A Review on the Application of Natural Computing in Environmental Informatics

Natural computing offers new opportunities to understand, model and analyze the complexity of the physical and human-created environment. This paper examines the application of natural computing in environmental informatics, by investigating related work in this research field. Various nature-inspired techniques are presented, which have been employed to solve different relevant problems. Advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are discussed, together with analysis of how natural computing is generally used in environmental research.Comment: Proc. of EnviroInfo 201

Modeling the distribution of riverine vegetation in regulated rivers - from dynamic to static equilibrium

Doutoramento FLUVIO - River Restoration and Management / Instituto Superior de Agronomia / Faculdade de Arquitetura / Instituto Superior Técnico. Universidade de LisboaWhile methodological advances in ecosystem modeling reflect the growing recognition in the importance of accounting for dynamic change in river ecosystems, it is also recognized that various forms of regulation measures have completely disrupted its natural dynamics. In this context the underlying research question of this PhD is how river regulation affects the spatial distribution of riverine vegetation (aquatic and riparian) and whether rather simple static models that assume equilibrium between vegetation and environmental factors are adequate tools for its prediction. In a first step, we presented a systematic, quantitative literature review on models to predict the distribution of riverine vegetation on reach scale and identified research gaps to guide the further development of the thesis. Then, we developed and tested a habitat suitability model for aquatic vegetation based on hydrological variables. We concluded that during artificially stabilized (static) low flows the vegetation is in equilibrium with the physical instream condition and showed how the model can be used to define a flow threshold that reduces the risk of species invasion and proliferation. Further, we reconstructed the historic succession dynamics of a large river floodplain using a dynamic vegetation model and showed that typical regulation measures led to a steady progression of the vegetation communities toward mature phases without regression to younger stages. Finally, we applied different static and dynamic modeling approaches for the distribution of floodplain vegetation to the same study area and concluded from the comparison of their results that due to regulation measures the relevance of succession dynamics and disturbance stochasticity for the prediction of vegetation patterns is much reduced. Consequently, from a river manager ́s perspective, static models seem to be an adequate option for the modeling of the distribution of riverine vegetation in artificially stabilized environments since they show high accuracy, need relatively few resources (data, time, expert knowledge) when compared to dynamic models and are reproducibleN/

Modeling riparian vegetation responses to flow alteration by dams and and climate change

2013 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.As the interface between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, riparian vegetation is a critical influence on biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem service production along river corridors. Understanding how altered environmental drivers will affect this vegetation is therefore central to sound watershed management. A river's flow regime exerts a primary control on the type and abundance of riparian vegetation, as differing adaptations to changing discharge levels mediate plant recruitment and persistence. Models of the relationships between flow and vegetation, generalized across species in terms of flow response traits such as flood tolerance, provide a means to explore the consequences of hydrologic alteration resulting from dams and climate change. I addressed these issues through development of a stage-structured model of woody riparian vegetation driven by variation in annual high flows. Simulation experiments offered insight into the potential trajectories of competing vegetation trait types relative to scenarios of dam construction, re-operation and removal. Modifying the size and frequency of the floods responsible for both disturbance mortality and establishment opportunities altered the relative abundance of pioneer and upland cover. Yet, qualitative differences in simulated outcomes resulted from alternative assumptions regarding seed limitation and floodplain stabilization, illustrating the need to carefully consider how these factors may shape estimated and actual vegetation responses to river regulation. In addition, I linked this simulation approach with an integrated watershed-modeling framework to assess the relative risk of invasion by the introduced plant Tamarix under multiple climate change scenarios. Though warming may increase the potential for Tamarix range expansion by weakening thermal constraints, the results of this work supported the expectation that hydrogeomorphic variation will control how this potential is realized. With simulated invasion risk strongly dependent on shifts in both the magnitude and timing of high flows, model outcomes underscored the importance of accounting for multiple, interacting flow regime attributes when evaluating the spread of introduced species in river networks. This research suggested the utility of simplified but process-based simulations of riparian flow-ecology relationships, demonstrating that such models can establish a first approximation of the potential consequences of management decisions and can highlight key questions for additional research, particularly where data are scarce and uncertainty is high

Sedimentatiemodel kwelders Ameland Fase 1: ontwerp en haalbaarheid

Op Ameland vindt bodemdaling plaats als gevolg van gaswinning. Dit heeft consequenties voor de opslibbingsbalans en daarmee de maaiveldhoogte van de oostelijke kwelders Neerlands Reid en De Hon, vergeleken met wanneer er geen bodemdaling zou hebben plaatsgevonden. Dit kan weer gevolgen hebben voor het broedsucces van grondbroedende vogels, dat mede afhankelijk is van het overstromingsrisico. Om de impact van gaswinning op het ecosysteem te bepalen, is het dus mede van belang om inzicht te krijgen in hoe het overstromingsrisico op de kwelders op Ameland zou zijn geweest vanaf 1986 zónder de opgetreden bodemdaling. Daarvoor is het nodig de hoogteligging zonder bodemdaling te reconstrueren

Amélioration du processus de géosimulation des phénomènes urbains complexes par l'adaptation d'une tessellation Voronoï

Similar to the intensive developments in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial databases, the field of urban geosimulation was increasingly used in recent years, with an emphasis on high-resolution applications. This recent tendency does not agree however with the traditionally homogeneous spatial representation provided by regular cellular automata which are commonly used as the spatial structures of geosimulation applications. Several issues are raised in the literature, including reports of limitations in spatial reasoning and a lack of realism related to such spatial representations. The few solutions that, so far, deviate from the ‘dogma of regularity of the spatial representation’ are also subject to recent criticism. In this context, we propose an alternative multi-scale model based on the Voronoi diagram of polygons, which matches geographic features of the urban environment. The proposed theoretical model was developed and tested in the context of a urban geosimulation using high resolution spatial data, in the form of registered parcels of irregular shapes and sizes. The first results of the approach demonstrate the potential of our model in the context of urban geosimulation. Finally, based on our extensive analysis of the main approaches of space segmentation, we propose a schematic method to choose a spatial decomposition suited to urban geosimulation

Mangroves degradation: a local perspective on its awareness

Mangroves in Malaysia reside on the coastlines, and the largest areas of mangrove are in the Northern Sabah. Over the past decades, mangrove species have been reported to be disappearing from the globe. It is due to several natural processes that have been inserted to fill the needs of the increased population. These include illegal logging, agriculture activities and urbanisation. In this regards, awareness of the local residents about the problem of mangrove depletion is important to inhibit the problem to prolong further.Therefore, this research was conducted to determine the degree of awareness of local residents on the importance of mangroves in managing environmental quality. Consequently, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 103 respondents to examine their awareness on the subject of mangrove degradation.The respondents were selected randomly among local residents of Kuala Selangor district.It is found that only twenty percent of the total number of respondents are totallyaware of the issue and acted upon it; either taking part in the endeavours made by the government as well as those with the nongovernmental bodies or practicing mangroves replanting at their backyard

Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Southeast Asia: Innovations and Policies for Mountainous Areas

Sustainable Development; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Agricultur