• Title/Summary/Keyword: Ecological benefits

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Microbiome of Halophytes: Diversity and Importance for Plant Health and Productivity

  • Mukhtar, Salma;Malik, Kauser Abdulla;Mehnaz, Samina
    • Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2019
  • Saline soils comprise more than half a billion hectares worldwide. Thus, they warrant attention for their efficient, economical, and environmentally acceptable management. Halophytes are being progressively utilized for human benefits. The halophyte microbiome contributes significantly to plant performance and can provide information regarding complex ecological processes involved in the osmoregulation of halophytes. Microbial communities associated with the rhizosphere, phyllosphere, and endosphere of halophytes play an important role in plant health and productivity. Members of the plant microbiome belonging to domains Archaea, Bacteria, and kingdom Fungi are involved in the osmoregulation of halophytes. Halophilic microorganisms principally use compatible solutes, such as glycine, betaine, proline, trehalose, ectoine, and glutamic acid, to survive under salinity stress conditions. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) enhance plant growth and help to elucidate tolerance to salinity. Detailed studies of the metabolic pathways of plants have shown that plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria contribute to plant tolerance by affecting the signaling network of plants. Phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid and cytokinin), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase biosynthesis, exopolysaccharides, halocins, and volatile organic compounds function as signaling molecules for plants to elicit salinity stress. This review focuses on the functions of plant microbiome and on understanding how the microorganisms affect halophyte health and growth.

The Impact of Community-Based Forest Management on Local People around the Forest: Case Study in Forest Management Unit Bogor, Indonesia

  • Fajar, Nugraha Cahya;Kim, Joon Soon
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.102-114
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    • 2019
  • The issue of sustainable forest management (SFM) continues to emerge as part of the REDD+ mechanism mitigation efforts. Especially for some developing countries, such as Indonesia, forest management is required to provide benefits to the welfare of local communities in addition to forest conservation efforts. This study aims to identify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of community-based forest management (CBFM) implementation activities, which is one of the implementations of SFM at field level. The primary objectives were to find out the impacts of CBFM activities based on local people's perceptions and to identify what factors need to be considered to increase local people's satisfaction on CBFM activities. The data from 6 sub-villages was derived through surveys with local people involved in CBFM activities, interviews with a key informant, and supported by secondary data. The results of the study state that CBFM activities have increased the local people's income as well as their welfare, strengthening the local institution, and help to resolve conflicts in the study area. CBFM has also been successful in protecting forests by rehabilitating unproductive lands and increase forest cover area. By using binary logistic regression analysis, it found that income, business development opportunities, access to forests, conflict resolution, institutional strengthening, and forest rehabilitation variable significantly affected the local people's satisfaction of CBFM activities.

Benefits of procyanidins on gut microbiota in Bama minipigs and implications in replacing antibiotics

  • Zhao, Tingting;Shen, Xiaojuan;Dai, Chang;Cui, Li
    • Journal of Veterinary Science
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    • v.19 no.6
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    • pp.798-807
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    • 2018
  • Several studies have reported the effect of absorption of procyanidins and their contribution to the small intestine. However, differences between dietary interventions of procyanidins and interventions via antibiotic feeding in pigs are rarely reported. Following 16S rRNA gene Illumina MiSeq sequencing, we observed that both procyanidin administration for 2 months (procyanidin-1 group) and continuous antibiotic feeding for 1 month followed by procyanidin for 1 month (procyanidin-2 group) increased the number of operational taxonomic units, as well as the Chao 1 and ACE indices, compared to those in pigs undergoing antibiotic administration for 2 months (antibiotic group). The genera Fibrobacter and Spirochaete were more abundant in the antibiotic group than in the procyanidin-1 and procyanidin-2 groups. Principal component analysis revealed clear separations among the three groups. Additionally, using the online Molecular Ecological Network Analyses pipeline, three co-occurrence networks were constructed; Lactobacillus was in a co-occurrence relationship with Trichococcus and Desulfovibrio and a co-exclusion relationship with Bacillus and Spharerochaeta. Furthermore, metabolic function analysis by phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states demonstrated modulation of pathways involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, energy, and nucleotides. These data suggest that procyanidin influences the gut microbiota and the intestinal metabolic function to produce beneficial effects on metabolic homeostasis.

A review on the effect of marble waste on properties of green concrete

  • Rachid Djebien;Amel Bouabaz;Yassine Abbas;Yasser N. Ziada
    • Advances in concrete construction
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.63-74
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    • 2023
  • All production and consumption activities produce wastes, which often cause damage to our environment and multiple risks to the human health. The valorization of these wastes in concrete technology is a future solution that will allow finding other construction materials sources, optimizing energy consumption and protecting the environment. Among these wastes, there is the marble waste. Every year, huge amount of marble waste is discarded as dust or aggregates form, in open-air storage areas causing serious problems for the environment and public health. In this context, the incorporation of marble waste as a replacement of ordinary aggregates or cement in concrete composition is actively investigated by researchers. This paper presents a comprehensive review of published studies over the last 20 years, dealing the effect of marble waste on fresh and hardened properties of concrete. Most of the studies carried out have used marble waste as dust with substitution rates between 5 and 20%. Besides the economic and ecological benefits, this review showed that marble waste can improve the physical, mechanical and durability properties of concrete. This improvement depends on the form (dust, fine aggregate or coarse aggregate), substitution method (as cement or aggregates replacement) and substitution rate of marble waste. Additionally, the review results showed that the use of 10-15% of marble waste dust as cement substitution can lead to increase the compressive strength.

Analysis of Economic Effectiveness for Flood Control of Dam (댐의 홍수조절에 의한 경제적 효과분석)

  • Choi, Seung-An;Yi, Choong-Sung;Shim, Myung-Pil;Kim, Hung-Soo
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.40 no.5
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    • pp.383-396
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    • 2007
  • The studies on efficiency of flood control reservoir has been introduced into four categories including direct flood control contribution by reservoir, flow-duration change and environmental-ecological change in downstream of dam and flood damage estimation of flood plain. In spite of all the previous approaches, the quantification of the effect of reservoir on the flood control in planning stage is quite complex due to lack of a standard for quantifying feasibility of project. In this study, we develop a methodology that can clearly and accurately quantify the flood damage reduction together with the existing flood level reduction at downstream. The proposed approach uses three appraisal standards of flood control: 'potential safety', 'relative risk' and 'absolute risk' according to the risk by stage. The developed methodology was applied to the Namhan river basin with the storm event of July, 2006. The result shows the damage reduction of 4,189 billion won was estimated. The economic benefits for the flood control effect by dam will greatly contribute to the public understanding of the importance and the effect of the flood control by dam.

Performance Evaluation of Water Circulation Facilities with Infiltration and Retention Functions (침투 및 저류 기능을 가진 물 순환 시설의 효과 평가)

  • Hong, Jung Sun;Maniquiz-Redillas, Marla C.;Kim, Ree Ho;Lee, Seon Ha;Kim, Lee-Hyung
    • Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.305-310
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    • 2015
  • In 2014, the city of Seoul revised the ordinance regarding water-cycle restoration in the Seoul Metropolitan areas by incorporating the 'Low Impact Development (LID)' policy. The new ordinance plan will utilize 630 mm or almost 45 to 50% of annual rainfall until 2050 by means of providing a rainwater management system consisting of infiltration, retention and vegetation. The LID is believed to be the key to achieving the target requirements, specifically in development projects. This research was performed to evaluate the stormwater runoff and pollutant reduction performance of three different LID facilities (water circulation facilities) including an infiltration inlet, bioretention swale, and permeable pavement constructed in Seoul City. Results show that among the water circulation facilities, the permeable pavement achieved the highest runoff reduction as it was able to entirely capture and infiltrate the runoff to the ground. However, in order to attain a long-term performance it is necessary to manage the accumulated sediment and trapped pollutants in the landscape areas through other water circulation techniques such as through soil erosion control. In terms of pollutant reduction capability, the infiltration inlet performed well since it was applied in highly polluted areas. The bioretention facility integrating the physico-chemical and biological mechanisms of soil, microorganisms and plants were able to also achieve a high runoff and pollutant reduction. The water circulation facilities provided not only benefits for water circulation but also various other benefits such as pollutant reduction, ecological restoration, and aesthetic functions.

Natural, Nature-based Features (NNbF) - A Comparative Analysis with Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Assessment of Its Applicability to Korea (자연/자연기반 특징(NNbF) - 자연기반해법(NbS)과 비교분석 및 국내적용성 평가)

  • Hyoseop Woo
    • Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.31-39
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    • 2023
  • NNbF is a newly emerging approach to reduce flood risk in coastal and fluvial areas using natural features or engineered nature-based features with the expectation of co-benefits of provisional, regulating, and socio-cultural services provided by the ecosystem. NNbF is not quite different from existing, related terms based on nature, such as NbS, Eco-DRR, NI, GI, EwN, and BwN, for all these terms include expectation of benefits for human societies by directly utilizing or mimicking nature's ecological functions. If we focus on the comprehensiveness of each term's subject and object, we can say that NbS > NNbF > (Eco-DRR, NI/GI). Among the 18 measures introduced in the NNbF International Guideline in the river and floodplain management category, it was found that measures of wash lands and floodplain restoration, including levee setback/removal and side-channel restoration, seemed to be the most applicable to rivers in Korea. These selected measures could be more effective when river managers purchase riparian lands along river courses by relevant laws for river water-quality protection.

Introduction to National Mid-term Fundamental Plan for Wetlands Conservation and Management (습지보전.관리를 위한 국가 중장기 계획 소개)

  • Kim, Taesung;Jeong, Jiwoong;Moon, Sangkyun;Yang, Heesun;Yang, Byeonggug
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.519-527
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    • 2013
  • The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea set up 'the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan for Wetlands Conservation' to facilitate systematic surveys and management of various national wetlands and to promote sustainable conservation and use of those wetlands. The mid-term fundamental plan was established in accordance with the Article 5 of the Wetland Conservation Act, which spans 5 years from 2013 to 2017 and covers national wetlands including inland wetlands and coastal wetlands stated in the Act. The fundamental plan aims to promote the wise use of wetlands through establishing policies for sustainable conservation based on the assessment of implementation of the $1^{st}$ Fundamental Plan, setting up a scientific framework for establishment and implementation of national wetland policies by improving wetland survey systems and enhancing basis wetland data, improving the ecological health of wetlands and securing biodiversity conservation of wetlands by strengthening conservation and management system of national wetlands, and through raising public awareness and diversify education and promotion tools. The main objectives of the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan is to revise the entire Wetland Conservation Act, to create a new monitoring system of national inland wetlands, to upgrade the national wetlands inventory, to reflect the 'Ecological Map' for promoting precautionary management of wetlands, to improve the 'Wetland Restoration and Management' system to build wetlands resilience, and to systematize the wise use of wetlands that benefits local people. As the Ministry of Environment plans to establish its other master plan for wetland conservation based on the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan, this document introduces the $2^{nd}$ Fundamental Plan to stakeholder and wetland professions.

Interregional Variant Factor Analysis of Hypertension Treatment Rate in COVID-19 (코로나19에서 고혈압 치료율의 지역 간 변이요인 분석)

  • Park, Jong-Ho;Kim, Ji-Hye
    • Journal of Digital Convergence
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.469-482
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this study is to analyze regional variation factors of hypertension treatment rate in COVID-19 based on the analysis results based on ecological methodology. To this end, data suitable for ecological analysis were collected from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's regional health statistics, local government COVID-19 confirmed cases, National Health Insurance Corporation, Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service's welfare statistics, and Korea Transport Institute's traffic access index. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS Statistics 23 for regional variation and related factors in hypertension treatment rate, and geographical weighted regression analysis was conducted using Arc GIS for regional variation factors. As a result of the study, the overall explanatory power of the calculated geo-weighted regression model was 27.6%, distributed from 23.1% to 33.4% by region. As factors affecting the treatment rate of hypertension, the higher the rate of basic living security medical benefits, diabetes treatment rate, and health institutions per 100,000 population, the higher the rate of hypertension treatment, the lower the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients, the lower the rate of physical activity, and the alcohol consumption. Percentage of alcohol consumption decreased due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was analyzed that the lower the ratio, the higher the treatment rate for hypertension. Based on these results, the analysis of regional variables in the treatment rate of hypertension in COVID-19 can be expected to be effective in managing the treatment rate of hypertension, and furthermore, it is expected to be used to establish community-centered health promotion policies.

Effect of Adding Scoria as Cement Replacement on Durability-Related Properties

  • al-Swaidani, Aref Mohamad;Aliyan, Samira Dib
    • International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.241-254
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    • 2015
  • A lot of reinforced concrete (RC) structures in Syria went out of service after a few years of construction. This was mainly due to reinforcement corrosion or chemical attack on concrete. The use of blended cements is growing rapidly in the construction industry due to economical, ecological and technical benefits. Syria is relatively rich in scoria. In the study, mortar/concrete specimens were produced with seven types of cement: one plain Portland cement (control) and six blended cements with replacement levels ranging from 10 to 35 %. Rapid chloride penetration test was carried in accordance with ASTM C 1202 after two curing times of 28 and 90 days. The effect on the resistance of concrete against damage caused by corrosion of the embedded steel has been investigated using an accelerated corrosion test by impressing a constant anodic potential. The variation of current with time and time to failure of RC specimens were determined at 28 and 90 days curing. In addition, effects of aggressive acidic environments on mortars were investigated through 100 days of exposure to 5 % $H_2SO_4$, 10 % HCl, 5 % $HNO_3$ and 10 % $CH_3COOH$ solutions. Evaluation of sulfate resistance of mortars was also performed by immersing in 5 % $Na_2SO_4$ solution for 52 weeks. Test results reveal that the resistance to chloride penetration of concrete improves substantially with the increase of replacement level, and the concretes containing scoria based-blended cements, especially CEM II/B-P, exhibited corrosion initiation periods several times longer than the control mix. Further, an increase in scoria addition improves the acid resistance of mortar, especially in the early days of exposure, whereas after a long period of continuous exposure all specimens show the same behavior against the acid attack. According to results of sulfate resistance, CEM II/B-P can be used instead of SRPC in sulfate-bearing environments.