Review
Mechanics
Themistoklis P. Sapsis
Summary: Extreme events in fluid flows, waves, or structures interacting with them play a critical role in various areas such as engineering reliability and design, as well as modeling the risk of natural disasters. These events are characterized by high intrinsic dimensionality, complex nonlinear dynamics, and stochasticity, posing challenges for the application of standard mathematical approaches.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF FLUID MECHANICS, VOL 53
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jakub Wojkowski, Andrzej Walega, Artur Radecki-Pawlik, Dariusz Mlynski, Tomas Lepeska
Summary: This paper presents an approach for addressing water-related issues by focusing on the retention of precipitation and the use of ecosystems. By determining the landscape's hydric potential (LHP), the study examines how land cover changes can holistically influence processes in catchments. The results show that increased forest cover has a positive impact on LHP, while increased urban and industrial areas have a negative impact.
Article
Ecology
Rosalind J. Dodd, David R. Chadwick, Ian M. Harris, Adrian Hines, Dan Hollis, Theodoros Economou, Dylan Gwynn-Jones, John Scullion, David A. Robinson, David L. Jones
Summary: Recent research has found significant increases in the intensity, direction of change, and spatial position of extreme weather events since 1961. All land uses are impacted by the increasing risk of at least one extreme event, while conservation areas are identified as hotspots for the co-occurrence of multiple event types.
Article
Environmental Studies
Albert Fekete, Agnes Herczeg, Ning Dong Ge, Mate Sarospataki
Summary: Szeklerland, located in central Romania, is known for its rich natural resources and healing mineral springs. The traditional bathing culture in the region was destroyed during world wars and communist rule but has been revived through professional and civic initiatives over the past few decades, emphasizing nature-friendly renovation techniques and public participation. This heritage conservation project has received awards and recognition both in Romania and internationally, serving as a successful example of landscape heritage preservation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joshua N. Jones, Sarah J. Boulton, Martin Stokes, Georgina L. Bennett, Michael R. Z. Whitworth
Summary: This study quantifies the magnitudes of mass-wasting caused by the Asia Summer Monsoon, extreme rainfall, and earthquakes in the Nepal Himalaya, finding that rainfall events and earthquakes may perturb mass-wasting to a much greater extent than expected from monsoon alone.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Adam Kimberley, Danny Hooftman, James M. Bullock, Olivier Honnay, Patricia Krickl, Jessica Lindgren, Jan Plue, Peter Poschlod, Anna Traveset, Sara A. O. Cousins
Summary: Increasing landscape connecting elements cannot compensate for large-scale grassland area loss, leading to significant declines in both structural and functional connectivity. Generalist species are negatively affected by connectivity, with structural connectivity having the strongest impact, while functional connectivity determines the presence of grassland specialist species in focal grasslands.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yao Qian, Zheng Dong, Yan Yan, Lina Tang
Summary: Rapid urbanization has negative impacts on land use and landscape patterns in watersheds, degrading ecosystem services and habitat quality. This study assesses the ecological risk in Houxi Basin, a typical southeastern coastal watershed in China, from 2011 to 2019. The results show that the risks of degrading habitat-provision services slightly increase, while the risks of degrading water-purification services increase rapidly. Reasonable planning of land use types and spatial layout can help reduce ecological risks. Other conclusions include the effectiveness of combined replacement of forest and grassland in inhibiting pollution diffusion and the importance of optimizing areas with high land-use impact coefficients in inhibiting pollution diffusion.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hassan Anjileli, Laurie S. Huning, Hamed Moftakhari, Samaneh Ashraf, Ata Akbari Asanjan, Hamid Norouzi, Amir AghaKouchak
Summary: The increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves due to climate change have led to significant impacts on the terrestrial biosphere. Studies have shown that during heatwaves, soil respiration rates increase by approximately 26% on average. Failure to capture these high frequency extreme heatwave events may underestimate the terrestrial feedback to the carbon cycle.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Quanliang Chen, Yujing Liao, Xin Zhou, Ting Duan, Xiaotian Xue, Ziqi Zhang, Dandan Dong, Wuhu Feng
Summary: The impact of El Nino on the moisture in the tropical lower stratosphere has been extensively studied. The unprecedented hydration during the extreme El Nino in 2015/2016 provides an opportunity to distinguish the response of water vapor to extreme and moderate El Nino events.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Claudia R. Corona, Shemin Ge, Suzanne P. Anderson
Summary: Extreme precipitation events have a significant impact on soil-water and groundwater storage globally. In this study, we examined the response of water-table depth to extreme precipitation events for 17 representative cases across the United States. Our results showed that the displacement of water-table depth was not directly controlled by the amount of extreme precipitation, but rather inversely related to available porosity. Additionally, the recession time of water-table was found to be inversely related to hydraulic diffusivity.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Marcela Bindzarova Gergelova, Ludovit Kovanic, Hany F. Abd-Elhamid, Anton Cornak, Miroslav Garaj, Radovan Hilbert
Summary: This study evaluates landscape changes caused by flood events in a specific territory in Eastern Slovakia by using statistical methods and GIS spatial analysis tools. The results highlight the significance of the year 2010, which experienced an extreme flood event. Changes in land cover classes, particularly in the pasture category, were observed, indicating a loss of landscape diversity and the disappearance of pastures near the watercourse.
Article
Ecology
Alison K. Post, Kristin P. Davis, Jillian LaRoe, David L. Hoover, Alan K. Knapp
Summary: The frequency and intensity of deluges are increasing globally as the climate warms. Semiarid grasslands are particularly sensitive to the timing and size of deluges, with postdeluge canopy greenness usually increasing linearly with larger deluge size. Grazing regimes did not significantly alter the responses to deluges in this study.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Susana Barbosa, Manuel G. Scotto
Summary: This study analyzes extreme summer temperatures on the Iberia Peninsula using ERA5-Land reanalysis data and a mixture model. The results show significant differences in temperature between the periods from 1981 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2019, with an increase in the mean temperature in the eastern region of the peninsula.
WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Tereza Psenickova, Jakub Horak
Summary: The study found that in the lowland landscape of the Czech Republic, the species richness of water bird communities is influenced by water surface area and diversification, while the tree bird communities are influenced by the total length of woody vegetation surrounding the ponds. Forest ponds predominantly promote passerine species and increase forest diversity.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Paula Lopezosa, Miguel Berdugo, Santiago Soliveres
Summary: Mediterranean landscapes are experiencing significant transformations that endanger biodiversity and ecosystem services. The study investigates the impacts of landscape characteristics and land use on bird and plant diversity, as well as how these changes in biodiversity may affect ecosystem functioning. The results show that plant communities are mainly influenced by local features, while birds are affected by habitat size and landscape diversity. Oak and mixed forests generally exhibit higher levels of ecosystem functioning compared to other land uses.
Article
Plant Sciences
Marco Toderi, Paride D'Ottavio, Matteo Francioni, Ayaka Wenhong Kishimoto-Mo, Rodolfo Santilocchi, Laura Trozzo
Summary: Soil serves as both a natural source and sink for greenhouse gases, with the agricultural sector playing a crucial role in greenhouse gas emissions. It is necessary to define mitigation strategies, especially in vulnerable Mediterranean climate areas. Short-term effects of different termination methods for perennial legumes, such as alfalfa, were assessed, indicating that termination by No tillage plus herbicide supports climate regulations better.
SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matteo Francioni, Laura Trozzo, Nora Baldoni, Marco Toderi, Marco Bianchini, Ayaka Wenhong Kishimoto-Mo, Paride D'Ottavio
Summary: This study evaluated the synergies and tradeoffs between ecosystem services provided by three management systems after legume forage crops. The results showed that the WWB60 system with the addition of 60 Mg ha(-1) recalcitrant biochar can guarantee carbon sequestration, while the A(EXT) system can enhance soil conservation.
Article
Agronomy
Marco Bianchini, Laura Trozzo, Paride D'Ottavio, Marco Giustozzi, Marco Toderi, Luigi Ledda, Matteo Francioni
Summary: Soil-biodegradable mulch films are potential alternatives to conventional polyethylene-based mulch films. This study evaluated the effects of soil refinement on the degradation rates of three different commercial soil-biodegradable mulch films. The results showed that soil refinement significantly accelerated the degradation of the films, and different films exhibited varying degradation rates.
ITALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Paride D'Ottavio, Matteo Francioni, Marco Toderi, Laura Trozzo
Summary: This study investigates the effects of increasing mowing frequency on the soil respiration of fertilized Bromus erectus-dominated grasslands. The results show that increasing mowing frequency does not impact soil respiration, and soil moisture is the main driver of soil CO2 emissions.
Article
Agronomy
Matteo Francioni, Yuko Takada Hoshino, Ayaka Wenhong Kishimoto-Mo
Summary: This study evaluated the effects of soil incorporation of soil-biodegradable mulch films and crop residues through an open-field trial. The results showed that crop residue incorporation enhanced mulch film degradation and increased soil esterase activity. However, the presence of mulch films did not increase the abundance of soil fungi and bacteria. Mesh bag orientation did not affect the degradation degree of mulch films. Further in-field studies are necessary to assess the effects of residue from different crops and other management practices.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Nora Baldoni, Matteo Francioni, Laura Trozzo, Marco Toderi, Flavio Fornasier, Paride D'Ottavio, Giuseppe Corti, Stefania Cocco
Summary: Biochar can be beneficial for soil fertility and crop yields, but its effects depend on its properties and pedoclimatic conditions. In a field experiment, wood gasification biochar had no significant effect on soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities, and wheat grain yield. However, it can contribute to soil carbon stock without adversely affecting crop yield, making it a potential solution for recycling waste woody materials.
BIOMASS & BIOENERGY
(2023)