Macroinvertebrate Diversity in Urban and Rural Ponds: Implications for Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation

Ponds are among the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems, yet face significant threats from removal, habitat degradation and a lack of legislative protection globally. Information regarding the habitat quality and biodiversity of ponds across a range of land uses is vital for the long term conservation and management of ecological resources. In this study we examine the biodiversity and conservation value of macroinvertebrates from 91 lowland ponds across 3 land use types (35 floodplain meadow, 15 arable and 41 urban ponds). A total of 224 macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded across all ponds, with urban ponds and floodplain ponds supporting a greater richness than arable ponds at the landscape scale. However, at the alpha scale, urban ponds supported lower faunal diversity (mean: 22 taxa) than floodplain (mean: 32 taxa) or arable ponds (mean: 30 taxa). Floodplain ponds were found to support taxonomically distinct communities compared to arable and urban ponds. A total of 13 macroinvertebrate taxa with a national conservation designation were recorded across the study area and 12 ponds (11 floodplain and 1 arable pond) supported assemblages of high or very high conservation value. Pond conservation currently relies on the designation of individual ponds based on very high biodiversity or the presence of taxa with specific conservation designations. However, this site specific approach fails to acknowledge the contribution of ponds to freshwater biodiversity at the landscape scale. Ponds are highly appropriate sites outside of protected areas (urban/arable), with which the general public are already familiar, for local and landscape scale conservation of freshwater habitats

Brucellosis in dairy herds: a public health concern in the milk supply chains of West and Central Africa

Ten herd-level cross-sectional studies were conducted in peri-urban dairy production areas of seven West and Central African countries (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo). The objectives were to estimate herd level Brucella spp. seroprevalence and identify risk factors for seropositivity. In each of the ten study areas, herds (between 52 and 142 per area, total = 965) were selected probabilistically and a structured questionnaire was administered to gather information on their structure and management. A bulk milk sample from each herd was tested by indirect ELISA for Brucella spp. For each area, herd seroprevalence estimates were obtained after adjusting for the assumed performance of the diagnostic test. Herd level risk factors for Brucella spp. seropositivity were identified by means of stratified logistic regression, with each peri-urban zone as a stratum. Area-specific models were also explored. Estimated herd seroprevalences were: Lomé (Togo) 62.0% (95% CI:55.0-69.0), Bamako (Mali) 32.5% (95% CI:28.0-37.0), Bujumbura (Burundi) 14.7% (95%CI:9.4-20.8), Bamenda (Cameroon) 12.6% (95% CI:7.6-21.9), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) 3.0% (95% CI:1.0-9.1), Ngaoundere (Cameroon) 2.3% (95% CI:1.0-7.0), Thies (Senegal) 1.3% (95% CI:0.1, 5.3), Niamey (Niger) 1.2% (95% CI:0.08-5.3), Dakar (Senegal) 0.2% (95% CI:0.01-1.7) and Niakhar (Senegal) <0.04%. Logistic regression modelling revealed transhumant herds to be at lower risk of infection (adjusted OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.13 - 0.5) and in one of the areas (Bamenda), regular purchase of new animals was found to be strongly associated with Brucella spp. seropositivity (adjusted OR = 5.3, 95% CI: 1.4-25.9). Our findings confirm that Brucella spp. circulates among dairy cattle supplying milk to urban consumers in West and Central Africa, posing a serious public health concern. Control programs are urgently needed in areas such as Lomé or Bamako, where more than 30% of the herds show evidence of infection

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Biodiversity Associated with Artificial Agricultural Drainage Ditches

Agricultural drainage channels and ditches are ubiquitous features in the lowland agricultural landscapes, built primarily to facilitate land drainage, irrigate agricultural crops and alleviate flood risk. Most drainage ditches are considered artificial waterbodies and are not typically included in routine monitoring programmes, and as a result the faunal and floral communities they support are poorly quantified. This paper characterizes the aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity (alpha, beta and gamma) of agricultural drainage ditches managed by an internal drainage board in Lincolnshire, UK. The drainage ditches support very diverse macroinvertebrate communities at both the site (alpha diversity) and landscape scale (gamma diversity) with the main arterial drainage ditches supporting greater numbers of taxa when compared to smaller ditches. Examination of the between site community heterogeneity (beta diversity) indicated that differences among ditches were high spatially and temporally. The results illustrate that both main arterial and side ditches make a unique contribution to aquatic biodiversity of the agricultural landscape. Given the need to maintain drainage ditches to support agriculture and flood defence measures, we advocate the application of principles from ‘reconciliation ecology’ to inform the future management and conservation of drainage ditches

A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Technology is transforming societies worldwide. A major innovation is the emergence of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), which have the potential to revolutionize cities for both people and nature. Nonetheless, the opportunities and challenges associated with RAS for urban ecosystems have yet to be considered systematically. Here, we report the findings of an online horizon scan involving 170 expert participants from 35 countries. We conclude that RAS are likely to transform land use, transport systems and human–nature interactions. The prioritized opportunities were primarily centred on the deployment of RAS for the monitoring and management of biodiversity and ecosystems. Fewer challenges were prioritized. Those that were emphasized concerns surrounding waste from unrecovered RAS, and the quality and interpretation of RAS-collected data. Although the future impacts of RAS for urban ecosystems are difficult to predict, examining potentially important developments early is essential if we are to avoid detrimental consequences but fully realize the benefits

A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Technology is transforming societies worldwide. A major innovation is the emergence of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), which have the potential to revolutionize cities for both people and nature. Nonetheless, the opportunities and challenges associated with RAS for urban ecosystems have yet to be considered systematically. Here, we report the findings of an online horizon scan involving 170 expert participants from 35 countries. We conclude that RAS are likely to transform land use, transport systems and human–nature interactions. The prioritized opportunities were primarily centred on the deployment of RAS for the monitoring and management of biodiversity and ecosystems. Fewer challenges were prioritized. Those that were emphasized concerns surrounding waste from unrecovered RAS, and the quality and interpretation of RAS-collected data. Although the future impacts of RAS for urban ecosystems are difficult to predict, examining potentially important developments early is essential if we are to avoid detrimental consequences but fully realize the benefits

Curvature-Migration Relations and Planform Dynamics of Meandering Rivers

261 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.In conclusion, this research contributes to the field of fluvial geomorphology by advancing knowledge of the planform dynamics of meandering rivers. The intellectual merit of the research is the identification of the role of the spatial structure of planform curvature in the dynamics of meander migration. The new knowledge gained from the research provides an improved framework for understanding and predicting patterns of planform change along meandering rivers.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Exploring Structure -Behavior Relations in Nonlinear Dynamic Feedback Models

234 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006.Formal dynamic model analysis tools are essential in understanding how model structure drives behavior. A model analysis approach is formulated based on eigenvalue elasticity analysis in this dissertation. Eigenvalue elasticity analysis, although a potentially strong formal model analysis tool, has drawn criticisms over the years for a number of reasons. The approach proposed in this study attempts to bring proper solutions to the issues raised by those criticisms. First, a ten-step procedure is proposed to increase the accessibility of the EEA to a wider audience. Among the most prominent features of the proposed procedure is a new measure that takes all modes of the model into account and a normalization approach for calculated elasticity values. Others include the ability to track the loop dominance dynamics over time, and an attempt at codifying the proposed features of the EEA and the ability to track the influences of feedback loops on a specific variable of interest. Several programming codes written for these proposed features are also presented. The proposed approach is applied on a number of dynamic feedback models, taken from the literature. These case studies not only demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology but also bring an improved theoretical/practical understanding to the issues these models address. The analysis on a tree mortality model proved useful in understanding how the simulated tree responds to various stresses according to two apparently different hypotheses. The methodology is also implemented on a budworm outbreak model, which provided some insight on potential policy options for prevention and management of a budworm outbreak but also revealed some of the areas where the EEA needs further improvement. An off-shoot of this study is an improved procedure to loop selection in demographic population studies. The proposed procedure increases the power of demographic loop analysis by identifying only those loops that are forward flowing with positive elasticity values. Finally, the contributions of the proposed improvements to formal model analysis, the areas where there is a need for further improvement and testing of the EEA, and the major findings from the case studies are discussed.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Extracting River Features from Remotely Sensed Data: An Evaluation of Thematic Correctness. GI_Forum 2013 – Creating the GISociety|

Automatic feature extraction from satellite imagery is cost effective and fast. An essential issue in this context is the degree of accuracy for thematic correctness obtainable through common pixel-based and object-oriented classification algorithms. By applying two classification algorithms to Landsat 5 TM imagery for the extraction of different morphological river features the thematic correctness of the resulting raster images and the separability of the river features is evaluated. River features of meandering rivers evolve through dynamic avulsion, erosion and deposition processes. Although many studies focus on the analysis of these river environments, diverse methods of GIS and remote sensing based river feature classification methods have not been evaluated and assessed yet. In the literature several techniques to monitor spatio-temporal changes such as lateral river channel migration are already mentioned but the tendency there is to identify the changes by examining time spans rather than a point in time. Besides that the semiautomatic river feature methods described in related studies mainly focus on the identification of a river channel itself and do not consider additional features such as oxbows, scars, relic channels, etc. that in fact are significant characters in riverine environments. Therefore, this paper evaluates the application of a supervised classification using ENVI’s Support Vector Machine and an object based classification using the ArcGIS extension Feature Analyst to extract river features from Landsat 5 TM images including ancillary data files. Furthermore, the results of the classification methods are evaluated with regard to thematic correctness and separability of the various classified river features using accuracy assessment as presented in the specialist literature. Finally the long-time changes in the riverine environments are traced by interpreting the distribution of the classified river features. Accordingly, the approach of this work contributes to on-going research concerning semiautomatic or automatic river feature extraction