Suchergebnisse

The effects of fire and its use on European peatlands and heaths are the focus of considerable research and debate due to the important services these ecosystems provide and the threats they face from climatic and land-use change. Whilst in some countries ecologists are actively promoting the restoration of historic fire management regimes, in the UK the debate has become increasingly acrimonious. Positions seem entrenched between continuing the intensive form of management associated with grouse moors or ceasing burning and seeking to eliminate fire altogether. In a recent paper we argued that participants' positions appeared influenced by political and philosophical beliefs associated with, for example, private land-ownership, hunting, and associated conservation conflicts such as raptor persecution. We also suggested there was inadequate engagement with key concepts and evidence from fire and peatland ecology. We argued that management debates should aim to be inclusive and evidence-based, and to understand the benefits and costs of different fire regimes. In a strongly-worded critique of our paper, George Monbiot (author of "Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding") suggested we: i) framed our research question too narrowly; ii) made the implicit assumption that moorlands were the "right" ecosystem for the UK countryside; and iii) failed to adequately engage with arguments put forward for cessation of managed burning. Here we critically examine each of these issues to provide further insight into how adaptive, participatory land-management could develop. We argue that a productive debate must acknowledge that complex trade-offs are inevitable during ecological management. Choosing the "right" ecosystem is difficult, especially in a landscape with a long history of human influence, and the answer depends on the values and ecosystem services we prioritize. Natural resource management decisions will be improved if based on an understanding and valuation of the multiple scales and levels ...

The effects of fire and its use on European peatlands and heaths are the focus of considerable research and debate due to the important services these ecosystems provide and the threats they face from climatic and land-use change. Whilst in some countries ecologists are actively promoting the restoration of historic fire management regimes, in the UK the debate has become increasingly acrimonious. Positions seem entrenched between continuing the intensive form of management associated with grouse moors or ceasing burning and seeking to eliminate fire altogether. In a recent paper we argued that participants' positions appeared influenced by political and philosophical beliefs associated with, for example, private land-ownership, hunting, and associated conservation conflicts such as raptor persecution. We also suggested there was inadequate engagement with key concepts and evidence from fire and peatland ecology. We argued that management debates should aim to be inclusive and evidence-based, and to understand the benefits and costs of different fire regimes. In a strongly-worded critique of our paper, George Monbiot (author of "Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding") suggested we: i) framed our research question too narrowly; ii) made the implicit assumption that moorlands were the "right" ecosystem for the UK countryside; and iii) failed to adequately engage with arguments put forward for cessation of managed burning. Here we critically examine each of these issues to provide further insight into how adaptive, participatory land-management could develop. We argue that a productive debate must acknowledge that complex trade-offs are inevitable during ecological management. Choosing the "right" ecosystem is difficult, especially in a landscape with a long history of human influence, and the answer depends on the values and ecosystem services we prioritize. Natural resource management decisions will be improved if based on an understanding and valuation of the multiple scales and levels of organization at which ecological diversity exists, the role of disturbance in controlling ecosystem composition and function, and the need for participatory action.

Xenophobia is one of Russia's most burning problems. Two-thirds of Russia's citizens support the slogan 'Russia for Russians'. The perception that Russia is 'swamped' by migrants is widespread. And yet, there is a shortage of immigrants, who Russia urgently needs in order to modernise. Xenophobia prevents any kind of migration policy aimed at integration. Instead of granting immigrant workers legal status, the Kremlin leadership uses xenophobia to consolidate its power. Adapted from the source document.

In almost all forms of agriculture and farming practice, land clearing is the initial step. In Indonesia, in general, the most cost effective means of clearing land is through the use of fire. However, this use of fire often results in uncontrolled outbreaks, particularly in lowland areas especially and during prolonged dry seasons. In recent years, these uncontrolled fire outbreaks have had a catastrophic environmental, social and economic impact. The Indonesian government has expressed a strong commitment to controlling these outbreaks, as demonstrated by a broad set of laws, regulations, decrees, guidelines, and directives to control and manage land and forest fire. However, despite these measures, the occurrence of widespread, high-intensity fire outbreaks is still unacceptably high. This study assessed land-clearing techniques associated with a low risk of fire outbreaks, comparing the costs associated with a range of these techniques. It then analyzed intervention options that would involve the adoption of these techniques by farmers. These low-risk techniques included: (i) zero-burning practices involving traditional machinery and farmer groups; (ii) zero-burning involving modern machinery and partnerships with government agencies/private enterprises; (iii) controlled burning; and (iv) the chemical removal of biomass using herbicides. The study finds that the costs for all four of these options are higher than with land-clearing techniques that use fire alone. However, it also showed that the cost implications for farmers could be mitigated by taking a more holistic view of farming practices as a system, rather than focusing only on land-clearing practices in isolation. It found that when land-clearing practices that involve low risks of fire outbreak are combined with good agricultural practices (GAP), farmers could still achieve higher levels of profitability and productivity than under a business as usual (BAU) scenario. The study produced scenarios involving BAU practices; land clearing without fire and with BAU practices; and land clearing without fire and with good agricultural practices (GAP) for four agricultural commodities (oil palm, cocoa, rubber, and paddy). It found that the return on land (NPV) in the case of the scenario involving land clearing without fire and with GAP was still higher than under the BAU scenario, except in the case of rubber, with which the NPV was higher in the scenario with modern machinery and GAP. The study concludes that a systems approach is necessary to effectively control fire outbreaks. Government programs should be designed and implemented on the basis of this systems approach with the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including through partnerships with the private sector operators, to effectively control the risk of fire outbreaks while at the same time supporting farmers' livelihoods by ensuring that they are enabled to generate higher levels of productivity and profitability from their land.

Open burning is illegal in Ukraine, yet Ukraine has, on average, 300 times more fire activity per year (2001–2019) than most European countries. In 2016 and 2017, 47% of Ukraine was identified as cultivated area, with a total of 70% of land area dedicated to agricultural use. Over 57% of all active fires in Ukraine detected using space-borne Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) during 2016 and 2017 were associated with pre-planting field clearing and post-harvest crop residue removal, meaning that the majority of these fires are preventable. Due to the small size and transient nature of cropland burns, satellite-based burned area (BA) estimates are often underestimated. Moreover, traditional spectral-based BA algorithms are not suitable for distinguishing burned from plowed fields, especially in the black soil regions of Ukraine. Therefore, we developed a method to estimate agricultural BA by calibrating VIIRS active fire data with exhaustively mapped cropland reference areas (42 958 fields). Our study found that cropland BA was significantly underestimated (by 30%–63%) in the widely used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-based MCD64A1 BA product, and by 95%–99.9% in Ukraine's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Although crop residue burns are smaller and emit far less emissions than larger wildfires, reliable monitoring of crop residue burning has a number of important benefits, including (a) improving regional air quality models and the subsequent understanding of human health impacts due to the proximity of crop residue burns to urban locations, (b) ensuring an accurate representation of predominantly smaller fires in regional emission inventories, and (c) increasing awareness of often illegal managed open burning to provide improved decision-making support for policy and resource managers.

Vegetation commonly managed by prescribed burning was collected from five southeastern and southwestern US military bases and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation including an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometer for measurement of gas-phase species. The OP-FTIR detected and quantified 19 gas-phase species in these fires: CO2, CO, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C3H6, HCHO, HCOOH, CH3OH, CH3COOH, furan, H2O, NO, NO2, HONO, NH3, HCN, HCl, and SO2. Emission factors for these species are presented for each vegetation type burned. Gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO), an important OH precursor, was detected in the smoke from all fires. The HONO emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.60 g kg−1 and were higher for the southeastern fuels. The fire-integrated molar emission ratios of HONO (relative to NOx) ranged from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, with higher values also observed for the southeastern fuels. The majority of non-methane organic compound (NMOC) emissions detected by OP-FTIR were oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) with the total identified OVOC emissions constituting 61 ± 12% of the total measured NMOC on a molar basis. These OVOC may undergo photolysis or further oxidation contributing to ozone formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl and SO2 were also detected during flaming combustion, with the amounts varying greatly depending on location and vegetation type. The fuels with the highest HCl emission factors were all located in the coastal regions, although HCl was also observed from fuels farther inland. Emission factors for HCl were generally higher for the southwestern fuels, particularly those found in the chaparral biome in the coastal regions of California.

Vegetation commonly managed by prescribed burning was collected from five southeastern and southwestern US military bases and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation including an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometer for measurement of gas-phase species. The OP-FTIR detected and quantified 19 gas-phase species in these fires: CO2, CO, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C3H6, HCHO, HCOOH, CH3OH, CH3COOH, furan, H2O, NO, NO2, HONO, NH3, HCN, HCl, and SO2. Emission factors for these species are presented for each vegetation type burned. Gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO), an important OH precursor, was detected in the smoke from all fires. The HONO emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.60 g kg(-1) and were higher for the southeastern fuels. The fire-integrated molar emission ratios of HONO (relative to NOx) ranged from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, with higher values also observed for the southeastern fuels. The majority of non-methane organic compound (NMOC) emissions detected by OP-FTIR were oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) with the total identified OVOC emissions constituting 61 +/- 12% of the total measured NMOC on a molar basis. These OVOC may undergo photolysis or further oxidation contributing to ozone formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl and SO2 were also detected during flaming combustion, with the amounts varying greatly depending on location and vegetation type. The fuels with the highest HCl emission factors were all located in the coastal regions, although HCl was also observed from fuels farther inland. Emission factors for HCl were generally higher for the southwestern fuels, particularly those found in the chaparral biome in the coastal regions of California.

Vegetation commonly managed by prescribed burning was collected from five southeastern and southwestern US military bases and burned under controlled conditions at the US Forest Service Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. The smoke emissions were measured with a large suite of state-of-the-art instrumentation including an open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectrometer for measurement of gas-phase species. The OP-FTIR detected and quantified 19 gas-phase species in these fires: CO 2 , CO, CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 4 , C 3 H 6 , HCHO, HCOOH, CH 3 OH, CH 3 COOH, furan, H 2 O, NO, NO 2 , HONO, NH 3 , HCN, HCl, and SO 2 . Emission factors for these species are presented for each vegetation type burned. Gas-phase nitrous acid (HONO), an important OH precursor, was detected in the smoke from all fires. The HONO emission factors ranged from 0.15 to 0.60 g kg −1 and were higher for the southeastern fuels. The fire-integrated molar emission ratios of HONO (relative to NO x ) ranged from approximately 0.03 to 0.20, with higher values also observed for the southeastern fuels. The majority of non-methane organic compound (NMOC) emissions detected by OP-FTIR were oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) with the total identified OVOC emissions constituting 61 ± 12% of the total measured NMOC on a molar basis. These OVOC may undergo photolysis or further oxidation contributing to ozone formation. Elevated amounts of gas-phase HCl and SO 2 were also detected during flaming combustion, with the amounts varying greatly depending on location and vegetation type. The fuels with the highest HCl emission factors were all located in the coastal regions, although HCl was also observed from fuels farther inland. Emission factors for HCl were generally higher for the southwestern fuels, particularly those found in the chaparral biome in the coastal regions of California.

Fire has been used for centuries to generate and manage some of the UK's cultural landscapes. Despite its complex role in the ecology of UK peatlands and moorlands, there has been a trend of simplifying the narrative around burning to present it as an only ecologically damaging practice. That fire modifies peatland characteristics at a range of scales is clearly understood. Whether these changes are perceived as positive or negative depends upon how trade-offs are made between ecosystem services and the spatial and temporal scales of concern. Here we explore the complex interactions and trade-offs in peatland fire management, evaluating the benefits and costs of managed fire as they are currently understood. We highlight the need for (i) distinguishing between the impacts of fires occurring with differing severity and frequency, and (ii) improved characterization of ecosystem health that incorporates the response and recovery of peatlands to fire. We also explore how recent research has been contextualized within both scientific publications and the wider media and how this can influence non-specialist perceptions. We emphasize the need for an informed, unbiased debate on fire as an ecological management tool that is separated from other aspects of moorland management and from political and economic opinions. This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.

The effects of fire and its use on European peatlands and heaths are the focus of considerable research and debate due to the important services these ecosystems provide and the threats they face from climatic and land-use change. Whilst in some countries ecologists are actively promoting the restoration of historic fire management regimes, in the UK the debate has become increasingly acrimonious. Positions seem entrenched between continuing the intensive form of management associated with grouse moors or ceasing burning and seeking to eliminate fire altogether. In a recent paper we argued that participants' positions appeared influenced by political and philosophical beliefs associated with, for example, private land-ownership, hunting, and associated conservation conflicts such as raptor persecution. We also suggested there was inadequate engagement with key concepts and evidence from fire and peatland ecology. We argued that management debates should aim to be inclusive and evidence-based, and to understand the benefits and costs of different fire regimes. In a strongly-worded critique of our paper, George Monbiot (author of "Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding") suggested we: i) framed our research question too narrowly; ii) made the implicit assumption that moorlands were the "right" ecosystem for the UK countryside; and iii) failed to adequately engage with arguments put forward for cessation of managed burning. Here we critically examine each of these issues to provide further insight into how adaptive, participatory land-management could develop. We argue that a productive debate must acknowledge that complex trade-offs are inevitable during ecological management. Choosing the "right" ecosystem is difficult, especially in a landscape with a long history of human influence, and the answer depends on the values and ecosystem services we prioritize. Natural resource management decisions will be improved if based on an understanding and valuation of the multiple scales and levels of organization at which ecological diversity exists, the role of disturbance in controlling ecosystem composition and function, and the need for participatory action.

The Tasmanian bettong, Bettongia gaimardi, appears to be the most common member of its genus. Though
formerly distributed on the Australian mainland, B. gaimardi is now found only in the open forest habitats
of eastern Tasmania, the vast majority of which are susceptible to forestry operations, such as clearfelling,
burning and the laying of 1080 poison. Unless carefully managed, all of these practices in the long term are
likely to reduce bettong populations. This and the fact that only 5% of bettong habitat lies within National
Parks, leads to the conclusion that the conservation status of this species should be regarded as 'vulnerable'.

Abstract
Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has become an emerging environmental and human health problem in the world in the 21st century. Recently, the developing nations of West Africa (e.g. Ghana and Nigeria) have become a major destination for e-waste worldwide. In Ghana, the e-waste recyclers use primitive methods (mechanical shredding and open burning) to remove plastic insulation from copper cables. This technique can release highly toxic chemicals and severely affect the environment and human health if improperly managed. It is as a result of the adverse impact on human health that some interventions are being made in Ghana to reduce exposure. The present mode of recycling/dismantling, which happens at Agbogbloshie must be replaced by official receiving/recycling centers to be established. Currently, equipment to strip both large and small cables are available in the country via the Blacksmith Institute (USA) and it is expected that the e-waste workers will embrace the use of these machines. This technology will go a long way to help prevent the burning of e-waste and will be replicated in other smaller e-waste centers in the country.

In human life, garbage becomes a phenomenon that will always exist as long as humans live and move, therefore garbage needs to be handled seriously and intersively. Garbage in people's lives can have negative and positive consequences, where the positive impact is that it can become manure, as a livelihood for scavengers, as well as as one of the elements in the manufacture of energy, or fuel. While the negative impact is that garbage can cause the spread of disease, as well as ecological damage, the number of floods due to garbage accumulation in rivers close to the population and others. Garbage can be managed by involving all parties, such as the community, government, and other institutions. Garbage can also be reduced in people's lives by composting, replacing burning, reusing, recycling.

In an area of coastal lowland managed by the Forestry Department of Queensland, habitats differed in the density, height and species composition of their undergrowth. In natural habitats Themeda australis made up the bulk of the diet of M. giganteus, but in firebreaks a range of grasses was eaten. Kangaroos actively fed only in habitats with open undergrowth, and in these habitats the density of faecal pellets correlated with the abundance of food present. Dense undergrowth restricted use of habitat even for movement. The abundance of food and the height and density of the undergrowth in contiguous habitat influenced the abundance of sightings on firebreaks. Firebreaks create a new source of abundant food. Prescribed burning attracts kangaroos to habitats by opening up dense undergrowth and encouraging the growth of grass.

This thesis explores how interactions and feedbacks between environmental and socio-historical factors influenced fire management dynamics in north-east Namibia. Fires are mostly human ignited, but precipitation patterns influence when and where fires can occur, and there are feedbacks between fire, climate and vegetation cover. Yet, knowledge of historical and contemporary use of fire by societies is fragmented in southern Africa, and is therefore disputed. As a result, the complex interaction between climate, vegetation and human factors that influence fire dynamics remains poorly understood. This thesis explores how the political history, livelihoods, land-use practices, policy changes, vegetation and climatic variation are relevant to present-day fire regimes and management. The study is located in Bwabwata National Park (BNP), north-eastern Namibia, which is managed for both conservation objectives and people's livelihoods. The park is inhabited by the Khwe (San), former hunter-gatherers, who have been using fire for millennia, and the Bantu-speaking Mbukushu people, who are agriculturalists and pastoralists. The area has been subject to colonial regimes, war, inter-ethnic conflict, social-political resettlement, conservation and associated changing fire management approaches since the 19th century. The vegetation includes omiramba grasslands, savanna-woodlands, Burkea shrublands and riparian types. For this study, qualitative semi-structured interviews with Namibian stakeholders, in combination with multi-year (2000 – 2015) remote sensing products, were used to understand the past and present fire regime characteristics. Interviews with community stakeholders revealed that the Khwe and Mbukushu communities use fire for a diverse range of livelihood activities. Specifically, early season burning is used to assist in hunting, tracking and gathering of veld foods, and for improving forage for livestock. The traditional practice of early season burning is not only culturally and ecologically significant, but has positive consequences for Bwabwata National Park's conservation objectives, and fire policies, in terms of suppressing late season fires. However, explicit marginalisation of the Khwe since the C19th due to colonial regimes and cross-border wars has disrupted traditional fire management. Interviews with government and conservation stakeholders revealed recognition of the benefits of early season burning for biodiversity. Furthermore, despite the complex social-ecological history of the area, recent policy changes reveal an emerging willingness to incorporate traditional fire management into fire management policy. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data was used to analyse the fire regime (burned area, fire frequency, fire number and size, intensity, and seasonality), together with climate (El Niño Southern-Oscillation [ENSO] events; local rainfall patterns) and vegetation data in multiple use (inhabited) and core conservation areas, over a time period that covered a shift in policy from fire suppression (2000-2005) to early season burning (2006-2015). Results from the analysis of the MODIS data revealed that a high frequency of early season burning in the inhabited areas of the park reduced the late season fires and dampened the local rainfall and burned area relationship. Nonetheless, grass growth (i.e. available biomass) during ENSO wet season events (La Niña) resulted in greater area burned and fire sizes in above average rainfall years in the early dry season in the community inhabited areas. In contrast, higher fire intensity and larger fire sizes were evident in the conservation core areas where people were not actively burning. Fire frequencies and burned areas were highest in the omiramba grasslands and savanna-woodlands, in the early dry season under the early burning policy in the east of the park, which reduced fire intensities in these vegetation types. In contrast, burning in the Burkea shrublands was frequent in the late dry season, at higher intensities in the Western conservation area under both policy phases. This study indicates that burned area depends on rainfall, ignitions and fire sizes in inhabited landscapes, where people practice early burning, which has consequences for decreasing the intensity and therefore spread and impact of fires on vegetation. This study highlights the complex interactions between people, rainfall seasonality and fuel availability, as well as the need to incorporate historical factors. The study uses a pyrogeographic framework to integrate the social-cultural, climatic-biological, and topographic-environmental factors with fire. The synthesis reveals that the park communities are currently socially and ecologically vulnerable to global environmental change, given their dependence on fire for ecosystem services. However, the study also highlights how traditional fire management, and specifically early season burning, improves food security and contributes to livelihood subsistence and biodiversity conservation in the park. BNP is characterised by complex historical and present-day social-ecological fire dynamics. The study highlights the importance of understanding the historical and political context of fire for determining and managing current spatial-temporal fire patterns. Respect for diverse fire knowledge and culture, communication and shared governance are central to improving community livelihoods and fire management strategies in BNP. Specifically, the shared interest in early season burning provides a point of confluence between diverse stakeholders in BNP and a basis for fire management policies that benefit biodiversity as well as livelihoods.