Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Quantity and Quality at Small Scale Watersheds

This book was inspired by the Hydrology–H030 Session of the 2019 AGU (America Geophysical Union) Fall Meeting. In recent years, simulating potential future vulnerability and sustainability of water resources due to climate change are mainly focused on global and regional scale watersheds by using climate change scenarios. These scenarios may have low resolution and may not be accurate for local watersheds. This book addresses the impacts of climate change upon water quantity and quality at small scale watersheds. Emphases are on climate-induced water resource vulnerabilities (e.g., flood, drought, groundwater depletion, evapotranspiration, and water pollution) and methodologies (e.g., computer modeling, field measurement, and management practice) employed to mitigation and adapt climate change impacts on water resources. Application implications to local water resource management are also discussed in this book

Forest-cover increase does not trigger forest-fragmentation decrease : case study from the Polish Carpathians

Understanding the causes and consequences of forest-fragmentation changes is critical for preserving various ecosystem services and to maintain biodiversity levels. We used long-term (1860s–2010s) and large-scale data on historical forest cover in the Polish Carpathians to identify the trajectories of forest fragmentation. Past forest cover was reconstructed for the 1860s, 1930s, 1970s and 2010s using historical maps and the contemporary national database of topographic objects. We analyzed forest-cover changes in 127 randomly selected circular test areas. Forest fragmentation was quantified with GuidosToolbox software using measures based on a landscape hypsometric curve (LHC). Despite a general increase in forest cover, forest fragmentation showed divergent trajectories: a decrease between the 1860s and 1930s (in 57% of test areas), and an increase between the 1930s and 1970s and between the 1970s and 2010s (in 58% and 72% of test areas, respectively). Although deforestation typically involves the increasing fragmentation of forest habitats, we found that forest expansion may not necessarily lead to more homogenous forested landscape, due to complex land-ownership and land-use legacy patterns. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for policy makers to tune policies in such a way as to maintain the desired fragmentation of forest habitats

Systematics and Diversity of Spiders (Araneae) in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand, India

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The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment

This open access volume is the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. It comprises important scientific research on the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable mountain development and will serve as a basis for evidence-based decision-making to safeguard the environment and advance people’s well-being. The compiled content is based on the collective knowledge of over 300 leading researchers, experts and policymakers, brought together by the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP) under the coordination of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This assessment was conducted between 2013 and 2017 as the first of a series of monitoring and assessment reports, under the guidance of the HIMAP Steering Committee: Eklabya Sharma (ICIMOD), Atiq Raman (Bangladesh), Yuba Raj Khatiwada (Nepal), Linxiu Zhang (China), Surendra Pratap Singh (India), Tandong Yao (China) and David Molden (ICIMOD and Chair of the HIMAP SC). This First HKH Assessment Report consists of 16 chapters, which comprehensively assess the current state of knowledge of the HKH region, increase the understanding of various drivers of change and their impacts, address critical data gaps and develop a set of evidence-based and actionable policy solutions and recommendations. These are linked to nine mountain priorities for the mountains and people of the HKH consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. This book is a must-read for policy makers, academics and students interested in this important region and an essentially important resource for contributors to global assessments such as the IPCC reports. ; Constitutes the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, providing an authoritative overview of the region Assembles the collective knowledge of over 300 leading researchers, practitioners, experts, and policymakers Combines the current state of knowledge of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region in one volume Offers Open Access to a set of practically oriented policy recommendation

Meeting Future Energy Needs in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

As mentioned in earlier chapters, the HKH regions form the entirety of some countries, a major part of other countries, and a small percentage of yet others. Because of this, when we speak about meeting the energy needs of the HKH region we need to be clear that we are not necessarily talking about the countries that host the HKH, but the clearly delineated mountainous regions that form the HKH within these countries. It then immediately becomes clear that energy provisioning has to be done in a mountain context characterized by low densities of population, low incomes, dispersed populations, grossly underdeveloped markets, low capabilities, and poor economies of scale. In other words, the energy policies and strategies for the HKH region have to be specific to these mountain contexts

The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment

This open access volume is the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. It comprises important scientific research on the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable mountain development and will serve as a basis for evidence-based decision-making to safeguard the environment and advance people’s well-being. The compiled content is based on the collective knowledge of over 300 leading researchers, experts and policymakers, brought together by the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP) under the coordination of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This assessment was conducted between 2013 and 2017 as the first of a series of monitoring and assessment reports, under the guidance of the HIMAP Steering Committee: Eklabya Sharma (ICIMOD), Atiq Raman (Bangladesh), Yuba Raj Khatiwada (Nepal), Linxiu Zhang (China), Surendra Pratap Singh (India), Tandong Yao (China) and David Molden (ICIMOD and Chair of the HIMAP SC). This First HKH Assessment Report consists of 16 chapters, which comprehensively assess the current state of knowledge of the HKH region, increase the understanding of various drivers of change and their impacts, address critical data gaps and develop a set of evidence-based and actionable policy solutions and recommendations. These are linked to nine mountain priorities for the mountains and people of the HKH consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. This book is a must-read for policy makers, academics and students interested in this important region and an essentially important resource for contributors to global assessments such as the IPCC reports. ; Constitutes the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, providing an authoritative overview of the region Assembles the collective knowledge of over 300 leading researchers, practitioners, experts, and policymakers Combines the current state of knowledge of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region in one volume Offers Open Access to a set of practically oriented policy recommendation

Assessing the Impact of Gold Mining on Forest Cover in the Surinamese Amazon Rainforest from 1997 - 2019: A Semi-Automated Satellite-Based Approach

The Amazon rainforest, as a biodiversity hotspot and regulator of the earths climate, is one of the most important ecosystems on earth, but has been facing extensive deforestation for decades due to urban growth, agricultural expansion, logging and mining. Mining (and the use of remote sensing methods to detect it) has been relatively understudied in the Amazon compared to the other drivers up until a decade ago, highlighting the importance of current research. The objectives of this study are: To quantify the increase in industrial and artisanal mining and its impact on forest cover in the northern Amazonian country of Suriname between 1997 and 2019; Evaluate the impact of this expansion on the structure (fragmentation) and health (phenology) of the forest; and improve existing remote sensing techniques for mining detection through the development of a pioneer method based on cloud processing and semi-automated mining reclassification. The cloud processing software known as Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used for the initial land use land cover classification of the study area. Landsat 5 and 8 images and the classification and regression trees (C.A.R.T) algorithm were used in this step. The resulting classified maps were fed into the semi-automated re-classification model developed for this study, producing final re-classified output maps, which were used to analyse the expansion of mining and its associated impacts on forest fragmentation and phenology. The proposed method is the first documented method which combines cloud processing with a semi-automated re-classification model, providing a technologically advanced approach capable of rapid and efficient detection of mines. This approach resulted in an 89.5% accuracy of mining detection, and the combination of speed, efficiency, and highly accurate detection outperformed many of the other currently documented methods for mining detection in the Amazon. The results highlighted that mining increased from 69.4km² in 1997 to 431.6km² in 2019, an increase of 522% over 22 years. This growth led directly to 351.9km² of forest loss, 83% of which was due to artisanal mining. This loss of forest led to a 122.8km² reduction in the effective mesh size for the artisanal mine sub-area, compared to a decrease of 83km² for the Industrial mine sub-area. Mining also caused a decrease in the health of the surrounding forest, with the decrease in peak greenness being more pronounced for artisanal mining compared to industrial mining. Recommendations for future research include exploring the use of higher resolution imagery such as Sentinel for better results, as well as the use of microwave data in the classification to combat the issue of extensive cloud cover in the Amazon. The issue of overclassification present in the proposed method can potentially be combated by exploring combinations of different classification algorithms with the reclassification model

Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas,

Not AvailableAgroforestry provides a unique opportunity to achieve the objectives of enhancing the productivity and improving the soil quality. Tree systems can also play an important role towards adapting to the climate variability and important carbon sinks which helps to decrease the pressure on natural forests. Realizing the importance of the agroforestry in meeting the twin objectives of mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as making rainfed agriculture more climate resilient, the ICAR-CRIDA has taken up the challenge in pursuance of National Agroforestry Policy 2014, in preparing a book on Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas at ICAR-CRIDA to sharpen the skills of all stakeholders at national, state and district level in rainfed areas to increase agricultural productivity in response to climate changeNot Availabl

Impact of institutions on land cover change and landscape fragmentation in an Indian dry tropical forest landscapes

Protected Areas (PAs) have been a cornerstone of conservation efforts. However, PAs have become increasingly isolated with protection. Human pressure has shifted towards the forests located outside PAs, which serve as important corridors for wildlife movement. In densely populated countries like India, connectivity across vast landscapes is not possible solely by the expansion of the PA network and requires support from local communities. The importance of local institutions has been considerably ignored due to the focus on PAs, which have limited capacity to meet local demands as well as conservation objectives for vast landscapes. This Ph.D. research integrates remote sensing, landscape ecology and institutional approaches to study social and ecological impacts of forest management institutions in a dry-deciduous forest landscape in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. The study area forms an important connection between Pench and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves. The study begins with a largescale landscape view to study the impact of different forest management regimes on forest change and fragmentation. It then zooms in to compare state and community institutions that differ in traditional norms as well as levels of local participation, assessing their effect on forests and local communities