Regional Sustainability最新文献

With accelerated urbanization and climate change, urban flooding is becoming more and more serious. Flood risk assessment is an important task for flood management, so it is crucial to map the spatial and temporal distribution of flood risk. This paper proposed an urban flood risk assessment method that takes into account the influences of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure, by constructing a multi-index urban flood risk assessment framework based on Geographic Information System (GIS). To determine the weight values of urban flood risk index factors, we used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Also, we plotted the temporal and spatial distribution maps of flood risk in Zhengzhou City in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The analysis results showed that, the proportion of very high and high flood risk zone in Zhengzhou City was 1.362%, 5.270%, 4.936%, 12.151%, and 24.236% in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, respectively. It is observed that the area of high flood risk zones in Zhengzhou City showed a trend of increasing and expanding, of which Dengfeng City, Xinzheng City, Xinmi City, and Zhongmu County had the fastest growth rate and the most obvious increase. The flood risk of Zhengzhou City has been expanding with the development of urbanization. The method is adapted to Zhengzhou City and will have good adaptability in other research areas, and its risk assessment results can provide a scientific reference for urban flood management personnel. In the future, the accuracy of flood risk assessment can be further improved by promoting the accuracy of basic data and reasonably determining the weight values of index factors. The risk zoning map can better reflect the risk distribution and provide a scientific basis for early warning of flood prevention and drainage.

Analyzing agricultural sustainability is essential for designing and assessing rural development initiatives. However, accurately measuring agricultural sustainability is complicated since it involves so many different factors. This study provides a new suite of quantitative indicators for assessing agricultural sustainability at regional and district levels, involving environmental sustainability, social security, and economic security. Combining the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model and indicator approach, this study creates a composite agricultural sustainability index for the 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions of India. The results of this study show that the Trans-Gengatic Plain Region (TGPR) ranks first in agricultural sustainability among India’s 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions, while the Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR) ranks last. Higher livestock ownership, cropping intensity, per capita income, irrigation intensity, share of institutional credit, food grain productivity, crop diversification, awareness of minimum support price, knowledge sharing with fellow farmers, and young and working population, as well as better transportation facilities and membership of agricultural credit societies are influencing indicators responsible for higher agricultural sustainability in TGPR compared with EHR. Although, the scores of environmental sustainability indicators of EHR are quite good, its scores of social and economic security indicators are fairly low, putting it at the bottom of the rank of agricultural sustainability index among the 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions in India. This demonstrates the need of understanding agricultural sustainability in relation to social and economic dimensions. In a nation as diverse and complicated as India, it is the social structure that determines the health of the economy and environment. Last but not least, the sustainability assessment methodology may be used in a variety of India’s agro-climatic regions.

The impacts of climate change on crop yields are receiving renewed interest, with focus on cereals and staple crops at the regional and national scales. Yet, the impacts of climate variability on the yields of leguminous crops in the local context has not been explored. Thus, an in-depth understanding of climate change variability in the local context may support the design of locally relevant adaptation responses to current and future climate risks. This study examined the impacts of climate variables (annual rainfall, annual average temperature, rainfall indices (rainfall onset, rainfall cessation, and the length of rainy days), and the number of dry days) on the yields of leguminous crops (groundnuts, cowpeas, and soybeans) in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone of Ghana during the period of 1989–2020. The data were analysed using Mann-Kendall's trend, Sen's slope test, correlation analysis, and Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA). The findings revealed that annual rainfall, annual average temperature, rainfall onset, rainfall cessation, and the length of rainy days, and the number of dry days all showed varied impacts on the yields of groundnuts, cowpeas, and soybeans. The trend analysis detected a marginal decrease in the amount of rainfall, rainfall onset, and the number of dry days from 1989 to 2020 (P ​> ​0.050). Annual average temperature and the length of rainy days substantially varied (P ​< ​0.050) from 1989 to 2020, showing an increasing trend. The findings also showed a marked upward trend for the yields of groundnuts, cowpeas, and soybeans during 2005–2020. The climate variables analysed above increased the yields of groundnuts, cowpeas, and soybeans by 49.0%, 55.0%, and 69.0%, respectively. The yields of groundnuts, cowpeas, and soybeans have been fluctuating with the variability of 30.0%, 28.0%, and 27.0% from 2005 to 2020, respectively. The three leguminous crops under study demonstrated unpredictable yields due to the variations of annual rainfall, annual average temperature, rainfall onset, rainfall cessation, the length of rainy days, and the number of dry days, which stressed the need for agricultural diversification, changing planting dates, using improved seed variety, and irrigation to respond to climate change. The results of this study implied that climate change considerably impacts crop production in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone of Ghana, emphasizing the urgency of locally based and farmer-induced adaptation measures for food security and resilient agricultural systems.

Studies on mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices can increase smallholder farmers’ capacity and awareness to improve food security and establish sustainable livelihoods through resilient agricultural systems, while achieving adaptation and mitigation benefits. Hence, valuable insights can be obtained from smallholder farmers in responding to present and forthcoming challenges of climate change impacts. However, there is little research work on trade-off and synergy assessments. Taking Geshy watershed in Southwest Ethiopia as a case study area, both quantitative and qualitative data analysis were undertaken in this study. The data were collected from 15 key informant interviews, 6 focus group discussions, and 384 households to answer the following questions: (1) what are the top 5 preferred CSA practices for smallholder farmers in Geshy watershed when coping with the impacts of climate change? (2) What is the performance of the preferred CSA practices? And (3) which trade-offs and synergies are experienced upon the implementation of CSA practices? The study came up with the most preferred CSA practices such as the use of improved crop varieties, small-scale irrigation, improved animal husbandry, the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers, and crop rotation with legumes. The selected CSA practices showed that the productivity goal exhibit the best synergy, while the mitigation goal has trade-offs. The study also has shown that the use of improved crop varieties causes high synergies in all 3 goals of CSA practices; small-scale irrigation provides a medium synergy on productivity goal but high synergy for adaptation and mitigation goals; improved animal husbandry shows a high synergy with the adaptation goal, a relatively lower synergy with the productivity goal, and a trade-off with the mitigation goal; the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers shows maximum synergy for the productivity and adaptation goals; and crop rotation with legumes exhibits high synergy with the productivity and mitigation goals but a relatively lower synergy with the adaptation goal. These results can provide evidence to various stakeholder farmers in the value chain that the impacts of climate change can be addressed by the adoption of CSA practices. In general, CSA practices are considered indispensable. Smallholder farmers prefer CSA practices that help to increase crop productivity and household resilience to climate change impacts. The results generate a vital foundation for recommendations to smallholder farming decision-makers. It also sensitizes actions for innovative and sustainable methods that are able to upscale the preferred CSA practices in the agricultural system in Geshy watershed of Southwest Ethiopia and other regions.

World experience indicates the existence of significant imbalances in the development of countries. The problem of assessing the rational development of the regional and national economy is becoming urgent, since such assessments can prevent development imbalances across countries. The aim of this study is to elaborate a methodology to assess the countries’ socio-economic development by integraring 12 modern indices of socio-economic development into the Composite Country Development Index (CCDI). The methodology of this research was based on a set of key indices that described socio-economic development level in four fields (social development, digital development, economic development, and environmental security) and then these indices were integrated into the CCDI. The study further applied factor analysis and R-Studio software to define the gaps of social and economic development in 59 selected countries using the trigonometric function of the angle sine. The correlation analysis confirmed the existence of a close interrelation among the studied countries. This paper noted that due to the emergence of new priorities, it is necessary to revise the assessment methodology of socio-economic development level and expand them to cover the decisive factors. This was confirmed by the results obtained, demonstrating various combinations of the development level in the four fields and their impact on the CCDI. The scientific contribution of this research is to form a methodology (e.g., the CCDI) for evaluating the socio-economic development level of countries in the world.

To increase the resilience of farmers' livelihood systems, detailed knowledge of adaptation strategies for dealing with the impacts of climate change is required. Knowledge co-production approach is an adaptation strategy that is considered appropriate in the context of the increasing frequency of disasters caused by climate change. Previous research of knowledge co-production on climate change adaptation in Indonesia is insufficient, particularly at local level, so we examined the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge in the knowledge co-production process through climate field school (CFS) activities in this study. We interviewed 120 people living in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, involving 12 crowds including male and female farmers participated in CFS and not participated in CFS, local government officials, agriculture extension workers, agricultural traders, farmers' family members and neighbors, etc. In brief, the 12 groups of people mainly include two categories of people, i.e., people involved in CFS activities and outside CFS. We applied descriptive method and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to determine how knowledge flow in the community network and which groups of actors are important for knowledge flow. The findings of this study reveal that participants in CFS activities convey the knowledge they acquired formally (i.e., from TV, radio, government, etc.) and informally (i.e., from market, friends, relatives, etc.) to other actors, especially to their families and neighbors. The results also show that the acquisition and sharing of knowledge facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge based on knowledge co-operation. In addition, the findings highlight the key role of actors in the knowledge transfer process, and key actors involved in disseminating information about climate change adaptation. To be specific, among all the actors, family member and neighbor of CFS actor are the most common actors in disseminating climate knowledge information and closest to other actors in the network; agricultural trader and family member of CFS actor collaborate most with other actors in the community network; and farmers participated in CFS, including those heads of farmer groups, agricultural extension workers, and local government officials are more willing to contact with other actors in the network. To facilitate the flow of knowledge on climate change adaptation, CFS activities should be conducted regularly and CFS models that fit the situation of farmers’ vulnerability to climate change should be developed.

The availability of better economic possibilities and well-connected transportation networks has attracted people to migrate to peri-urban and rural neighbourhoods, changing the landscape of regions outside the city and fostering the growth of physical infrastructure. Using multi-temporal satellite images, the dynamics of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes, the impact of urban growth on LULC changes, and regional environmental implications were investigated in the peri-urban and rural neighbourhoods of Durgapur Municipal Corporation in India. The study used different case studies to highlight the study area's heterogeneity, as the phenomenon of change is not consistent. Landsat TM and OLI-TIRS satellite images in 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021 were used to analyze the changes in LULC types. We used the relative deviation (RD), annual change intensity (ACI), uniform intensity (UI) to show the dynamicity of LULC types (agriculture land; built-up land; fallow land; vegetated land; mining area; and water bodies) during 1991–2021. This study also applied the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to measure environmental sensitivity zones and find out the causes of LULC changes. According to LULC statistics, agriculture land, built-up land, and mining area increased by 51.7, 95.46, and 24.79 ​km², respectively, feom 1991 to 2021. The results also suggested that built-up land and mining area had the greatest (LST), whereas water bodies and vegetated land showed the lowest LST. Moreover, this study looked at the relationships among LST, spectral indices (Normalized Differenced Built-up Index (NDBI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)), and environmental sensitivity. The results showed that all of the spectral indices have the strongest association with LST, indicating that built-up land had a far stronger influence on the LST. The spectral indices indicated that the decreasing trends of vegetated land and water bodies were 4.26 and 0.43 km²/a, respectively, during 1991–2021. In summary, this study can help the policy-makers to predict the increasing rate of temperature and the causes for the temperature increase with the rapid expansion of built-up land, thus making effective peri-urban planning decisions.

This study assesses the literature evidence on climate change risk, resilience, and adaptation measures used among rural farmers in East Africa. A systematic literature review was conducted comprising 30 papers from the Web of Science database published during 2000–2022. The results of the literature review showed that climate change risks have direct impacts on agricultural practices, limit rural farmers’ resilience, and exacerbate their food insecurity. The most prominent risks are increasingly shorter wet seasons and heat stress, which lead to droughts and food production losses. Responding to climate risks, farmers in East Africa adopt various adaptation strategies such as mixed- and inter-cropping, conservation tillage, early planting, crop diversification, etc. Also, this review summarizes the determinants of climate change adaptation strategy selection by farmers in East Africa, including age, gender, household size, economic status and household assets, landownership and livestock, education and training, etc. Overall, the choice of adaptation strategies to climate change is strongly determined by the gender of household heads, the results of gender as a determinant of adaptation differ greatly between different case studies. Although female-headed households (FHHs) tend to perceive changes in temperature more readily than male-headed households (MHHs), the latter are generally more likely to adopt different adaptation strategies. Despite the resilience and adaptation measures used by rural farmers in East Africa now, improved weather forecasting and early warning systems are needed as a better direction towards the future.

The exchanges between cities and counties in the Northern Slope Economic Belt of Tianshan Mountains (NSEBTM) are increasingly frequent and the economic linkages are increasingly close, but the spatial distribution of economic development and linkages among the cities and counties within NSEBTM is uneven. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the evolution of spatial-temporal pattern of the economic linkage network of cities and counties on NSEBTM to promote the coordinated and integrated development of the regional economy on NSEBTM. In this study, we used the modified gravity model and social network analysis method to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the economic linkage network structure of cities and counties on NSEBTM in 2000, 2010, and 2020. The results showed that the comprehensive development quality level of cities and counties on NSEBTM increased from 2000 to 2020, its growth rate also increased, and its gap between cities and counties continued expanding. Both the spatial distribution patterns of the comprehensive development quality level of cities and counties on NSEBTM in 2000 and 2010 were presented as “high in the middle and low at both ends”, while the spatial distribution pattern of 2020 was exhibited as “high value and low value staggered”. The total amount of external economic linkages of cities and counties on NSEBTM showed an obvious upward trend, and its gap between cities and counties continued expanding, also showing a pattern of “a strong middle section and weak ends”. The direction of economic linkages of NSEBTM existed obvious central orientation and geographical proximity. The density of economic linkage network of NSEBTM increased from 2000 to 2020, and the structure of economic linkage network changed from single-core structure centered with Urumqi City to multicore structure centered with Urumqi City, Karamay City, Shihezi City, and Changji City, shifting from unbalanced development to balanced development. In the future, we should accelerate the construction of urban agglomeration on NSEBTM, cultivate a modern Urumqi metropolitan area, improve the comprehensive development quality of the cities and counties at the eastern and western ends, strengthen the intensity of economic linkages between cities and counties, optimize the economic linkage network, and promote the coordinated and integrated development of regional economy.

Human activities have severely impacted many species and ecosystems. Thus, understanding the local biodiversity situation is crucial for implementing effective biodiversity conservation interventions. Mindanao in the southern Philippines is home to various unique species, particularly in its pristine ecosystems. However, the available biodiversity data for many terrestrial vertebrates and key areas remain incomplete. To address this issue, we synthesized published literature related to biodiversity from 2000 to 2022 in Mindanao. Moreover, this analysis used four key terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) in Mindanao as research objects. According to our findings, there was a significant and positive correlation between the number of biodiversity studies and species recorded. In terms of species richness, birds were the most recorded group (n ​= ​334 spp.), followed by reptiles (n ​= ​108 spp.), mammals (n ​= ​70 spp.), and amphibians (n ​= ​52 spp.). We also found that the number of endemic and threatened species varies geographically and across taxonomic groups. Yet, we discovered a significant disparity in the information available on biodiversity in different provinces of Mindanao. For example, the western provinces of Mindanao have had not records of biodiversity for more than two decades. Furthermore, we found that the changes in tree cover loss were consistent with biodiversity records, but this correlation is only significant for birds. Finally, we highlighted some critical threats and challenges to biodiversity, including deforestation, agricultural expansion, mining, and their impact on biodiversity conservation in Mindanao. Our findings suggested that biodiversity conservation should focus not only on areas with high levels of biodiversity but also on areas lacking biodiversity information. To do this, we call for strengthening collaboration among various institutions and digitizing and centralizing of information related to biodiversity. By gaining a deeper understanding of biodiversity in Mindanao, we can better and sustainably protect critical ecosystems in this region from the increasing threats posed by human activities.