Integrating Sentinel-2 Data and PAPCAR Model to Map Water Erosion: Case of Beni Boufrah Watershed

Water erosion causes significant economic losses linked mainly to the silting up of dams and losses in soil productivity, these consequences will increase if soil and water conservation actions associated with development actions are not undertaken. The present work aims to evaluate the water erosion in the basin of the Beni Boufrah located in the Northern part of Morocco. The hierarchy of this basin in plot according to the degrees and the tendencies of the erosion was made using the qualitative PAP/CAR approach (Programme d’Actions Prioritaires/Centre d’Activités Regionales) which is based on the integration of the factors influencing the water erosion, such as the slope, lithology and/or pedology, vegetation cover and land use. This work was conducted in three stages, the first one being predictive based on the analysis of the natural factors influencing water erosion and the processing of databases of developed maps. The second so-called descriptive stage is based on the mapping of different forms and processes of soil loss that occur in the study area. The last step, it allows the integration and the combination of the results of the two previous steps. Its purpose is to provide a precise cartographic product that reflects the reality of the state of soil degradation and the future evolution of erosion. The consolidated erosion map shows that more than half of the basin area (53%) is affected by medium-level erosion, 13% is affected by high erosion level, and 15 % is affected by low-level water erosion. Low-intensity erosion occurs along the river in areas where the slope and lithology favour runoff. The trend map is the final result of the integration phase, it describes erosion trends in the different parts of the basin and is, therefore, a tool to guide decisions on land use planning and tillage methods to limit the risk of water erosion in the basin. Keywords: Oued Beni Boufrah, water erosion, PAP/CAR, erosive states, erosion trend

Assessing the Impacts of Different Initiatives on the Rehabilitation of Pastoral and Silvopastoral Ecosystems: Big Data Oriented Approach

Moroccan forests, through the provision of goods and ecosystem services, underpins benefits to local communities and play a crucial role for rural area development. The legal framework recognizes to people, living near public forests, the right to graze their domestic livestock. Over the years, the grazing pressure is at levels far beyond the forestland’s carrying capacity throughout the country. Such pressure has been demonstrated as the main cause of forest cover loss and land degradation in Morocco and still threatening the sustainability of forests. To reduce the heavy grazing pressure on forest ecosystems and ensure their regeneration, several initiatives have been conducted such as the program of compensation for forest areas closed to grazing (CFCG), initiated by Moroccan forestry department. Socio-economic impact assessment of this mechanism was presented within several studies but its effectiveness for forest rangeland rehabilitation remains scarce and very spatially limited. To deal with this concern and to assess vegetation dynamics through various spatial and temporal scales, parcels concerned by CFCG and others within similar conditions was chosen. Time series of remotely sensed spectral indices at each parcel was used for vegetation cover dynamics assessment. Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) was used as computing plateform. As result, the spectral indices trends shown a long-lasting degradation tendency in areas planted without compensation compared to those concerned by CFCG. Such results were also verified using aerial images covering the analyzed parcels. As conclusion, within comparable conditions, CFCG improved vegetation cover trends. The use of GEE Platform simplified the process of treatment of remote sensed imagery and made it easy to assess the state of the vegetation and will be of great use in assessing the impacts of different programs and initiatives on the restoration of pastoral and silvopastoral ecosystems

Hydro-climatic changes of wetlandscapes across the world

Assessments of ecosystem service and function losses of wetlandscapes (i.e., wetlands and their hydrological catchments) suffer from knowledge gaps regarding impacts of ongoing hydro-climatic change. This study investigates hydro-climatic changes during 1976–2015 in 25 wetlandscapes distributed across the world’s tropical, arid, temperate and cold climate zones. Results show that the wetlandscapes were subject to precipitation (P) and temperature (T) changes consistent with mean changes over the world’s land area. However, arid and cold wetlandscapes experienced higher T increases than their respective climate zone. Also, average P decreased in arid and cold wetlandscapes, contrarily to P of arid and cold climate zones, suggesting that these wetlandscapes are located in regions of elevated climate pressures. For most wetlandscapes with available runoff (R) data, the decreases were larger in R than in P, which was attributed to aggravation of climate change impacts by enhanced evapotranspiration losses, e.g. caused by land-use changes

Publisher Correction: Hydro-climatic changes of wetlandscapes across the world (Scientific Reports, (2021), 11, 1, (2754), 10.1038/s41598-021-81137-3)

In the original version of this Article, V. H. Rivera-Monroy was incorrectly affiliated with ‘Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute, Calle 28 A No. 15-09, Bogotá, DC, 70803, Colombia’. The correct affiliation is listed below. Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA As a result, Affiliations 22–27 were incorrectly listed as Affiliations 21–26 respectively. The original Article has been corrected

Data for wetlandscapes and their changes around the world

Geography and associated hydrological, hydroclimate and land-use conditions and their changes determine the states and dynamics of wetlands and their ecosystem services. The influences of these controls are not limited to just the local scale of each individual wetland but extend over larger landscape areas that integrate multiple wetlands and their total hydrological catchment – the wetlandscape. However, the data and knowledge of conditions and changes over entire wetlandscapes are still scarce, limiting the capacity to accurately understand and manage critical wetland ecosystems and their services under global change. We present a new Wetlandscape Change Information Database (WetCID), consisting of geographic, hydrological, hydroclimate and land-use information and data for 27 wetlandscapes around the world. This combines survey-based local information with geographic shapefiles and gridded datasets of large-scale hydroclimate and land-use conditions and their changes over whole wetlandscapes. Temporally, WetCID contains 30-year time series of data for mean monthly precipitation and temperature and annual land-use conditions. The survey-based site information includes local knowledge on the wetlands, hydrology, hydroclimate and land uses within each wetlandscape and on the availability and accessibility of associated local data. This novel database (available through PANGAEA https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.907398; Ghajarnia et al., 2019) can support site assessments; cross-regional comparisons; and scenario analyses of the roles and impacts of land use, hydroclimatic and wetland conditions, and changes in whole-wetlandscape functions and ecosystem services

Priorities and interactions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with focus on wetlands

Wetlands are often vital physical and social components of a country's natural capital, as well as providers of ecosystem services to local and national communities. We performed a network analysis to prioritize Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for sustainable development in iconic wetlands and wetlandscapes around the world. The analysis was based on the information and perceptions on 45 wetlandscapes worldwide by 49 wetland researchers of the GlobalWetland Ecohydrological Network (GWEN). We identified three 2030 Agenda targets of high priority across the wetlandscapes needed to achieve sustainable development: Target 6.3-'Improve water quality'; 2.4-'Sustainable food production'; and 12.2-'Sustainable management of resources'. Moreover, we found specific feedback mechanisms and synergies between SDG targets in the context of wetlands. The most consistent reinforcing interactions were the influence of Target 12.2 on 8.4-'Efficient resource consumption'; and that of Target 6.3 on 12.2. The wetlandscapes could be differentiated in four bundles of distinctive priority SDG-targets: 'Basic human needs', 'Sustainable tourism', 'Environmental impact in urban wetlands', and 'Improving and conserving environment'. In general, we find that the SDG groups, targets, and interactions stress that maintaining good water quality and a 'wise use' of wetlandscapes are vital to attaining sustainable development within these sensitive ecosystems. © 2019 by the authors

Publisher Correction: Hydro-climatic changes of wetlandscapes across the world

Assessments of ecosystem service and function losses of wetlandscapes (i.e., wetlands and their hydrological catchments) suffer from knowledge gaps regarding impacts of ongoing hydro-climatic change. This study investigates hydro-climatic changes during 1976–2015 in 25 wetlandscapes distributed across the world’s tropical, arid, temperate and cold climate zones. Results show that the wetlandscapes were subject to precipitation (P) and temperature (T) changes consistent with mean changes over the world’s land area. However, arid and cold wetlandscapes experienced higher T increases than their respective climate zone. Also, average P decreased in arid and cold wetlandscapes, contrarily to P of arid and cold climate zones, suggesting that these wetlandscapes are located in regions of elevated climate pressures. For most wetlandscapes with available runoff (R) data, the decreases were larger in R than in P, which was attributed to aggravation of climate change impacts by enhanced evapotranspiration losses, e.g. caused by land-use changes

Detailed investigation of lactic acid extraction with tributylphosphate dissolved in dodecane

International audienceThe aim of the present study was to Study the extraction of lactic acid with tributylphosphate (TBP) dissolved in a diluent (dodecane) over a broad range of acid concentrations and solvent compositions, to determine the apparent equilibrium constants and the number of reacting extractant molecules, and to elucidate the influence of different factors (preliminary washing of organic phase, change of phase volumes, pH at equilibrium, acid concentration) oil the extraction of the acid. It was found that the change of phase volumes after extraction should be taken into account For the calculation of different process parameters. The preliminary washing of the extractant does not significantly affect the overall distribution coefficients

Selected enzyme activities in particle-size fractions from an organically and conventionally managed soil

Changes in biological characteristics in whole soil and in different particle-size fractions in soil managed by conventional farming (CF) or organic farming (OF), as compared with those of an adjacent uncultivated land (UL), were investigated. Results indicate that arylsulfatase, dehydrogenase and lipase activities and ATP content in whole soil and in particle-size fractions were greater in uncultivated soil than in the two cultivated sites. The greatest reduction of enzyme activity following cultivation was observed for the arylsulfatase measured in the coarse sand of CF. Different soil management showed differences for dehydrogenase and lipase activities and ATP in particle-size fractions but not in whole soil. Arylsulfatase, which showed differences in the whole soil in both the farming systems and UL, can be considered the soil parameter that responds most deeply to changes in agricultural practices. Results also confirm that clay and silt-size fractions are of major importance in studies of soil biological activity

Évaluation de la production de des cultures alternatives sous Nano-irrigation au Maroc (Cas des cultures de Quinoa et Panic bleu sous Moistube)

Moistube technology, widely known as nano-irrigation, is starting to gain popularity lately in Morocco compared to other buried irrigation systems made up of porous tubes. However, the technology remains unknown with installation difficulties for professionals, and only a few demonstration trials, and rarely scientific trials are conducted to demonstrate the potential to further minimize water consumption compared to drip irrigation. In this study, we compared the nano-irrigation (Moistube) and drip systems in terms of water-saving and their effect on the growth of two alternative crops tolerant to salt and water stress, “Quinoa with a single growth cycle " and " the Blue Panicum with several growth cycles". A factorial design was carried out for each of the two crops. Two different irrigation systems were installed for each crop, the standard drip system and the Moistube irrigation system (n = 12). For quinoa, there was no significant difference between the applied irrigation water amounts and shoot dry biomass under nano irrigation and drip irrigation while registering improvement in grain yield under nano irrigation system. For the blue panicum, the water savings, until harvest, were 26%, 29%, and 19% higher under the nano-irrigation than with the drip irrigation system for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th growth cycles respectively. However, the dry matter biomass was not significantly different between the nano irrigation and drip irrigation treatments. Insofar as the variations in water requirements on the scale of a growth cycle, the number of days between refills of the nano-irrigation tank increased over time to stabilize at an average of 6 days in summer and 10 days in winter. These results suggest that the nano-irrigation system could be efficient in terms of water-saving for crops with multiple growth cycles such as blue panicum. This leads us to assume that further water saving could be achieved particularly for tree crops with large lateral row spacings. The findings also suggest an earlier production under nano irrigation compared to drip irrigation. At last, we recommend the installation of the nano system during rainy periods when the soil is wet, and the soil suction forces are low which would increase the duration of irrigation of a filled reservoir and would allow important water savings during the crop growth cycle.La technologie Moistube, largement connue sous le nom de nano-irrigation, commence à gagner en popularité ces derniers temps au Maroc par rapport à d'autres systèmes d'irrigation enterrés constitués de tubes poreux. Cependant, cette technologie reste encore méconnue avec des difficultés d'installation par les professionnels, et seuls quelques essais de démonstration, et rarement des essais scientifiques sont menés pour démontrer le potentiel de minimiser davantage la consommation d'eau par rapport à l'irrigation goutte à goutte. Dans cette étude, nous avons comparé les systèmes de nano-irrigation (Moistube) et de goutte-à-goutte en termes d'économie d'eau et leur effet sur la croissance de deux cultures alternatives tolérantes au stress salin et hydrique, le « Quinoa à cycle de croissance unique » et « le Blue Panicum avec plusieurs cycles de croissance". Un plan factoriel a été réalisé pour chacune des deux cultures. Deux systèmes d'irrigation différents ont été installés pour chaque culture, le système de goutte à goutte ordinaire et le système d'irrigation Moistube (n = 12). Pour le quinoa, il n'y avait aucune différence significative entre les quantités d'eau d'irrigation appliquées et la biomasse sèche de la partie aérienne sous nano irrigation et irrigation goutte à goutte et une nette amélioration du rendement en grains sous système de nano irrigation. Pour le bleu de panicum, les économies d'eau, jusqu'à la récolte, étaient de 26%, 29% et 19% plus élevées sous la nano-irrigation qu'avec le système d'irrigation goutte à goutte pour les 3eme, 4eme et 5eme cycles de croissance respectivement. Cependant, la biomasse de la matière sèche n'était pas significativement différente entre les traitements de nano irrigation et d'irrigation goutte à goutte. En considérant les variations des besoins en eau à l'échelle d'un cycle de croissance, le nombre de jours entre remplissages du réservoir de nano-irrigation a augmenté au cours du temps pour se stabiliser à une moyenne de 6 jours en été et 10 jours en hiver. Ces résultats montrent que le système de nano-irrigation pourrait être efficace et efficient en termes d'économie d'eau pour les cultures à cycles de croissance multiples comme le bleu de panicum. Ceci nous amène à supposer qu'une plus grande économie d'eau pourrait être réalisée en particulier pour les cultures arboricoles avec de grands espacements entre lignes. Les résultats suggèrent également une production plus précoce sous nano irrigation par rapport à l'irrigation goutte à goutte. Enfin, nous recommandons l'installation du nano système pendant les périodes pluvieuses lorsque le sol est humide et les forces d'aspiration du sol sont faibles ce qui augmenterait la durée du réservoir à irriguer et permettrait une économie d'eau considérable pendant le cycle de croissance des cultures