suggest that by 2050, between 11.6 and 13.9% of Mexico show vulnerability ≥ 50%, and by 2070, between 12.0 and 14.8%, in the Green and BAU scenario, respectively. From an ecosystem perspective cloud forests, followed by tropical dry forests, natural grasslands and temperate forests will be the most vulnerable (≥ 50%). Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrates; 62% of the endemic amphibians are critically endangered or endangered while 39%, 12% and 9% of the mammals, birds, and reptiles, respectively. However, the distribution of these amphibians counts for only 3.3% of the country, while mammals, birds, and reptiles in these categories represent 10%, 16% and 29% of Mexico. There are 5 municipalities out of the 2,457 that Mexico has that represent 31% of the most vulnerable areas (70%).These municipalities account for 0.05% of Mexico. This multiscale approach can be used to address resources to conservation targets as ecosystems, municipalities or species considering land use cover change, climate change and biodiversity uniqueness.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, land use change, Mexico, vulnerability

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Authors: Zhiqiang Yan, Chen Fan, Beicheng Xia

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Urban lakes play an invaluable role in urban water systems such as flood control, landscape, entertainment, and energy utilization, and have suffered from severe eutrophication over the past few years. To investigate the ecological response of main aquatic species and system stability to chlorine interference in shallow urban lakes, a mini system dynamic model, based on the competition and predation of main aquatic species and TP circulation, was developed. The main species of submerged macrophyte, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and TP in water and sediment were simulated as variables in the model with the interference of chlorine which effect function was attenuation equation. The model was validated by the data which was investigated in the Lotus Lake in Guangzhou from October 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016. Furthermore, the eco-exergy was used to analyze the change in complexity of the shallow urban lake. The results showed the correlation coefficient between observed and simulated values of all components presented significant. Chlorine showed a significant inhibitory effect on Microcystis aeruginosa，Rachionus plicatilis, Diaphanosoma brachyurum Liévin and Mesocyclops leuckarti (Claus).The outbreak of Spiroggra spp. inhibited the growth of Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara, caused a gradual decrease of eco-exergy, reflecting the breakdown of ecosystem internal equilibria. It was concluded that the study gives important insight into using chlorine to achieve eutrophication control and understand mechanism process.

Keywords: system dynamic model, urban lake, chlorine, eco-exergy

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Authors: Guanhua Zhou, Zhongqi Ma

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Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in wetlands can absorb nitrogen and phosphorus effectively to prevent the eutrophication of water. It is feasible to monitor the distribution of SAV through remote sensing, but for the reason of weak vegetation signals affected by water body, traditional terrestrial vegetation indices are not applicable. This paper aims at constructing SAV index to enhance the vegetation signals and distinguish SAV from water body. The methodology is as follows: (1) select the bands sensitive to the vegetation parameters based on global sensitivity analysis of SAV canopy radiative transfer model; (2) take the soil line concept as reference, analyze the distribution of SAV and water reflectance simulated by SAV canopy model and semi-analytical water model in the two-dimensional space built by different sensitive bands; (3)select the band combinations which have better separation performance between SAV and water, and use them to build the SAVI indices in the form of normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI); (4)analyze the sensitivity of indices to the water and vegetation parameters, choose the one more sensitive to vegetation parameters. It is proved that index formed of the bands with central wavelengths in 705nm and 842nm has high sensitivity to chlorophyll content in leaves while it is less affected by water constituents. The model simulation shows a general negative, little correlation of SAV index with increasing water depth. Moreover, the index enhances capabilities in separating SAV from water compared to NDVI. The SAV index is expected to have potential in parameter inversion of wetland remote sensing.

Keywords: global sensitivity analysis, radiative transfer model, submerged aquatic vegetation, vegetation indices

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Authors: Titilope F. Onaolapo, Christiana A. Breed, Maya Pasgaard, Kristine E. Jensen, Peta Brom

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In the face of fast-growing urbanization in most of the world's developing countries, there is a need to understand and address the risk and consequences involved in the indiscriminate use of urban green space. Tshwane city in South Africa has the potential to become one of the world's top biodiversity cities as South Africa is ranked one of the mega countries in biodiversity conservation, and Tshwane metropolitan municipality is the city with the wealthiest biodiversity with grassland biomes. In this study, we focus on the potentials and challenges of urban green transitioning from the Global South perspective with Tshwane city as the case study. We also address the issue of management conflicts that have resulted in informal and illegal activities in and around green spaces, with consequences such as land degradation, loss of livelihoods and biodiversity, and socio-ecological imbalances. A desk study review of eight policy frameworks related to green urban planning and development was done based on four GI principles: multifunctionality, connectivity, interdisciplinary and social inclusion. We interviewed 15 key informants in related departments in the city and administered 200 survey questionnaires among residents. We also had several workshops the other researchers and experts on biodiversity and ecosystem. We found out there is no specific document dedicated to green space management, and where green infrastructure was mentioned, it was focused on as an approach to climate mitigation and adaptation. Also, residents perceive green and open spaces as extra land that could be developed at will. We demonstrated the use of collaborative learning approaches in ecological and development research and the tying research to the existing frameworks, programs, and strategies. Based on this understanding. We outlined the need to incorporate principles of green infrastructure in policy frameworks on spatial planning and environmental development. Furthermore, we develop a model for co-management of green infrastructures by stakeholders, such as residents, developers, policymakers, and decision-makers, to maximize benefits. Our collaborative, interdisciplinary projects pursue SDG multifunctionality of goals 11 and 15 by simultaneously addressing issues around Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, Life on Land, and Strong Institutions, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity.

Keywords: governance, green infrastructure, South Africa, sustainable development, urban planning, Tshwane

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Authors: Zhiqiang Yan, Chen Fan, Yafei Wang, Beicheng Xia

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Urban lakes play an invaluable role in urban water systems such as flood control, water supply, and public recreation. However, over 38% of the urban lakes have suffered from severe eutrophication in China. Chlorine that could remarkably inhibit the growth of phytoplankton in eutrophic, has been widely used in the agricultural, aquaculture and industry in the recent past. However, little information has been reported regarding the effects of chlorine on the lake ecosystem, especially on the main aquatic species.To investigate the ecological response of main aquatic species and system stability to chlorine interference in shallow urban lakes, a mini system dynamic model was developed based on the competition and predation of main aquatic species and total phosphorus circulation. The main species of submerged macrophyte, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, spiroggra and total phosphorus in water and sediment were used as variables in the model,while the interference of chlorine on phytoplankton was represented by an exponential attenuation equation. Furthermore, the eco-exergy expressing the development degree of ecosystem was used to quantify the complexity of the shallow urban lake. The model was validated using the data collected in the Lotus Lake in Guangzhoufrom1 October 2015 to 31 January 2016.The correlation coefficient (R), root mean square error-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR) and index of agreement (IOA) were calculated to evaluate accuracy and reliability of the model.The simulated values showed good qualitative agreement with the measured values of all components. The model results showed that chlorine had a notable inhibitory effect on Microcystis aeruginos，Rachionus plicatilis, Diaphanosoma brachyurum Liévin and Mesocyclops leuckarti (Claus).The outbreak of Spiroggra.spp. inhibited the growth of Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara, leading to a gradual decrease of eco-exergy and the breakdown of ecosystem internal equilibria. This study gives important insight into using chlorine to achieve eutrophication control and understand mechanism process.

Keywords: system dynamic model, urban lake, chlorine, eco-exergy

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Authors: Nour El Houda Bensiradj, Nafila Zouaghi, Taha Bensiradj

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The pollution of water resources is characterized by the presence of microorganisms, chemicals, or industrial waste. Generally, this waste generates effluents containing large quantities of heavy metals, making the water unsuitable for consumption and causing the death of aquatic life and associated biodiversity. Currently, it is very important to assess the impact of heavy metals in water pollution as well as the processes for treating and reducing them. Among the methods of water treatment and disinfection, we mention the complexation of metal ions using ligands which serve to precipitate and subsequently eliminate these ions. In this context, we are interested in the study of complexes containing heavy metals such as zinc, nickel, and cadmium, which are present in several industrial discharges and are discharged into water sources. We will use the ligands of triethanolamine (TEA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA). The theoretical study is based on molecular modeling, using the density functional theory (DFT) implemented in the Gaussian 09 program. The geometric and energetic properties of the above complexes will be calculated. Spectral properties such as infrared, as well as reactivity descriptors, and thermodynamic properties such as enthalpy and free enthalpy will also be determined.

Keywords: heavy metals, NTA, TEA, DFT, IR, reactivity descriptors

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Authors: Chevonne Reynolds, Robert J. Fletcher, Jr, Celine M. Carneiro, Nicole Jennings, Alison Ke, Michael C. LaScaleia, Mbhekeni B. Lukhele, Mnqobi L. Mamba, Muzi D. Sibiya, James D. Austin, Cebisile N. Magagula, Themba’alilahlwa Mahlaba, Ara Monadjem, Samantha M. Wisely, Robert A. McCleery

Abstract:

A key challenge for the developing world is reconciling biodiversity conservation with the growing demand for food. In these regions, agriculture is typically interspersed among other land-uses creating heterogeneous landscapes. A primary hypothesis for promoting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis. While there is evidence that landscape heterogeneity positively influences biodiversity, the application of this hypothesis is hindered by a need to determine which components of landscape heterogeneity drive these effects and at what spatial scale(s). Additionally, whether diverse taxonomic groups are similarly affected is central for determining the applicability of this hypothesis as a general conservation strategy in agricultural mosaics. Two major components of landscape heterogeneity are compositional and configurational heterogeneity. Disentangling the roles of each component is important for biodiversity conservation because each represents different mechanisms underpinning variation in biodiversity. We identified a priori independent gradients of compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity within an extensive agricultural mosaic in north-eastern Swaziland. We then tested how bird, dung beetle, ant and meso-carnivore diversity responded to compositional and configurational heterogeneity across six different spatial scales. To determine if a general trend could be observed across multiple taxa, we also tested which component and spatial scale was most influential across all taxonomic groups combined, Compositional, not configurational, heterogeneity explained diversity in each taxonomic group, with the exception of meso-carnivores. Bird and ant diversity was positively correlated with compositional heterogeneity at fine spatial scales < 1000 m, whilst dung beetle diversity was negatively correlated to compositional heterogeneity at broader spatial scales > 1500 m. Importantly, because of these contrasting effects across taxa, there was no effect of either component of heterogeneity on the combined taxonomic diversity at any spatial scale. The contrasting responses across taxonomic groups exemplify the difficulty in implementing effective conservation strategies that meet the requirements of diverse taxa. To promote diverse communities across a range of taxa, conservation strategies must be multi-scaled and may involve different strategies at varying scales to offset the contrasting influences of compositional heterogeneity. A diversity of strategies are likely key to conserving biodiversity in agricultural mosaics, and we have demonstrated that a landscape management strategy that only manages for heterogeneity at one particular scale will likely fall short of management objectives.

Keywords: agriculture, biodiversity, composition, configuration, heterogeneity

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Authors: Herbert Ntuli, Edwin Muchapondwa

Abstract:

This study used a sample of 336 households and community level data from 30 communities around the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe to analyse the association between ability to self-organize or cooperation and institutions on one hand and the relationship between success of biodiversity outcomes and cooperation on the other hand. Using both the ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimation with heteroskedasticity-based instruments, our results confirmed that sound institutions are indeed an important ingredient for cooperation in the respective communities and cooperation positively and significantly affects biodiversity outcomes. Group size, community level trust, the number of stakeholders and punishment were found to be important variables explaining cooperation. From a policy perspective, our results show that external enforcement of rules and regulations does not necessarily translate into sound ecological outcomes but better outcomes are attainable when punishment is rather endogenized by local communities. This seems to suggest that communities should rather be supported in such a way that robust institutions that are tailor made to suit the needs of local condition will emerge that will in turn facilitate good environmental husbandry. Cooperation, training, benefits, distance from the nearest urban canter, distance from the fence, social capital average age of household head, fence and information sharing were found to be very important variables explaining the success of biodiversity outcomes ceteris paribus. Government programmes should target capacity building in terms of institutional capacity and skills development in order to have a positive impact on biodiversity. Hence, the role of stakeholders (e.g., NGOs) in capacity building and government effort should complement each other to ensure that the necessary resources are mobilized and all communities receive the necessary training and resources.

Keywords: institutions, self-organize, common pool resources, wildlife, conservation, Zimbabwe

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Authors: Sridevi Devadas

Abstract:

This study was aimed to examine the combination efficiency of Clorox (5.25% Sodium Hypochlorite) and mercury chloride (HgCl2) as reagent for surface sterilization process of aquatic plant, Cryptocoryne affinis (C. affinis). The treatment applied 10% of the Clorox and 0.1 ppm of mercury chloride. The maximum exposure time for Clorox and mercury chloride was 10 min and 60 sec respectively. After exposed to the treatments protocols (T1-T15) the explants were transferred to culture room under control temperature at 25°C ± 2°C and subjected to 16 hours fluorescence light (2000 lumens) for 30 days. The both sterilizing agents were not applied on control specimens. Upon analysis, the result indicates all of the treatments protocols produced sterile explants at range of minimum 1.5 ± 0.7 (30%) to maximum 5.0 ± 0.0 (100%). Meanwhile, maximum 1.0 ± 0.7 numbers of leaves and 1.4 ± 0.6 numbers of roots have been produced. The optimized exposure time was 0 to 15 min for Clorox and 30 sec for HgCl2 whereby 90% to 100% sterilization was archived at this condition.

Keywords: Cryptocoryne affinis, surface sterilization, tissue culture, clorox, mercury chloride

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Authors: Dibyendu Rakshit, Santosh K. Sarkar

Abstract:

The study illustrates a comprehensive account of large-scale changes plankton community structure in relevance to water quality characteristics due to anthropogenic stresses, mainly concerned for Annual Gangasagar Festival (AGF) at the southern tip of Sagar Island of Indian Sundarban wetland for 3-year duration (2012-2014; n=36). This prograding, vulnerable and tide-dominated megadelta has been formed in the estuarine phase of the Hooghly Estuary infested by largest continuous tract of luxurious mangrove forest, enriched with high native flora and fauna. The sampling strategy was designed to characterize the changes in plankton community and water quality considering three diverse phases, namely during festival period (January) and its pre - (December) as well as post (February) events. Surface water samples were collected for estimation of different environmental variables as well as for phytoplankton and microzooplankton biodiversity measurement. The preservation and identification techniques of both biotic and abiotic parameters were carried out by standard chemical and biological methods. The intensive human activities lead to sharp ecological changes in the context of poor water quality index (WQI) due to high turbidity (14.02±2.34 NTU) coupled with low chlorophyll a (1.02±0.21 mg m-3) and dissolved oxygen (3.94±1.1 mg l-1), comparing to pre- and post-festival periods. Sharp reduction in abundance (4140 to 2997 cells l-1) and diversity (H′=2.72 to 1.33) of phytoplankton and microzooplankton tintinnids (450 to 328 ind l-1; H′=4.31 to 2.21) was very much pronounced. The small size tintinnid (average lorica length=29.4 µm; average LOD=10.5 µm) composed of Tintinnopsis minuta, T. lobiancoi, T. nucula, T. gracilis are predominant and reached some of the greatest abundances during the festival period. Results of ANOVA revealed a significant variation in different festival periods with phytoplankton (F= 1.77; p=0.006) and tintinnid abundance (F= 2.41; P=0.022). RELATE analyses revealed a significant correlation between the variations of planktonic communities with the environmental data (R= 0.107; p= 0.005). Three distinct groups were delineated from principal component analysis, in which a set of hydrological parameters acted as the causative factor(s) for maintaining diversity and distribution of the planktonic organisms. The pronounced adverse impact of anthropogenic stresses on plankton community could lead to environmental deterioration, disrupting the productivity of benthic and pelagic ecosystems as well as fishery potentialities which directly related to livelihood services. The festival can be considered as multiple drivers of changes in relevance to beach erosion, shoreline changes, pollution from discarded plastic and electronic wastes and destruction of natural habitats resulting loss of biodiversity. In addition, deterioration in water quality was also evident from immersion of idols, causing detrimental effects on aquatic biota. The authors strongly recommend for adopting integrated scientific and administrative strategies for resilience, sustainability and conservation of this megadelta.

Keywords: Gangasagar festival, phytoplankton, Sundarban megadelta, tintinnid

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Authors: Sridevi Devadas

Abstract:

This study was aimed to examine the combination efficiency of Clorox (5.25% Sodium Hypochlorite) and mercury chloride (HgCl2) as a reagent for surface sterilization process of aquatic plant and cryptocoryne affinis (C. affinis). The treatment applied 10% of the Clorox and 0.1ppm of mercury chloride. The maximum exposure time for clorox and mercury chloride was 10min and 60sec respectively. After exposed to the treatments protocols (T1-T15) the explants were transferred to culture room under control temperature at 25°C ± 2°C and subjected to 16 hours fluorescence light (2000 lumens) for 30 days. The both sterilizing agents were not applied on control specimens. Upon analysis, The result indicates all of the treatments protocols produced sterile explants at range of minimum 1.5 ± 0.7 (30%) to maximum 5.0 ± 0.0 (100%). Meanwhile, maximum 1.0 ± 0.7 numbers of leaves and 1.4 ± 0.6 numbers of roots have been produced. The optimized exposure time was 0 to 15 min for Clorox and 30 sec for HgCl2 whereby 90% to 100% sterilization was archived at this condition.

Keywords: Cryptocoryne affinis, surface sterilization, tissue culture, clorox, mercury chloride

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Authors: Steven Hidalgo, Patricio Neumann

Abstract:

The growth of societies has increased the consumption of raw materials and food obtained from nature. This has influenced the services offered by ecosystems to humans, mainly supply and regulation services. One of the indicators used to evaluate these services is Net Primary Productivity (NPP), which is understood as the energy stored in the form of biomass by primary organisms through the process of photosynthesis and respiration. The variation of NPP by defined area produces changes in the properties of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, which alter factors such as biodiversity, nutrient cycling, carbon storage and water quality. The analysis of NPP to evaluate variations in ecosystem services includes harvested NPP (understood as provisioning services), which is the raw material from agricultural systems used by humans as a source of energy and food, and the remaining NPP (expressed as a regulating service) or the amount of biomass that remains in ecosystems after the harvesting process, which is mainly related to factors such as biodiversity. Given that agriculture is a fundamental pillar of Chile's integral development, the purpose of this study is to evaluate provisioning and regulating ecosystem services in the agricultural sector, specifically in cereal production, in the communes of the central-southern regions of Chile through a conceptual framework based on the quantification of the fraction of Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) and the fraction remaining in the ecosystems (NPP remaining). A total of 161 communes were analyzed in the regions of O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Bio-Bío, La Araucanía and Los Lagos, which are characterized by having the largest areas planted with cereals. It was observed that the region of La Araucanía produces the greatest amount of dry matter, understood as provisioning service, where Victoria is the commune with the highest cereal production in the country. In addition, the maximum value of HANPP was in the O'Higgins region, highlighting the communes of Coltauco, Quinta de Tilcoco, Placilla and Rengo. On the other hand, the communes of Futrono, Pinto, Lago Ranco and Pemuco, whose cereal production was important during the study, had the highest values of remaining NPP as a regulating service. Finally, an inverse correlation was observed between the provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, i.e., the higher the cereal or dry matter production in a defined area, the lower the net primary production remaining in the ecosystems. Based on this study, future research will focus on the evaluation of ecosystem services associated with other crops, such as forestry plantations, whose activity is an important part of the country's productive sector.

Keywords: provisioning services, regulating services, net primary productivity, agriculture

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Authors: Semra Çoruh, Yusuf Tibet

Abstract:

Dyes are widely used in industries such as textiles, paper, paints, leather, rubber, plastics, cosmetics, food, and drug etc, to color their products. Due to their chemical structures, dyes are resistant to fading on exposure to light, water and many chemicals and, therefore, are difficult to be decolorized once released into the aquatic environment. Many of the organic dyes are hazardous and may affect aquatic life and even the food chain. This study deals with the adsorption of malachite green dye onto fly ash and red mud. The effects of experimental factors (adsorbent dosage, initial concentration, pH and temperature) on the adsorption process were examined by using 24 full factorial design. The results were statistically analyzed by using the student’s t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and an F-test to define important experimental factors and their levels. A regression model that considers the significant main and interaction effects was suggested. The results showed that initial dye concentration an pH is the most significant factor that affects the removal of malachite green.

Keywords: malachite green, adsorption, red mud, fly ash, full factorial design

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Authors: B. G. Muhammad, S. M. Jafar

Abstract:

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) were employed to analyze the level of trace elements concentrations in sediment samples and their bioaccumulation in some aquatic species selected randomly from surface water resources in the Northern peninsula of Malaysia. The NAA results of the sediment samples indicated a wide range in concentration of different elements were observed. Fe, K, and Na were found to have major concentration values that ranges between 61,000 ± 1400 to 4,500 ± 100 ppm, 20100±1000 to 3100±600 and 3,100±600 and 200±10 ppm, respectively. Traces of heavy metals with much more contamination health concern, such as Cr and As, were also identified in many of the samples analyzed. The average specific activities of 40K, 232Th and 226Ra in soil and the corresponding radium equivalent activity and the external hazard index were all found to be lower than the maximum permissible limits (370 Bq kg-1 and 1).

Keywords: external hazard index, Neutron Activation Analysis, radium equivalent, trace elements concentrations

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Authors: Katharina Lapin, Debashis Sanyal

Abstract:

Worldwide urban areas are growing. Urbanization has a great impact on social and economic development and ecosystem services. This global trend of urbanization also has significant impact on habitat and biodiversity. The impact of urbanization on the biodiversity of cities in Europe and North America is well studied, while there is a lack of data from cities in currently fast growing urban areas. Indian cities are expanding. The scientific community and the governmental authorities are facing the ongoing urbanization process as an opportunity for the environment. This case study supports the evaluation of urban biodiversity of the city Raipur in the North-West of India. The aim of this study is to assess the overview of the environmental and ecological implications of urbanization. The collected data and analysis was used to discuss the challenges for the sustainable city development. Vascular plants were chosen as an appropriate indicator for the assessment of local biodiversity changes. On the one hand, the vegetation cover is sensible to anthropogenic influence, and in the other hand, the local species composition is comparable to changes at the regional and national scale, using the plant index of India. Further information of abiotic situation can be gathered with the determination of indicator species. In order to calculate the influence of urbanization on the native plant diversity, the Shannon diversity index H´ was chosen. The Pielou`s pooled quadrate method was used for estimating diversity when a random sample is not expected. It was used to calculate the Pilou´s index of evenness. The estimated species coverage was used for calculating the H´ and J. Pearson correlation was performed to test the relationship between urbanization pattern and plant diversity. Further, a SWOT analysis was used in for analyzing internal and external factors impinging on a decision making process. The city of Raipur (21.25°N 81.63°E) has a population of 1,010,087 inhabitants living in an urban area of 226km², in the district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Within the last decade, the urban area of Raipur increased. The results show that various novel ecosystems exist in the urban area of Raipur. The high amount of native flora is mainly to find at the shore of urban lakes and along the river Karun. These areas of high Biodiversity Index are to protect as urban biodiversity hot spots. The governmental authorities are well informed about the environmental challenges for the sustainable development of the city. Together with the scientific community of the Technical University of Raipur many engineering solutions are discussed for implementation of the future. The case study helped to point out the importance environmental measures that support the ecosystem services of green infrastructure. The fast process of urbanization is difficult to control. Uncontrolled creation of urban housing leads to difficulties in unsustainable use of natural resources. This is the major threat for the urban biodiversity.

Keywords: India, novel ecosystems, plant diversity, urban ecology

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Authors: Fabien Candau, Florian Lafferrere

Abstract:

This article analyses how an emission policy for vessels (named California’s Ocean-Going Vessel Fuel Rule) was implemented in 2009 in California impacts trade and marine biodiversity. By studying the decrease in emission levels anticipated by the policy, we measure not only the consequences for port activities but also for one of the most important marine ecosystems of the California Coast: the Kelp forests. Using the Difference in Difference (DiD) approach at the Californian ports level, we find that this policy has led to a significant decrease in trade volume during this period. Therefore, we find a positive and significant effect of shipping policy on kelp canopy and biomass growth by controlling the specific climatic and environmental characteristics of California coastal areas.

Keywords: international trade, shipping, marine biodiversity, emission control area

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Authors: Aravind Kumar

Abstract:

The high terrains of Garhwal (Uttarakhand) Himalaya are the niches of a number of rare and endemic plant species of great therapeutic importance. However, the wild flora of the area is still under a constant threat due to rapid upsurge in human interferences, especially through multifarious tourism growth and peri-urban encroachments. After getting the status of a ‘Special State’ of the country since its inception in the year 2000, this newly borne State led to very rapid infrastructural growth and development. Consequently, its townships started expanding in an unmanaged way grabbing nearby agricultural lands and forest areas into peri-urban landscapes. Simultaneously, a boom in tourism and pilgrimage in the state and the infrastructural facilities raised by the government for tourists/pilgrims are destroying its biodiversity. Field survey revealed 242 plant species of therapeutic significance naturally growing in the area and being utilized by local inhabitants as traditional medicines. On conservation scale, 6 species (2.2%) were identified as critically endangered, 19 species (7.1%) as the endangered ones, 8 species (3.0%) under rare category, 17 species (6.4%) as threatened and 14 species (5.2%) as vulnerable. The Government of India has brought mega-biodiversity hot spots of the state under Biosphere Reserve, National Parks, etc. restricting all kinds of human interferences; however, the two most sacred shrines of Hindus and Sikhs viz. Shri Badrinath and Shri Hemkunt Sahib, and two great touristic attractions viz. Valley of Flowers and Auli-Joshimath Skiing Track oblige the government to maintain equilibrium between entries of visitors vis-à-vis biodiversity conservation in high terrains of Uttarakhand Himalaya.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, ethno-botany, Garhwal (Uttarakhand) Himalaya, peri-urban encroachment, pilgrimage and tourism

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Authors: Emily Moskwa, Delene Weber, Jacob Arnold, Guy M. Robinson, Douglas K. Bardsley

Abstract:

Management strategies to reduce the risks to human life and property from wildfire are key contemporary concerns, with a growing literature exploring these issues from a social research perspective. Efforts range from narrowly focused examinations, such as comparing the level of community support for vegetation clearance with that of controlled burning, to broader considerations of what constitutes effective fire management policy and education campaigns. However, little analysis is available that integrates the social component of risk mitigation and the influence of educational materials with the biodiversity conservation strategies so often needed in fire-prone ecosystems found on the periphery of urban areas. Indeed many communities living on the fringe of Australian cities face major issues relating to an increased risk of wildfire events and a decline in local biodiversity. Inadequate policy and planning, and a lack of awareness or information, exacerbate this risk. This has brought forward an emerging governance challenge that requires the mitigation of wildfire risk while simultaneously supporting improved conservation practices in these urban-fringe areas. Focusing on the perceptions and experiences of residents of the Lower Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, this study analyses data collected from a series of semi-structured interviews with landholders (n=20) living in rural and urban-fringe areas surrounding the city of Port Lincoln, a city with a growing population and one that has faced a number of very large fires in recent years. In South Australia, new policies have assigned increased responsibility on individual landholders to manage their land and prepare themselves for a wildfire event, potentially to the detriment of the surrounding native vegetation. Our findings indicate the value of gaining a more nuanced understanding of the perceptions and behaviours of landholders living in areas of high fire risk, who often choose to live there in order to be close to the natural environment. Many interviewees demonstrated a high awareness of wildfire risk as a result of their past experience with fire, and the majority considered themselves to be well-prepared in the event of a future fire. Community interactions and educational programs were found to be effective in raising awareness of risk; however, negative trust relationships with government authorities and low exposure to information concerning biodiversity resulted in an overall misunderstanding of the relationship between risk mitigation and biodiversity protection. The study offers insights into how catastrophic fires are reframing perceptions of what constitutes effective vegetation management. It provides recommendations to assist with the development of education strategies that concurrently address wildfire management and biodiversity conservation, and contribute towards environmentally-informed and risk conscious governance.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, risk, peri-urban planning, wildfire management

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