MAPPING APPLE TREES FUTURE LAND USE POTENTIAL AS A MEANS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN EAST-MEDITERRANEAN MOUNTAINS: MOUNT-LEBANON

Agricultural zonal migrations and altitudinal shifts of high chill requirements fruit trees such as apple trees is considered a way of adaptation to climate change in mountain agriculture. This study examines near and far future options (2050-2070) of this local adaptation method in four village clusters in Mount-Lebanon, involving the expansion of agricultural lands to suitable regions under different degrees of climate change scenarios of temperature increase and precipitations regime fluctuation. A Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping calculation model was established for agricultural land evaluation which aims to locate spaces where the agriculture development indicators such as soil type, slope, future temperatures, and future precipitations will be suitable for cultivation under different climate change scenarios and models. The model does not seek the exact delineation of plots as much as the location of areas with a trend of agricultural relevance in the next 30 to 50 years. This classification is a tool to help Mount-Lebanon farmers and apple growers in adapting locally to climate change by choosing the best future spots to migrate their crops to. Results showed that most lands in which agricultural development is viable, are already in use for apple production (mainly) in the 4 clusters, leaving small parcels of land with variable agro-potentials to be developed in the future under favorable climate conditions. The agriculture potential of plots of altitude exceeding 2000 meters is to be validated in the studied area, especially since the climatic and irrigation conditions of there can present serious challenges

The use of passive seismological imaging in speleogenetic studies: an example from Kanaan Cave, Lebanon

Among many parameters that control the evolution of caves stands the volume of unconsolidated clay sediments generally produced by the alteration of the calcareous rocks. Here we introduce the use of a passive seismological imaging technique to investigate the clay deposits and estimate its total volume in a cave. Applied for the first time for speleogenesis studies, the HVSR (Horizontal / Vertical Spectral Ration) is a geophysical technique that can help better interpret cave geomorphology. We apply seismological spectral techniques (H/V ratio) on ambient noise vibrations to derive the clay volume, as well as its shape. This technique applied on the clay volume reveals some internal details, such as fallen blocks prior to the deposit accumulation and helps to understand deposit evacuation dynamics. The study focuses on the Kanaan Cave, located in Metn District, Lebanon, and reveals new stages related to the cave speleogenesis. This technique could be applied on ‘paragenetic’ caves where clay volume is frequently present in order to constrain the clay volume and reconstruct the buried floor shape of the cave, underneath the clay deposit

A novel method to identify likely causes of wildfire

Natural phenomena, such as wildfires, usually require the coincidence of several related factors in both time and space. In wildfire studies, literature-based factors were collected and listed in Mhawej et al. (2015). The question remains: which combination of factors leads to wildfires? In this context, a novel combination of wildfire likelihood factors was proposed in three different Lebanese forest covers (i.e., pine, oak, and mixed) and related literature-based factors to historical wildfire occurrences. The threshold values of each factor were deduced from the relationship between the element and number of fire occurrences. Each combination of factors was given a unique number. These mixtures corresponded to two, three, four or five factor groupings. The result was the association of each likelihood probability (i.e., low, medium, high, and very high) with different combinations of factors. Ultimately, using these combinations, the wildfire likelihood in Lebanese forests was efficiently and instantaneously generated. This approach could be portable to other Mediterranean regions and applied to several natural hazards

La perception de la pollution de l’air à Beyrouth

Beyrouth, capitale du Liban, est une ville qui connait une pollution atmosphérique chronique. Plusieurs études ont montré que les teneurs annuelles en dioxyde d’azote (NO2) et en particules sont au-dessus des seuils limites fixés par l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS). Une enquête par questionnaire, menée en 2016 dans la ville de Beyrouth et sa proche banlieue, montre que la population perçoit cette pollution et identifie sa cause principale : le trafic routier. Néanmoins, la dégradation de la qualité de l’air n’est pas citée au premier rang des risques perçus : les Beyrouthins soulèvent, en premier, les problèmes de sécurité et ses conséquences. Cette étude montre aussi, que bien que les individus pensent que la pollution de l’air est importante à Beyrouth, elle affecterait plus les autres quartiers que leur propre lieu d’habitation. Des différences de perception des risques en général et des risques environnementaux en particulier selon les dénominations religieuses d’appartenance des individus sont également mises en évidence, sans que l’on puisse, à ce stade, véritablement les expliquer.Studies have shown that the air above Beirut, the Lebanese capital, is polluted. The concentration of NO2 and particulate matters are always above the acceptable limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2016, a survey has been done to study the perception of Beirut’s population on the air pollution. The survey has shown that the population does perceive the bad quality of the air above the city and its primary source: road traffic. On the other hand, the population perceives the risks related to the security situation as more important than the environmental or traffic related risks. The study has also resulted that individuals perceive that air pollution affects others more then it affects them and a disparity between the different religion denominations regarding the perception of the different risks in general and environmental risks in particular, a point which we cannot explain in this stage

Stress from Urban Sprawl on the Fauna and Flora of the Beirut Metropolitan Area

Le Liban fait partie du point chaud de la biodiversité méditerranéenne et est bien connu pour son grand nombre d’espèces vivantes, spécialement terrestres. Son urbanisation incontrôlée représente la principale cause de la fragmentation des habitats de ces dernières. Cette recherche propose l’utilisation des SIG et de l’analyse du paysage pour appréhender le processus de fragmentation dans la Région Métropolitaine de Beyrouth (RMB) au cours des trente dernières années. Des images satellitaires de 1985 et 2016 ont été traitées dans un SIG et des indices de fragmentation ont pu être calculés grâce à Fragstat4.2. Cinq sites ont été étudiés à une échelle fine, afin d’identifier les causes de ce morcellement qui va en augmentant. Les résultats montrent une fragmentation croissante des espaces verts, une ségrégation considérable entre ces parcelles et une coupure de leur connectivité. Cette étude vise à proposer des méthodes d’atténuation efficaces pour la protection des espèces restantes.Lebanon is part of the hot spot of Mediterranean biodiversity and is well known for its large number of living species, particularly terrestrial ones. Uncontrolled urbanisation is the main cause of fragmentation of the habitats of these species. This research proposes GIS and landscape analysis as tools for understanding the process of fragmentation in the Metropolitan Area of Beyrouth over the last thirty years. Satellite images taken in 1985 and 2016 were processed by GIS and fragmentation indices were calculated using Fragstat4.2. Five sites were studied at a fine scale so as to identify the causes of this parcelling, which is on the increase. The results show increasing fragmentation of green spaces, considerable segregation between these patches and the breakdown of their connections. The aim of this study is to offer efficient mitigation methods for the protection of the remaining species

Cave dripwater isotopic signals related to the altitudinal gradient of Mount-Lebanon: implication for speleothem studies

An important step in paleoclimate reconstructions based on vadose cave carbonate deposits or speleothems is to evaluate the sensitivity of the cave environment and speleothems to regional climate. Accordingly, we studied four caves, located at different altitudes along the western flank of Mount-Lebanon (Eastern Mediterranean). The objectives of this study are to identify the present-day variability in temperature, pCO2, and water isotopic composition and to assess the possible influence of the altitudinal gradient on cave drip waters and cave streams. We present here an overview of the spatial variability of rainwater based on local and regional data, and we compare these data with our results, i.e., temperature, air pCO2, and the isotopic composition of cave water and modern cave calcite collected in 2011 and 2014. The results show that the rainwater isotopic signal is generally preserved in the cave dripwater isotopic composition with some exceptions in large caves with high ceilings where evaporation effects may influence its isotopic composition. The altitude effect observed in rainwater isotopic composition seems to be transferred to the cave dripwater. Different δ18O/100 m gradients between dripwater and rainwater (0.13‰ and 0.21‰, respectively) are noted. This is mainly attributed to the δ18O/100 m value of the dripwater which is site-specific and dependent on i) local processes within the epikarst/soil, ii) the relation to the precipitation altitude gradient and iii) the extension of the defined infiltration basin

Lebanese Cannabis: Agronomic and Essential Oil Characteristics as Affected by Sowing Date and Irrigation Practice

A field experiment was carried out in Lebanon to assess the agronomic and essential oil characteristics of cannabis as affected by sowing date and irrigation practice. The experiment consisted of a split-plot design with the water regime being the main factor (Iopt-irrigated when the readily available soil water is depleted; I50- receiving 50% of the irrigation amounts in Iopt treatments) and sowing date as the sub-plot factor (mid-April; end of April; mid-May). Biometric and seed quality parameters of the cannabis crop were determined. The essential oils (EO) of the inflorescence were subjected to a multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The obtained results revealed that the aboveground fresh biomass, the dry matter, and the plant height were 55.08%, 59.62%, and 43.11% higher in Iopt than in I50, respectively. However, the EO content was neither statistically affected by the irrigation regime nor by the sowing date. Under early sowing, both the water-use efficiency (WUE) for biomass and the EO production reached their highest values. All treatments presented a similar seed composition except that the crude fat and crude protein content were more elevated in Iopt than in I50 treatments. The main extracted essential oils in cannabis inflorescence corresponded to twenty-six identified compounds representing 79.34% of the monoterpenes and 81.25% of the sesquiterpenes. The monoterpenes were highly correlated with the irrigation treatment and early-April sowing while the sesquiterpenes were better enhanced under I50 and end of April to mid-May sowing. The study reveals that agronomic practices lead to differential responses of pharmacologically useful plant compounds for improved health benefits. Further research is required to clarify the potential for cannabis cultivation in Lebanon

Lebanese Cannabis: Agronomic and Essential Oil Characteristics as Affected by Sowing Date and Irrigation Practice

A field experiment was carried out in Lebanon to assess the agronomic and essential oil characteristics of cannabis as affected by sowing date and irrigation practice. The experiment consisted of a split-plot design with the water regime being the main factor (Iopt-irrigated when the readily available soil water is depleted; I50- receiving 50% of the irrigation amounts in Iopt treatments) and sowing date as the sub-plot factor (mid-April; end of April; mid-May). Biometric and seed quality parameters of the cannabis crop were determined. The essential oils (EO) of the inflorescence were subjected to a multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The obtained results revealed that the aboveground fresh biomass, the dry matter, and the plant height were 55.08%, 59.62%, and 43.11% higher in Iopt than in I50, respectively. However, the EO content was neither statistically affected by the irrigation regime nor by the sowing date. Under early sowing, both the water-use efficiency (WUE) for biomass and the EO production reached their highest values. All treatments presented a similar seed composition except that the crude fat and crude protein content were more elevated in Iopt than in I50 treatments. The main extracted essential oils in cannabis inflorescence corresponded to twenty-six identified compounds representing 79.34% of the monoterpenes and 81.25% of the sesquiterpenes. The monoterpenes were highly correlated with the irrigation treatment and early-April sowing while the sesquiterpenes were better enhanced under I50 and end of April to mid-May sowing. The study reveals that agronomic practices lead to differential responses of pharmacologically useful plant compounds for improved health benefits. Further research is required to clarify the potential for cannabis cultivation in Lebanon