Protecting global biodiversity is one of the most urgent tasks for the coming decades. Area-based conservation is a pillar for preserving ecosystems and species. Strictly protected areas specifically ...preserve biodiversity and ecosystem processes. The “EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030” targets strict protection for 10% of land area. Here we performed the first analysis of strictly protected areas (as IUCN type Ia, Ib, and II) across Europe, by investigating their area coverage at the level of biogeographical regions, countries and elevation gradients. We show that, with few exceptions, the amount of strictly protected area is very limited and the spatial distribution of such protected areas is biased towards higher elevation sites, as in the case of other protected areas. Then, we suggest that potential areas should be identified to expand strictly protected areas with low economic and social costs including, for instance, areas with high biodiversity value, low population, and low productive land use. Finally, we propose that a coordinated effort and a strategic plan to achieve continental-scale conservation are fundamental, and at least half of this land under strict conservation (i.e. 5%) should be under the protection categories Ia and Ib.
Invasive alien species are a threat to protected areas, species, and habitats worldwide. At the European level, the control of invasive alien species is a major goal of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, ...and a cornerstone, in this sense, is the Regulation (EU) no.1143/2014 on invasive alien species. In this study, we focus on the Alpine and Continental biogeographical regions of Europe (defined in art. 1 of the Habitats Directive; 92/43/EEC), and aim to give an overview of the main protected forest habitat types threatened by invasive alien species, and focus on five major invasive alien tree species (Acer negundo, Ailanthus altissima, Prunus serotina, Quercus rubra, and Robinia pseudoacacia). We considered the assessment reports under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive for the period 2007–2012, and six documents on the interpretation of habitats, to identify those most threatened by invasive alien species and in particular by the five invasive alien trees. We also assessed selected examples of impacts by these alien tree species on different species groups within Natura 2000 sites to highlight potential effects on biodiversity. Riparian forest habitats and oak dominated woodlands are among the most prone to invasion within the two biogeographical regions. A. altissima and R. pseudoacacia are the most reported invasive alien trees in these protected forest habitat types. Furthermore, examples of the impacts of these tree species have indicated potential detrimental effects on forest habitats structure and functions, and on single species listed in the Habitats and Birds Directives. In conclusion, we emphasise the need for effective management and systematic monitoring of these five invasive alien tree species within Natura 2000 sites.
The Corinth Rift is one of the narrowest and fastest extending continental regions worldwide and has one of the highest seismicity rates in the Euro‐Mediterranean region. At its western termination, ...several active faults are located beneath the city of Patras and the surrounding area, a region of major socioeconomic importance for Greece. Displacement rates for the period 2002–2010 obtained from ascending and descending ASAR/ENVISAT multitemporal interferometry are combined with Global Positioning System measurements from permanent and campaign stations to produce a map of vertical and east‐west ground velocities. Cross sections are produced in order to quantify the deformation rates with higher precision. In the vertical, the motion combines tectonic deformation, urban subsidence, and subsidence due to deltaic sediments compaction. In the city of Patras and through the gulf of Patras, the northern continuation of the 2008 Movri earthquake fault is connected to the oblique transform zone of Rio. Further east, our observations suggest the existence of postseismic deformation at Aigion in the 15 years following the Mw = 6.2, 15 June 1995 Aigion earthquake. The inferred deforming zone, assuming a simple slow slipping model, is located at the western end of the 1995 fault, with radius ~3.5 km, centroid depth ~4 km, and cumulated postseismic moment representing 28% of the coseismic. Alluvial fan deltas subside due to their compaction with a gradient that increases toward the shore. Several of those deltas are located in the hanging‐wall of active faults.
Plain Language Summary
The Gulf of Corinth, Greece, is a seismic area. Apart from moderate earthquakes striking often, additional geological phenomena, such as slow and continuous ground displacements, are occurring. Both are being induced by the movement of the tectonic plates. In many cases slow displacements are part of the seismic cycle occurring before an earthquake. The coast of Central Greece is moving away from the coast of northern Peloponnesus with a maximum velocity of about 1.5 cm per year. This study assesses the land displacements occurring due to tectonic activity of the area. This information is important to evaluate the seismic hazard and its impact on the socioeconomical activity of the region. Continuous ground displacements not associated to large earthquakes in the analyzed period are localized in the city of Patras, Rio, Aigion, and also in the surrounding areas. In the Mornos, near Patras and several other deltas, subsidence of no tectonic origin is detected. The maintenance and the expansion of the ground network are crucial for the uninterrupted monitoring of the geological phenomena. Our study can contribute to the awareness of the civilians, local authorities, and the state.
Key Points
PSInSAR is combined with GPS to calculate vertical and east‐west ground deformation rate maps of the Corinth rift for the period 2002 to 2010
Several deformed zones are detected, quantified, classified and discussed; they are of deltaic and urban subsidence, and tectonic origin
Aigion's fault shallow part is slow slipping due to postseismic relaxation; the Rio‐Patras fault is locked at shallows and creep at depth
•The chances of creating equatorial cavities on NEOs through cratering are very low.•Regolith filling the cavities comes in tension at high spin rates and fissions off.•The interface cohesive ...strength at the moment of fission is between 1 and 10 Pa.•This low strength can be achieved by kinetic sieving of the asteroid regolith.•The deformation during spin-up naturally generates rocky equators and sandy tropics.
This paper investigates the equatorial cavities found on asteroids 2008 EV5 and 2000 DP107 Alpha. As the likelihood of these cavities being impact craters is demonstrated to be low, the paper presents a fission mechanism that explains their existence as a scar of past fission events. The dynamical environment of “top-shaped” asteroids is such that, at high spin rates, an identifiable equatorial region enters into tension before the rest of the body. We propose hypothetical past shapes for 2008 EV5 and 2000 DP107, with mass added within the cavity to recreate a smoother equatorial ridge. The dynamical environment of these hypothetical parent bodies reveal that this modified region is indeed set in tension when spin is increased. The fission process requires tensile strength at the interface between the ejecta and the remaining body, at the moment of fission, between 0 and 2 Pa for 2008 EV5 and between 0 and 15 Pa for 2000 DP107, depending on the precise fission scenario considered. Going back to the spin-up deformation phase of the asteroids, the paper examines how kinetic sieving can form predominantly rocky equators, whose tensile strength could be much lower than that of the rest of the body. This process could explain the low cohesion values implied for this fission mechanism.
In this nuanced and detailed study of newspaper reporting during the escalation of the second Intifada in the fall of 2000, Daniel Dor shows how real events are subject to distortion and manipulation ...by the media. In an analysis of the heart of Israel's media establishment -- the newspapers Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv, and Ha'aretz -- he finds a wide gap between the reality reported by field reporters and the eventual newspaper accounts framed by editors. Led by beliefs, opinions, and emotional responses rather than the facts provided by their reporters, these editors created a platform on which a new and fearful narrative for Israeli--Palestinian relations was built. Yet while Dor demonstrates that the media construct the news rather than simply report it, his sophisticated analysis also shows that no one entity or person is responsible. Rather than a supreme authority, Dor argues, it is the influence of fear, anger, ignorance, and a desire to please and sell newspapers that threatens the freedom of the press in a liberal democracy.
Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term ...“typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring.
Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT) have recently gained attention as a promising instrument addressing public authorities to provide incentives for nature conservation. In parallel, both the EU and ...various European countries are exploring new mechanisms to mobilise funding to support biodiversity conservation. We develop a proposal for an EFT design within the supranational context of the EU and assess its potential effects with evidence-based estimates. We i) provide both a theoretical underpinning and a synthesis of the current EFT schemes and EU Nature Directives, ii) propose a model for EFT implementation within the existing EU funding mechanisms based on quantitative and qualitative conservation indicators, iii) analyse how resulting payments would be (spatially) distributed among European regions, and iv) discuss the model outcomes in terms of ecological effectiveness, distributive effects and cost-effectiveness. We thereby contribute to the debate about how to better integrate ecological public functions within multi-level and supra-national governance structures.
•A tailored proposal for upscaling ecological fiscal transfers to EU level•Empirical estimations of socio-economic and bio-geographical characteristics of beneficiaries•Evidence-based advice to improve effectiveness of conservation policies
Economic growth in China has been exceptionally strong in recent decades, but the country still faces enormous economic problems, including huge poverty, uneven regional development, the problems ...associated with strengthening capital formation, modernising and making more productive the very large former state sector. This book presents the work of a wide range of leading economists of China, all members of the prestigious Chinese Economics Association, who put forward new research findings and new thinking on a wide range of issues connected with the problem of sustaining China's economic growth.
Shujie Yao is Professor and Chair of Economics at the Middlesex University Business School. He was previously research fellow of the University of Oxford and Professor of Development Economics at the University of Portsmouth. He has worked as an economic consultant in many African and Asian countries for the World Bank and other development agencies. His current research interests include economic growth, income inequality and poverty reduction. Xiaming Liu is Senior Lecturer of International Business at the University of Aston Business School. His main research interests include economic development, technological change and foreign direct investment. He has published extensively in these areas of research. He is managing editor of the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies.
1 General Economic Issues 2 Industry, Agriculture and Financial Market 3 Openness and Social Issues
Abstract
The Natura 2000 network forms the cornerstone of the biodiversity conservation strategy of the European Union and is the largest coordinated network of protected areas (PAs) in the world. ...Here, we demonstrated that the network fails to adequately cover the marine environment and meet the conservation target of 10% set by the Convention on Biological Diversity. The relative percentage of marine surface cover varies significantly among member states. Interestingly, the relative cover of protected seascape was significantly lower for member states with larger exclusive economic zones. Our analyses demonstrated that the vast majority (93%) of the Natura 2000 sites that cover marine waters include both a terrestrial and a marine component. As a result, the majority of the protected surfaces is adjacent to the coastline, and decreases offshore; only 20% of Natura marine PAs is at depths >200 m. The lack of systematic planning processes is further reflected by the great variability in the distances among protected sites and the limited number of shared Natura sites among member states. Moreover, <40% of the marine sites have management plans, indicating the absence of active, or limited management in most sites. This work highlights the gaps in coverage and spatial design of the European conservation network in the marine environment, and raises questions on the unevenly treatment of marine vs. terrestrial areas.
Phoebe is the only major satellite of Saturn with a retrograde orbit. The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) took a lot of Phoebe images between 2004 and 2017, but only a selection of them has ...been reduced. In this paper, we reduced the remaining ISS images of Phoebe. In the reduction, the Gaia EDR3 catalogue was used to provide the reference stars' positions, and the modified moment was used to measure the centre of image stars and Phoebe. Finally, a total of 834 ISS images of Phoebe have been reduced successfully. Compared with the JPL ephemeris SAT375, Phoebe's positions are consistent. The average residuals in the right ascension and declination are 0.08″ and −0.05′′, and the standard deviations of the residuals are about 0.2′′. In terms of residuals in linear units, the means in the right ascension and declination are about 5 km and −2 km, respectively; The standard deviations are about 11 km. Compared with the JPL ephemeris SAT427 and IMCCE ephemeris PH20, our measurements show a strong bias and a large dispersion.
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