Environmental and Sustainability Indicators最新文献

Establishing connections between ecosystems and agricultural mechanization can help address erroneous decision-making in agricultural management and prevent further harm to ecosystems. It is essential for authorities and decision-makers in the agricultural sector to understand ecosystem dynamics and influencing factors to develop appropriate policies for sustainable development. This study focuses on identifying optimal conditions for determining crop patterns and input allocation in Ilam province's agricultural practices, considering technical and energy parameters. Cultivating one hectare of wheat and barley in the region requires an average energy consumption of 1.79 GJ from various sources, with an estimated energy output of 38.04 GJ ha⁻¹ for these crops. The research involved farmers cultivating wheat, barley, fodder maize, and canola in the southern region of Ilam province, covering cities like Abdanan, Dareshahr, and Dehloran. The study suggests adjustments to cropping patterns, including reducing wheat cultivation and increasing irrigated fodder maize cultivation under optimal conditions. It also recommends exploring rainfed cultivation or enhancing the yield of rainfed wheat to offset the reduced wheat cultivation. The goal planning model indicates a shift towards sustainability, with changes in cropping patterns focusing on wheat, barley, fodder maize, and canola crops, including expanding the cultivation areas of irrigated wheat, barley, and fodder maize. Efforts aim to enhance the productivity of irrigated crops to promote sustainability and improve agricultural practices in the province for long-term sustainability goals.

The cropped area of Krishnagiri district is about 37 % of the total geographical area, and due to the utilization of non-agricultural purposes (8.2% of agricultural land) it is mandatory to increase the agricultural production to feed the people. So, this study has been planned to find the agricultural suitability and crop suitability of the Krishnagiri district using AHP-TOPSIS and GIS techniques. In this study, three main limiting factors, such as climate, soil, and topographical parameters (Annual average rainfall, Annual average temperature, slope, pH, Electrical conductivity (EC), Soil organic carbon (SOC), available NPK, and soil texture), were used as criteria for the suitability of crops. All criteria maps were generated using Arc info 10.4 software. The AHP used to estimate the weight and TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) approach was assign the rank of each criterion for the suitability analysis. Based on the relative closeness to the ideal solution(pi), the generated crop suitability maps were categorized into five classes, namely “highly suitable (S₁), moderately suitable (S₂), marginally suitable (S₃), and not suitable (N)”. The results revealed that, crop suitability maps finds that that maize, field bean, cluster bean, groundnut, pomegranate, lemon, and lemongrass were highly suitable for the Krishnagiri district. Rice, cotton, sugarcane, sunflower, and cashewnut were moderately suitable, and vanilla was unsuitable. This study will guide farm managers and land policymakers in making decisions and assist farmers in selecting crops that are highly suitable for achieving potential yield and profit.

One of the main issues influencing the quality of the soil and agricultural productivity is land degradation. In degraded lands, crop cultivation is not sustainable without adopting resource conservation practices. Agroforestry systems that incorporate canopy management practices have the potential to significantly contribute to the restoration of degraded land by preserving natural resources. We hypothesized that restoring degraded land through a combination of tree planting, shade-loving crop cultivation, canopy management, and land management practice could result in significant improvements in soil fertility, productivity, and carbon sequestration. To test this hypothesis, an experiment was conducted involving a combination of Mulberry (Morus alba L.) and Turmeric (Curcuma longa) in conjunction with canopy management practices including coppicing pollarding and lopping. This experiment, designed as a randomized block design (RBD) with eight treatments, evaluated the impacts on soil erosion, soil health, and carbon sequestration over four years. The results revealed that mulberry under coppicing combined with turmeric treatment reduced the runoff by 45.3% and 28.7% compared to cultivated fallow and sole turmeric, respectively. Sole mulberry under coppicing treatment showed even greater efficacy, reducing soil loss by 73.3% and 57.8% over cultivated fallow and sole turmeric, respectively. Additionally, the mulberry under coppicing combined with turmeric treatment decreased the losses of N, P, and K by 31.8%, 63%, and 22.5%, respectively, compared to sole turmeric. Moreover, the mulberry under pollarding combined with turmeric enhanced SOC stock and SOC sequestration rates by 23.3% and 107.4%, respectively, over fallow and sole turmeric. This treatment also increased soil moisture and turmeric yield by 25% and 17.6%, respectively, over sole turmeric. Furthermore, sole mulberry under lopping treatment produced the highest above-ground biomass (AGB), carbon stock (CS), and carbon sequestration (CSe), followed by lopping combined with turmeric and pollarding combined with turmeric. Hence, the adoption of a mulberry-based agroforestry system with canopy management practices system could be a sustainable technique for restoring the degraded land. Therefore, this system could be recommended for improving soil fertility, reducing soil degradation, and improving productivity, particularly in the Western Himalayan region of India or similar agro-climatic regions worldwide.

To achieve the goals of sustainable development, it is crucial to check the balance of increased level of international trade along with financial development, foreign direct investment (FDI), energy consumption, and institutional advancement with the quality of the environment. This study focuses on how these variables have caused environmental degradation in China. To achieve Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e. to increase the nation's resilience to natural disasters and hazards related to climate change, to promote climate action and safeguard life as part of sustainable development, this involves the analysis of time-series data sets from 1975 to 2021 and the use of the dynamic version of ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) cointegration or simulation model. The results show that FDI is essential for lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the long term, but financial development, the volume of international trade, and the level of energy use or consumption contribute to environmental deterioration. Moreover, China's environmental degradation is decreased by high institutional quality. To accomplish the SDGs and reduce environmental degradation, it is essential to take into account how these elements interact and to adopt a holistic strategy that includes regulations, policies, and education. On the basis of our trustworthy findings, suggestions are made to keep the sustainable development.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) faces various challenges detrimental to critical balance for socio-ecological systems resulting in adversely affecting the flow of ecosystem service (ES). With the context, present evaluation attempted to account a comprehensive understanding about flow of forest ES in community forests and other forests across the HKH for sustainable management of forests. We conducted a systematic literature review to critically analyse and understand the community perception about flow of forest ES and suggest a comprehensive framework for ES assessment through community. The ResearchGate, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases were used, employing the PRISMA, followed by the Rayyan for screening the article between 2010 to July 2023. The exclusion and inclusion criteria resulted in 47 articles. About 61.7% of ES assessment articles focussed to forest ecosystem, while 38.3% focused on community forests. The article accounts bias towards provisioning services (∼42.6%) with skewed geographical distribution to Nepal (∼45%) having favours to social values than economic value of forest ES. Various threats to the HKH forests were also identified jeopardizing the community's well-being. Based on evaluation, a comprehensive indicator-based assessment framework was proposed for comprehensive assessment of ES for sustainable management of community and forests. Precisely, identification of threats and integration of trade-offs and synergies in policies along with participatory approach of management i.e. community and government hand holding may contribute to conserve the forests in the HKH along with ensuring sustainable supply of ES to communities.

This study is motivated by the growing global concerns about environmental impacts and the need for responsible resource management within the oil and gas industry. A systematic review was conducted to examine sustainability and supply chain management (SCM) practices in this sector. The empirical methodology involved a comprehensive literature search across major databases, identifying key studies that address sustainability measures, SCM practices, and the institutional pressures influencing these initiatives. The main findings reveal that while some organisations within the oil and gas industry have begun integrating sustainability principles into their SCM strategies, the approaches are diverse and often fragmented. The review highlights significant gaps in the current literature and areas that warrant further research and exploration, particularly the lack of comprehensive frameworks that address the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions within supply chains. Policy implications of these findings underscore the need for more robust regulatory frameworks and industry standards that can guide oil and gas companies in implementing effective and consistent sustainability practices. Additionally, the study suggests that future research should focus on developing integrated models that incorporate all dimensions of sustainability, offering a more holistic approach to sustainable supply chain management in the oil and gas sector. This will contribute to the theoretical understanding and provide practical insights for policymakers and industry practitioners striving for a more sustainable future in this critical industry.

The escalation of crises related to water quantity of quality, energy, food, and the environment has posed numerous challenges to sustainable development in the agricultural sector. This study seeks to establish an optimal and sustainable framework within the agricultural sector by meeting the objectives of the WEF (Water-Energy-Food) nexus index and environmental. For this, we individually optimized the objectives: maximizing the WEFN index (O₁), minimizing CO₂ emissions (O₂), reducing chemical fertilizer consumption (O₃), minimizing chemical pesticide usage (O₄), and maximizing gross margin (O₅) under various electrical conductivity (EC) scenarios (optimistic, moderate, and pessimistic) within the irrigation network of the Jiroft plain in Iran. In the second stage, we employed a Multi-Objective Programming (MOP) Model to attain these objectives using a weighted sum approach simultaneously. The results of the first stage revealed that under moderate and pessimistic EC irrigation water scenarios, significant alterations in the crop selection within the optimized models for O₁ and O₅ objectives occurred compared to the baseline scenario, which did not consider EC irrigation water. Specifically, in the pessimistic scenario with an EC irrigation water level of 2.25 ds/m, crops such as onions, tomatoes, and potatoes were replaced within the optimal cropping pattern by wheat, barley, and green-maize, leading to a notable decline in program efficiency. The results from the MOP optimization model indicated that in the pessimistic EC irrigation water scenario, the WEFN index, CO₂ emissions, fertilizer consumption, pesticide consumption, and gross margin would change by approximately +12%, −48%, −28%, −8%, and −74%, respectively, compared to the baseline scenario. Consequently, an increase in EC irrigation water, despite improving environmental conditions, would substantially diminish economic profit. Thus, overlooking the impact of EC irrigation water in the WEF nexus analysis could result in misleading conclusions.

European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus), herein referred to as “sardine” or “European sardine”, is the most productive and economically important small pelagic fish in the Northwest African waters. Thus far, very little is known about its stock status in the West African region despite the rapid decadal increase in its catch production. The present study provides avenues vital to improving guidance for sustainable species management. In this region, sardine is divided administratively into three stocks (northern: stock N, central: stock A + B, and southern: stock C). Thus, the present study used two Surplus Production Models (SPM) to evaluate sardine's stock status. Sardine's catch and scientific survey biomass data obtained from FAO-CECAF's (Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF)) latest reports were used in this analysis to fit the SPMs and investigate the effectiveness of the available catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) trends in setting the total allowable catch (TAC) for sustaining the different sardine stocks in the region. Results from the SPMs indicate that the sardine stock in the north is fished at optimum levels. Meanwhile, the SPMs output based on the scientific survey biomass indices indicated a healthy state for the central and southern sardine stocks. Similarly, the fishery CPUE indices for the central and southern stocks showed similar biomass trends compared to the survey biomass index, indicating healthy stock status. Therefore, in cases where survey biomass index data is unavailable to run stock assessments, this study suggests that sardine fishery CPUEs could be used in SPMs to monitor biomass trends over time and may also provide stock status proxies. Additionally, with rapid climate and other environmental changes, sardine stocks must be regularly monitored with consistent and comparable scientific methodologies and updated fisheries time series data.

Rangelands are important for mitigating climate change and rehabilitating land by storing carbon from woody plants and seeds in the soil. However, there is a lack of empirical data on how traditional rangeland management practices (such as enclosure, communal grazing and prescribed fire) affect the carbon storage of woody species and the conservation potential of soil seed banks. This study evaluates the carbon sequestration and soil seed bank conservation potential of traditional rangeland management practices in the Western Guji zone, Ethiopia. A total of 32 sample plots were established using systematic random sampling, with 12 in each management practice, to measure woody biomass and estimate carbon stock using a nondestructive method. Additionally, 72 soil samples were collected for soil seed bank analysis, with 24 samples taken from each type of rangeland management practice. The study found that enclosures had the highest amount of carbon stocks 63.1 tons per hectare (t ha⁻¹), with a corresponding carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) sequestration of 231.58 t ha^-1, followed by communal grazing areas that stored 27.05 t ha⁻¹ of carbon with a CO₂e sequestration of 99.27 t ha⁻¹. Prescribed fire had the lowest carbon stocks at 19.39 t ha⁻¹, with a CO₂e sequestration of 71.16 t ha⁻¹. The study also found that different traditional rangeland management practices significantly influenced the diversity, richness, and density of woody species in soil seed banks. The highest Shannon diversity was recorded in enclosures (3.56 ± 0.09), followed by communal grazing (2.87 ± 0.14) and prescribed fire (1.27 ± 0.08). As a result, enclosure promotes the storage of carbon in woody plants and increases the diversity, density, and richness of woody species seeds in the soil, while prescribed fire reduces it. Therefore, it recommend for pastoralists to expand the use of enclosures as it improves the potential for conserving carbon stocks and soil seed banks of woody species.

World Natural Heritage sites are globally significant natural and cultural landscapes, serve as crucial benchmarks of human efforts in conservation and contribute to broader sustainable development agendas. This study aims to investigate the multifaceted relationship between World Natural Heritage conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding public perception. We focus on the Guilin Karst region and explore the viewpoints of 520 local residents living around the Guilin World Natural Heritage site. The findings demonstrate that most residents deeply understand and care about preserving heritage, express their satisfaction with it, and are willing to increase taxes to support heritage conservation. Additionally, they perceive the multifaceted influence of natural heritage site conservation on the SDGs. Living closer to the Guilin Karst region has a stronger impact on long-term residents’ conservation and sustainability perception. Incorporating the viewpoints of the local community into World Natural Heritage conservation and sustainable development, the study fosters a more inclusive and participatory approach towards managing and safeguarding our shared natural heritage.