Abstract Cali is the third most prominent, and one of the most crowed, Colombian cities. It still harbours some tropical dry forest patches that can mitigate the impacts of the urban transformation; ...however, there is an almost total absence of information on the biological importance of these sites and their potential for future ecological restoration processes. To assess if they serve as important refuges for insect bioindicator species, we sampled five urban patches of tropical dry forest in the city, plus one nearby rural patch, using specific trapping procedures for ants and carabid beetles. Patch areas were variable, from 1 to 50 ha. We found that the smallest patch presented the highest ant richness, with a tendency towards generalists and a few unique species. Meanwhile, some specialist species were found in the rural patch. A total of 109 ant and 13 carabid species were recorded, including four new records of ants for Colombia. Results suggest that environmental variables favour the presence of generalist and opportunistic ants. Despite this, the high ant richness demonstrates that. Urban forest patches are important refuges for biodiversity. The low richness observed for carabids could be a sign of the challenges that urban forests face considering the ecological importance of beetles. The possible dangers of intensive internal use of these forests is discussed to prevent local extinctions, since the biggest forests are not necessarily conserving a higher richness. This work represents an important contribution to urban ecology in the region, with possibilities of further restoration in urban environments.
Pest occurrence model in current climate - validation study for European domain Svobodova, E., Mendel Univ., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology; Trnka, M., Mendel Univ., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology; Dubrovsky, M., Mendel Univ., Brno (Czech Republic). Dept. of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology ...
Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis,
4/2013, Letnik:
61, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The present study yields detail validation of the pest occurrence models under current climate in wide European domain. Study organisms involve Cydia pomonella, Lobesia botrana, Ostrinia nubilalis, ...Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Oulema melanopus, Rhopalosiphum padi, and Sitobion avenae. Method used in this study belongs to the category climate matching (CLIMEX model) allowing the estimation of areas climatically favourable for species persistence based on the climatic parameters characterising the species development. In the process of model validation parameters were iteratively tested and altered to truly describe the pest presence. The modelled pests presence was verified by comparison of the observed pests occurrence with the number of generations in given modelled area. The notable component of the model parameterization was the sensitivity analyses testing the reaction of species development on changing meteorological items. Parameterization of the factors causing distribution patterns of study species was successful and modelled potential distributions of species correspond well to known core distribution areas for all of these species. This validation study is intended as an initial for forthcoming studies focused on the estimation of geographical shifts of selected pests in the conditions of climate change within the Europe.
In comparison to other disasters, snow avalanches endanger only a small part of surface of Slovenia, but they are problematic mostly because of their spatial and temporal unpredictability. Focusing ...on alpine landscape, the author studies the natural geographical characteristics of snow avalanches.
The study focuses on the kinetic process of landslides, including associated travel trajectory and endangered area. A three-dimensional distance potential discrete element method for the movement ...process of landslides is developed in this work. Benefited from a new definition of the distance potential function with a clear physical meaning, a holonomic system of the calculation algorithm for the contact interaction is established, accounting for the influence of the tangential contact force. Performance of the new approach is validated with well-known benchmarks, which consist of a block impact simulation, a sliding/toppling test of a joint rock slope, and block response to induced acceleration in the foundation. The results are in good agreement with the analytical solutions, showing an ability of the newly method in capturing the microscopic mechanical behaviors and macro-motion characteristics of individual blocks. After the verification of the overall performance by three cases, the proposed method is applied to simulate the Tangjiashan Landslide trigged by the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008.
Decision support systems (DSSs) for pest risk mapping are invaluable for guiding pest risk analysts seeking to add maps to pest risk analyses (PRAs). Maps can help identify the area of potential ...establishment, the area at highest risk and the endangered area for alien plant pests. However, the production of detailed pest risk maps may require considerable time and resources and it is important to match the methods employed to the priority, time and detail required. In this paper, we apply PRATIQUE DSSs to Phytophthora austrocedrae , a pathogen of the Cupressaceae, Thaumetopoea pityocampa , the pine processionary moth, Drosophila suzukii , spotted wing Drosophila, and Thaumatotibia leucotreta , the false codling moth. We demonstrate that complex pest risk maps are not always a high priority and suggest that simple methods may be used to determine the geographic variation in relative risks posed by invasive alien species within an area of concern.
Globalizacija tržišta i sve oštriji uvjeti konkurencije postavljaju tvrtkama visoke norme poslovanja i ponašanja žele li opstati u okruženju, ali i podići razinu sigurnosti i uspješnosti. Na ...uspješnost tehnološkog procesa i njegovu sigurnost utječu mnogi čimbenici među kojima se posebice ističu primijenjene mjere protueksplozijske zaštite.
U članku se prikazuju specifičnosti te ističe važnost sigurnosti postrojenja s eksplozivnom atmosferom za uspješno poslovanje u svjetlu novih organizacijskih i tehničkih koncepata protueksplozijske zaštite.
Statistički su prikazani uzroci eksplozija u industrijskim postrojenjima s eksplozivnom atmosferom plinova, para i prašina te u rudnicima, kao i kvarovi na pojedinim strojnim elementima u električnim i mehaničkim uređajima u Republici Hrvatskoj i svijetu.
Opisana je metodologija ocjene i prihvatljivosti uporabe novih i starih uređaja i instalacija u ugroženom prostoru s novim znanstvenim spoznajama, a u cilju ispunjenja zahtjeva zakonskih propisa.
Kako bi se povećala sigurnost današnjih industrijskih postrojenja te smanjila mogućnost pojave eksplozija uz održanje najmanjih zahtjeva zaštite i zdravlja radnika, potrebno je proces metodologije stalno unapređivati.
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