The water footprint assessment manual: setting the global standard

This book contains the global standard for \u27water footprint assessment\u27 as developed and maintained by the Water Footprint Network (WFN). It covers a comprehensive set of definitions and methods for water footprint accounting. It shows how water footprints are calculated for individual processes and products, as well as for consumers, nations and businesses. It also includes methods for water footprint sustainability assessment and a library of water footprint response options. A shared standard on definitions and calculation methods is crucial given the rapidly growing interest in companies and governments to use water footprint accounts as a basis for formulating sustainable water strategies and policies

Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability-Volume 4

Anthropogenic activities are significant drivers of climate change and environmental degradation. Such activities are particularly influential in the context of the land system that is an important medium connecting earth surface, atmospheric dynamics, ecological systems, and human activities. Assessment of land use land cover changes and associated environmental, economic, and social consequences is essential to provide references for enhancing climate resilience and improving environmental sustainability. On the one hand, this book touches on various environmental topics, including soil erosion, crop yield, bioclimatic variation, carbon emission, natural vegetation dynamics, ecosystem and biodiversity degradation, and habitat quality caused by both climate change and earth surface modifications. On the other hand, it explores a series of socioeconomic facts, such as education equity, population migration, economic growth, sustainable development, and urban structure transformation, along with urbanization. The results of this book are of significance in terms of revealing the impact of land use land cover changes and generating policy recommendations for land management. More broadly, this book is important for understanding the interrelationships among life on land, good health and wellbeing, quality education, climate actions, economic growth, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We expect the book to benefit decision makers, practitioners, and researchers in different fields, such as climate governance, crop science and agricultural engineering, forest ecosystem, land management, urban planning and design, urban governance, and institutional operation.Prof. Bao-Jie He acknowledges the Project NO. 2021CDJQY-004 supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Project NO. 2022ZA01 supported by the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, South China University of Technology, China. We appreciate the assistance of Mr. Lifeng Xiong, Mr. Wei Wang, Ms. Xueke Chen, and Ms. Anxian Chen at School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, China

Investigating the asymmetric linkages between infrastructure development, green innovation, and consumption-based material footprint: Novel empirical estimations from highly resource-consuming economies

The role of a reliable resource consumption measurement is essential for devising a relevant climate policy. The consumption-based material footprint is trade-adjusted domestic resource consumption that presents an accurate picture of the domestic material footprint. Pursuing the same, this study draws asymmetric linkages between infrastructure development, green innovation, and consumption-based material footprint (MF) in the top 11 highly material-consuming countries. Our preliminary findings strictly reject the preposition of data normality and highlight that the observed relationship is quantile-dependent, which may disclose misleading results in previous studies using linear methodologies. In compliance, a novel empirical estimation technique popularized as Method of Moments Quantile Regression is employed that simultaneously deal with non-normality and structural changes in data. The results exhibit that infrastructure development (green innovation) significantly increases (decreases) MF mainly across medium to higher quantiles (medium-higher level of MF). Interestingly, the resource-depleting effect of infrastructure is highest for higher quantiles and lowest for lower quantiles of MF. Economic growth (globalization) increase MF, and their resource-depleting effect is higher (lowest) for lower quantiles and lowest (highest) for higher quantiles. Lastly, population exhibits an inverted-U shape relationship with MF across lower to higher quantiles. These results suggest pertinent policy recommendations

Source-tracking cadmium in New Zealand agricultural soils: a stable isotope approach

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal, which is accumulated by plants and animals and therefore enters the human food chain. In New Zealand (NZ), where Cd mainly originates from the application of phosphate fertilisers, stable isotopes can be used to trace the fate of Cd in soils and potentially the wider environment due to the limited number of sources in this setting. Prior to 1997, extraneous Cd added to soils in P fertilisers was essentially limited to a single source, the small pacific island of Nauru. Analysis of Cd isotope ratios (ɛ114/110Cd) in Nauru rock phosphate, pre-1997 superphosphate fertilisers, and Canterbury (Lismore Stony Silt Loam) topsoils (Winchmore Research Farm) has demonstrated their close similarity with respect to ɛ114/110Cd. We report a consistent ɛ114/110Cd signature in fertiliser-derived Cd throughout the latter twentieth century. This finding is useful because it allows the application of mixing models to determine the proportions of fertiliser-derived Cd in the wider environment. We believe this approach has good potential because we also found the ɛ114/110Cd in fertilisers to be distinct from unfertilised Canterbury subsoils. In our analysis of the Winchmore topsoil series (1949-2015), the ɛ114/110Cd remained quite constant following the change from Nauru to other rock phosphate sources in 1997, despite a corresponding shift in fertiliser ɛ114/110Cd at this time. We can conclude that to the present day, the Cd in topsoil at Winchmore still mainly originates from historical phosphate fertilisers. One implication of this finding is that the current applications of P fertiliser are not resulting in further Cd accumulation. We aim to continue our research into Cd fate, mobility and transformations in the NZ environment by applying Cd isotopes in soils and aquatic environments across the country

Parameterization of an ecosystem light-use-efficiency model for predicting savanna GPP using MODIS EVI

© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Accurate estimation of carbon fluxes across space and time is of great importance for quantifying global carbon balances. Current production efficiency models for calculation of gross primary production (GPP) depend on estimates of light-use-efficiency (LUE) obtained from look-up tables based on biome type and coarse-resolution meteorological inputs that can introduce uncertainties. Plant function is especially difficult to parameterize in the savanna biome due to the presence of varying mixtures of multiple plant functional types (PFTs)with distinct phenologies and responses to environmental factors. The objective of this study was to find a simple and robust method to accurately up-scale savanna GPP fromlocal, eddy covariance (EC) flux tower GPP measures to regional scales utilizing entirely remote sensing oservations. Here we assessed seasonal patterns of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation productswith seasonal EC tower GPP (GPPEC) at four sites along an ecological rainfall gradient (the North Australian Tropical Transect, NATT) encompassing tropical wet to dry savannas. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) tracked the seasonal variations of GPPEC well at both site- and cross-site levels (R2= 0.84). The EVI relationship with GPPEC was further strengthened through coupling with ecosystem light-use-efficiency (eLUE), defined as the ratio of GPP to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Two savanna landscape eLUEmodels, driven by top-of-canopy incident PAR (PARTOC) or top-of-atmosphere incident PAR (PARTOA) were parameterized and investigated. GPP predicted using the eLUE models correlated well with GPPEC, with R2 of 0.85 (RMSE = 0.76 g C m-2 d-1) and 0.88 (RMSE = 0.70 g C m-2 d-1) for PARTOC and PARTOA, respectively, and were significantly improved compared to the MOD17 GPP product (R2 = 0.58, RMSE= 1.43 g C m-2 d-1). The eLUE model also minimized the seasonal hysteresis observed between greenup and brown-down in GPPEC and MODIS satellite product relationships, resulting in a consistent estimation of GPP across phenophases. The eLUE model effectively integrated the effects of variations in canopy photosynthetic capacity and environmental stress on photosynthesis, thus simplifying the up-scaling of carbon fluxes from tower to regional scale. The results fromthis study demonstrated that region-wide savanna GPP can be accurately estimated entirely with remote sensing observations without dependency on coarse-resolution ground meteorology or estimation of light-use-efficiency parameters

Vegetation Dynamics Revealed by Remote Sensing and Its Feedback to Regional and Global Climate

This book focuses on some significant progress in vegetation dynamics and their response to climate change revealed by remote sensing data. The development of satellite remote sensing and its derived products offer fantastic opportunities to investigate vegetation changes and their feedback to regional and global climate systems. Special attention is given in the book to vegetation changes and their drivers, the effects of extreme climate events on vegetation, land surface albedo associated with vegetation changes, plant fingerprints, and vegetation dynamics in climate modeling

Sustainable Use of Soils and Water: The Role of Environmental Land Use Conflicts

This book on the sustainable use of soils and water addressed a variety of issues related to the utopian desire for environmental sustainability and the deviations from this scene observed in the real world. Competing interests for land are frequently a factor in land degradation, especially where the adopted land uses do not conform with the land capability (the natural use of soil). The concerns of researchers about these matters are presented in the articles comprising this Special Issue book. Various approaches were used to assess the (im)balance between economic profit and environmental conservation in various regions, in addition to potential routes to bring landscapes back to a sustainable status being disclosed

Environmental and economic assessment of the intensive wheat - maize production system in the North China Plain

To ensure food security for its vast population input intensification in crop production has been one of Chinas major strategies in the last decades. However, the negative environmental impact of the highly intensive crop production becomes apparent. Especially the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) constitutes a major sustainability issue of crop production in China. The winter wheat - summer maize (WW-SM) double cropping system plays a crucial role for Chinas national food security. Strong research efforts mainly focusing on field experiments insufficiently consider the economic viability of the proposed improvement strategies and farmersactual crop management. Therefore this study aims to fill this void by assessing farmersactual crop management in the WW-SM production system, with regard to its environmental and economic performance to derive suitable improvement strategies for more sustainable crop production in the North China Plain (NCP). This cumulative PhD thesis consists of three papers published or accepted with revisions in international peer-reviewed journals. A field survey conducted in 2011 interviewing 65 WW-SM producing farm households constitutes the core data base for the thesisanalysis. The data was supplemented by expert interviews and specific secondary data. Partial life cycle analysis and economic assessment were conducted, comprising GHG emission, product carbon footprint (PCF), gross margin (GM), variable cost per unit product and life cycle costing (LCC) as key environmental and economic indicators, respectively. The first article describes the status quo of single farm environmental and economic performance of 65 WW-SM producers. The results revealed a huge heterogeneity among farms. Astonishingly no trade-off between productivity and sustainability could be identified in the region. Building on cluster analysis, with farms grouped according to their economic and environmental performance into poor, fair and good producers, the regional GHG mitigation potential was estimated. Under the scenario assumption that all grain in the NCP is produced under good production conditions, 21% and 7% of GHG could be mitigated in wheat and maize production, respectively. To be able to address the existing heterogeneity and develop strategies towards attaining GHG mitigation in practice, the second article aimed at assessing the factors determining farmers current environmental and economic performance. Using stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) it was revealed that nitrogen (N) input and electricity for irrigation were responsible for 0.787 and 0.802 of variability (adjusted R2) in the GHG emission results of the WW and SM production, respectively. Electricity for irrigation and labor were the most significant factors explaining the differences in LCC of WW and SM production, with an adjusted coefficient of determination (adjusted R2) of 0.397 and 0.29. This finding indicates that N input, electricity for irrigation and labor are key target areas for lowering GHG emissions and production costs of the WW-SM production system in the NCP. As revealed in the second article overuse of N fertilizer, which actually constitutes a major current issue in China, offers great potential for reducing GHG emissions and production costs in the WW-SM production system. Therefore in the third article three simple and easily to apply N fertilizer recommendation strategies are tested, which could be implemented on large scale through the existing agricultural advisory system of China, at comparatively low cost. Building on the household dataset, the effects of the three N strategies under constant and changing yield levels on PCF and GM were determined for every individual farm household. The N fixed rate strategy realized the highest improvement potential in PCF and GM in WW; while the N coefficient strategy performed best in SM. The analysis furthermore revealed that improved N management has a significant positive effect on PCF, but only a marginal and insignificant effect on GM. On the other side, a potential 10 % yield loss would have only a marginal effect on PCF, but a detrimental effect on farmersincome. It will be of vital importance to avoid any yield reductions and respective severe financial losses, when promoting and implementing advanced fertilization strategies. Therefore, it is furthermore recommended to increase the price of fertilizer, improve the agricultural extensions system, and recognize farmers fertilizer related decision-making processes as key research areas. The presented thesis gives valuable contributions to the development of environmentally and economically more sustainable crop production systems in the NCP. The thesis concludes that an adjustment in the agricultural advisory system is required, supported by more interdisciplinary research, which is able to address the inherent complexity of realizing more sustainable crop production in China.In seinen Anstrengungen Ernährungssicherheit für seine riesige Bevölkerung zu gewährleisten, stellt die Intensivierung der Pflanzenproduktion Chinas wichtigste Strategie dar. Jedoch treten in den letzten Jahren vermehrt die negativen Umweltwirkungen der hochintensiven Pflanzenproduktion zu Tage. Emission von Treibhausgasen (THG) und der entsprechende Beitrag zur globalen Erwärmung sind besonders ein großes Nachhaltigkeitsproblem der Pflanzenproduktion in China. Als wichtigstes Anbausystem in Nordchina spielt das Winterweizen - Sommermais - Doppelanbausystem eine wichtige Rolle für Chinas Ernährungssicherheit. Die Agrarforschung konzentriert sich auf Feldversuchsbasierte Ansätze. Daher zielt die vorliegende Studie darauf ab, diese Lücke durch die Evaluierung des tatsächlichen ackerbaulichen Managements der Landwirte im WW-SM Produktionssystem zu schließen. Durch die ökologische und ökonomische Bewertung des Systems können passende Verbesserungsstrategien für eine nachhaltigere Pflanzenproduktion in China entwickelt werden, mit besonderem Fokus auf THG Vermeidung in der nordchinesischen Tiefebene (NCT). Diese kumulative Dissertation besteht aus drei Artikeln, die in internationalen peer-reviewed Zeitschriften veröffentlicht oder mit Revision zur Veröffentlichung akzeptiert sind. Eine 2011 durchgeführte Feldstudie bei der 65 WW-SM produzierende landwirtschaftliche Betriebe befragt wurden stellt die Datengrundlage dieser Thesis. Die Daten wurden durch Experteninterviews und spezifische Sekundärdaten ergänzt. Partielle Lebenszyklusanalyse und ökonomische Bewertung wurden durchgeführt, die THG-Emissionen, Produkt-CO2-Fußabdruck (PCF), Deckungsbeitrag (DB), variable Kosten pro Produktionseinheit (VK) und Lebenszykluskosten (LZK) als ökologische und ökonomische Schlüsselindikatoren umfassten. Der erste Artikel beschreibt eine sehr hohe Heterogenität unter den Betrieben. Erstaunlicherweise zeigte sich in der Region nicht der erwartete Zielkonflikt zwischen Produktivität und Nachhaltigkeit; Hochertragsbetreibe emittierten keine erhöhten Mengen an THG pro Hektar im Vergleich zu den Niedrigertragsbetrieben. Aufbauend auf Clusteranalyse, bei der die Betriebe entsprechend ihres ökologischen und ökonomischen Abschneidens nach schwachen, mittleren und guten Betreiben gruppiert wurden, wurde das regionale THG-Vermeidungspotential bewertet. Um die existierende Heterogenität zu adressieren und Treibhausgasvermeidungsstrategien für die Praxis zu entwickeln, zielte der zweite Artikel darauf ab, die Einflussfaktoren des ökonomischen und ökologischen Abschneidens der Landwirte zu eruieren. Während im Durchschnitt 4107 und 3185 kg CO2-äquivalente THG-Emissionen pro Hektar, und LZK von 1176 und 1190 US$ pro Hektar im WW und SM ermittelt wurden, existiert eine gewaltige Streuung unter den Produzenten. Die Ergebnisse zeigt, dass Stickstoffdüngung, Elektrizität für Bewässerung und Arbeitseinsatz die Schlüsselgebiete zur Verringerung der THG-Emissionen und Produktionskosten in der WW und SM Erzeugung in der NCP darstellen. Wie die Analyse des zweiten Artikels gezeigt hat, liegt in der Reduzierung der Stickstoffüberdüngung, die derzeit eines der akutesten Probleme der Pflanzenproduktion in China darstellt, ein sehr großes Potential die THG-Emissionen und Produktionskosten im WW-SM Anbausystem zu reduzieren. Daher werden im dritten Artikel drei klare und einfach anzuwendende N-Düngungsempfehlungsstrategien getestet, die in großem Maßstab durch das existierende landwirtschaftliche Beratungssystem Chinas zu geringen Kosten implementiert werden könnten. Aufbauend auf dem detaillierten Pflanzenproduktions-datensatz der 65 WW-SM produzierenden Betriebe wurde Szenarien-Analyse angewandt. Die Effekte der drei N-Strategien auf PCF und DB wurden unter konstantem und sich verändernden Ertragsniveau unter den Produktionsbedingungen jedes individuellen Haushalts bestimmt. Die N fixierte Rate Strategie erzielte das höchste Verbesserungspotential im PCF und DB im WW; hingegen erzielte die N Koeffizienten Strategie die besten Ergebnisse im SM. Die Analyse hat desweiteren gezeigt, dass ein verbessertes N Management ein signifikant positiven Effekt auf PCF hat, jedoch nur einen marginalen und insignifikanten Effekt auf DB. Auf der anderen Seite hätte ein potentieller Ertragsverlust um 10% nur einen marginalen Effekt auf den PCF, jedoch einen sehr nachteiligen Effekt auf das Einkommen der Landwirte. Die vorliegende Thesis bietet wichtige Beiträge zur Entwicklung ökologisch und ökonomisch nachhaltigerer Pflanzenproduktionssysteme in der NCT. Die aufeinander aufbauenden Analysen der drei Artikel zeigt klar, dass eine potentielle Optimierung des ackerbaulichen Managements der Landwirte, dass auf eine Verringerung der Umweltbelastung abzielt, gleichzeitig zu einer ökonomisch vorteilhaften Entwicklung führt

A comparative study on the ecological footprint of living consumption in northwest ethnic regions: 1980–2018

This paper focuses on the northwest region, which is related to China’s overall ecological security and ethnic stability. This paper selects the neighboring regions of Dingxi City, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture as the starting point, deeply and systematically analyzes the impact of different lifestyles on the environment. Using environmental economics, ecological economics, environmental sociology and other related theories, ecological footprint were used to investigate different lifestyles’ impact to environment. Neural network were also used to carry out multi-perspective environmental impact research from the spatial scale and time scale. The research finds that Dingxi, Gannan and Linxia’s different mode of production has led to different lifestyle, and results in different impact on environment. The governments of the three places should take actions to promote ecological civilization and encourage the establishment of an ecologically-friendly and environmentally-friendly way of life so as to reduce the impact on the ecological environment and realize regional sustainable development