{"title":"Policy Implications for the Nexus of Climate Change and Gender-Based Issues in Thailand: Case Study of Waste Management","authors":"Jason Hung","doi":"10.1139/er-2024-0050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2024-0050","url":null,"abstract":"This perspective engages in the complex connections between environmental challenges and gender-based issues in Thailand, revealing a critical intersection that demands immediate attention. This perspective unveils persistent disparities within the environmental realm, particularly in waste management. The perspective advocates for a comprehensive, sustainable strategy to effectively address these challenges. By dissecting the nexus of environmental and gender concerns, the perspective highlights the urgency of dismantling gender-related disparities within waste management and broader environmental conservation efforts. The proposed policy reforms and recommendations underpin the necessity of a holistic approach, integrating cultural shifts and community empowerment initiatives. This perspective envisions a more equitable future, emphasising the imperative of safeguarding both men's and women's active participation and benefit in environmental conservation endeavours.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141928602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Dibike, Jordyn Broadbent, Jordan Musetta-Lambert, Thomas Reid, John Spoelstra, W. Monk, Erin Nicholls, Rajesh R Shrestha, S. Beltaos, Daniel L. Peters, Chuiqing Zeng, B. Bonsal, Chris Spence
{"title":"Towards a Canadian National River Water Quality-Modelling System: State of Science and Future Prospects","authors":"Y. Dibike, Jordyn Broadbent, Jordan Musetta-Lambert, Thomas Reid, John Spoelstra, W. Monk, Erin Nicholls, Rajesh R Shrestha, S. Beltaos, Daniel L. Peters, Chuiqing Zeng, B. Bonsal, Chris Spence","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0094","url":null,"abstract":"Water quality is of significant concern and ultimately critical to every Canadian’s quality of life and security. Canada has diverse and vast landscapes and stressors that impact various waterbodies differentially, with influencing factors including contaminant and nutrient loads from human activity (mining effluent, wastewater, agricultural runoff, plastics), landscape change (wetland drainage, urbanization) and climate change (warming water temperatures, longer open water seasons, extreme hydrological events, intensifying wildfires). Canadian rivers are especially important to the overall biogeochemistry, hydrology, biodiversity, and ultimate health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. While each of Canada’s provinces and territories has extensive river water quality (physical, chemical, biotic) data and monitoring programs, Environment and Climate Change Canada coordinates various national programs that contribute to the collection and consolidation of these data and conducts extensive research into the study and modelling of key river water quality processes. Despite program-specific efforts, there remains poor capacity to predict current and future conditions in monitored and unmonitored Canadian rivers, particularly remote or northern rivers, due to a myriad of factors including lack of coordination amongst groups and examination of areas in which modelling efforts might be integrated. Herein, we review and analyse the current state of data availability, process studies, and modelling systems for Canadian river water quality. Our synthesis reveals that specific physical processes (water temperature, ice formation, permafrost thaw, sediment dynamics), biogeochemical processes (dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic matter, nutrient cycling, metals/contaminants) and ecological/biological features (biota mass, functional indicators) are well understood, though complex, and are amenable to empirical or mechanistic modelling. Review of this information assists us in identifying opportunities and challenges for developing a national water quality modelling system (NWQMS), that would eventually include similar modelling activities for parallel processes in lakes and integrated watersheds. We identify needs for stronger coordination of monitoring programs in remote areas, recommend use of novel remote sensing technologies, and development of a flexible, iterative ‘process’ for integrated modelling to which stakeholders beyond government can contribute. Such a platform would support short and long-term predictive models of Canadian water quality and ecosystem health, inform effluent concentration limits, and be an early warning system for source waters.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141642956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michelle Sofia Sarmiento Barrios, Husnain Haider, Gyan Chhipi-Shrestha, Manjot Kaur, Kasun Hewage, R. Sadiq
{"title":"Review of the Water-Energy-Carbon Nexus in Small and Medium Drinking Water Systems: Challenges and Opportunities","authors":"Michelle Sofia Sarmiento Barrios, Husnain Haider, Gyan Chhipi-Shrestha, Manjot Kaur, Kasun Hewage, R. Sadiq","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0147","url":null,"abstract":"Water is a critical resource for human life and plays a vital role in energy production. Energy is equally essential in water supplies but generates carbon emissions to the atmosphere depending on the energy source. Appraising water, energy, and carbon nexus is essential for promoting sustainable drinking water systems (DWSs) in the case of small- and medium-sized utilities, representing a significant portion of the water supply in many countries. Smaller utilities face unique challenges, such as insufficient funding, aging infrastructure, and higher operational costs. This paper examines over 100 studies to identify and comprehensively understand how source type and location, raw water quality, water consumption patterns, system size, land use, population density, topography, infrastructure age, and system losses and maintenance impact energy consumption in small and medium DWSs. The review also identified more than 40 indicators related to energy and carbon from the literature, providing advanced information in this area. Findings suggest a gap in understanding how energy and carbon indicators relate to the utility's operational performance. By analyzing the challenges and opportunities smaller utilities face in optimizing water, energy, and carbon nexus, this paper highlights the necessity of shifting towards cleaner energy sources to mitigate the environmental impacts. It also emphasizes the importance of adopting a holistic approach that integrates technological advancements, regulatory guidelines, and active community engagement to achieve decarbonization in DWSs. The present study aims to inform policymakers, water management professionals, and broader stakeholders about the essential components of sustainable and resilient small and medium DWSs","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141683228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Applications of structural equation modeling in plant functional trait research","authors":"Yihang Zhu, Cong Liu, Changhui Peng, Xiaolu Zhou, Binggeng Xie, Tong Li, Peng Li, Ziying Zou, Jiayi Tang, Zelin Liu","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0128","url":null,"abstract":"1.Plant functional traits, which encompass morphological, physiological, and ecological characteristics, are key to plant adaptation, growth, and development. In recent years, the structural equation model (SEM) has gained widespread use as a powerful statistical tool for studying plant functional traits and conducting research in this field. Its ability to distinguish between direct and indirect effects makes the SEM a robust method for investigating the complex relationships among environment components, traits and ecosystem functions. 2.Here, we review and discuss four commonly used SEMs: (1) the covariance-based structural equation model, (2) the piecewise structural equation model, (3) the Bayesian structural equation model, and (4) the partial least squares structural equation model. We also explore their applications in three typical ecosystems—forest, grassland, and wetland ecosystems—and investigate these forms of SEM in the context of their use in trait-ecosystem function research. 3.Our specific objectives were to: (i) compare the advantages and disadvantages of these four types of SEMs; (ii) analyze the current state of research on SEM applications in plant functional traits across diverse ecosystems; and (iii) highlight new approaches and potential research areas for the future application of SEM in plant functional traits. 4.In this paper, several key findings were obtained: (i) the selection of SEM type is influenced by the different spatial scales of the study. (ii) latent and composite variables were less commonly utilized in recent SEM studies. (iii) while SEMs have proven effective in distinguishing between direct and indirect effects to unravel the complex relationships among multiple variables, indirect effects deserve more attention in general studies. We propose that future applications of SEMs in plant functional traits should incorporate a broader spectrum of traits as well as the trade-offs between them. Larger and more diverse databases of plant functional traits would help make SEM analyses more accurate across different scales.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140977706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Isabelle Aubin, Élise Deschênes, Kierann R. Santala, E. Emilson, Amanda L. Schoonmaker, Anne C. S. McIntosh, Bérenger Bourgeois, F. Cardou, A. Dupuch, I. T. Handa, Mélanie Lapointe, Jonathan Lavigne, Audrey Maheu, Solange Nadeau, M. Naeth, Eric W. Neilson, Philip A. Wiebe
{"title":"Restoring forest ecosystem services through trait-based ecology","authors":"Isabelle Aubin, Élise Deschênes, Kierann R. Santala, E. Emilson, Amanda L. Schoonmaker, Anne C. S. McIntosh, Bérenger Bourgeois, F. Cardou, A. Dupuch, I. T. Handa, Mélanie Lapointe, Jonathan Lavigne, Audrey Maheu, Solange Nadeau, M. Naeth, Eric W. Neilson, Philip A. Wiebe","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0130","url":null,"abstract":"Restoration is moving towards a more mechanistic approach that emphasizes restoration of ecosystem services. Trait-based approaches provide links between species identity and ecosystem functions and have been suggested as a promising way to formally integrate ecosystem services in the design of restoration programs. While practitioners have been routinely using informal knowledge on plant traits in their practices, these approaches are underutilized as operationalization remains challenging. The goal of this paper is to provide guidance for applied scientists and restoration practitioners looking to apply a trait-based approach to restore forest ecosystems. We present a five-step framework: 1) selection of services to be restored, 2) trait selection, 3) data acquisition, 4) analytical planning, and 5) empirical testing and monitoring. We use three Canadian case studies to illustrate the applicability of our framework and the variety of ways trait-based approaches can inform restoration practices: 1) restoration of urban woodlots after an insect outbreak, 2) restoration of a smelter damaged landscape surrounding an urban area, and 3) reclamation of remote upland forests after oil and gas related disturbances. We describe the major mechanisms and traits that determine vegetation effects on ecosystem services of importance in each case study. We then discuss data availability, methodological constraints, comparability issues, analytical methods, and the importance of empirical testing and monitoring to ensure realistic prediction of service restoration. By outlining issues and offering practical information, we aim to contribute to a more robust use of traits in ecological restoration.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140989927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Conceptual model of global plants entrapping plastics","authors":"L. Gallitelli, Massimiliano Scalici","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0141","url":null,"abstract":"Aquatic plants, seagrasses, macrophytes, mangroves, and riparian vegetation are responsible for some of the most important ecosystem services provided on the Earth. Given their role in trapping plastics along rivers, we propose a new ecosystem service of plastic entrapment by global plants. Although research started recently to study vegetation trapping plastics, little is known about the global patterns of plastic retention and remobilization by vegetation through different habitats. Given those gaps, we synthesize global data on plastic entrapment in plants providing a conceptual model to describe processes for plastic retention by vegetation. Our results demonstrate how vegetation has a pivotal role in entrapping plastics across spatial and temporal scales, finding the higher density of plastics on plants rather than in the adjacent water area. Furthermore, we proposed a conceptual model (i.e., Plant Plastic Pathway) of plants entrapping plastics, highlighting spatial and temporal scales of plastic retention and release processes in different habitats. Thus, we anticipate our conceptual model to be a starting point for more sophisticated future studies, putting effort into looking at plastic-vegetation dynamics. Our conceptual model may have a crucial effect if applied to plastic hotspot area detection with clean-up and mitigation actions in riverine ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140987813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impacts of Urban Heat Island Effect on Critical Urban Infrastructure: A Review of studies published between 2012-2022","authors":"Aishwarya Dwivedi, Rajat Soni","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0108","url":null,"abstract":"The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has become a prominent urban characteristic in the last few decades and brings significant changes to the local urban climate. Such changes have severe impacts on the lifetime efficiency and performance of “Critical Urban Infrastructure” (CUI). As CUI forms the backbone of vital urban systems and socio-economic processes, it becomes important to understand the various impacts of UHI on different CUI elements. The impacts of UHI on CUI have consequently become a prominent study area within the urban research domain. This study presents a systematic bibliometric review of 118 relevant articles published within the last decade (2012-2022) selected from a variety of indexed, scholarly databases. The articles mainly focused on developed regions and large urban areas. The review shows a consistent upward trend in the annual number of publications on UHI effects with a peak reached in 2020. Of the four major CUI groups studied for UHI impacts, built form and energy and communication (with a strong focus on increased energy consumption) are the most prominent topics in the current literature, followed by transportation, and water and sanitation. Research on other CUI elements is still quite sparse and significant efforts would be needed to identify the nature of UHI's impacts on these factors. This review highlights that the UHI impact on CUI is a developing research area that requires further attention and illustrates the state of knowledge and gaps present in current research. These findings provide a clear direction for future UHI impact studies.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140232290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Neumann, Yasasi Fernando, Ali Saber, G. Arhonditsis
{"title":"TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL ENSEMBLE TO SUPPORT ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN LAKE ONTARIO","authors":"A. Neumann, Yasasi Fernando, Ali Saber, G. Arhonditsis","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0100","url":null,"abstract":"Notwithstanding the continuing advancement of our understanding of the broader ecosystem functioning in Lake Ontario, emerging evidence suggests that there are fundamental knowledge gaps to accurately describe the relationship between exogenous phosphorus (P) loading and in-lake total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. The whole-lake load appears to frequently exceed the target of 7,000 t·year-1, although the offshore-water P concentrations are consistently below the water-quality objective of 10 μg TP·L–1. Contrasting ecological conditions can prevail in different locations of Lake Ontario, owing to the significant urban footprint along the shoreline but also the capacity of dreissenid mussels to sequester P in the littoral zone. Specifically, low ambient P levels threaten fisheries productivity in the offshore waters, while nuisance benthic algae (Cladophora) and toxin-producing cyanobacteria blooms affect the aesthetics/water quality in the nearshore zone. The present study offers a technical analysis of the recent and on-going modelling work that has been conducted in Lake Ontario, and can be potentially used to address the multitude of ecosystem management challenges. Our aim is to provide an overview of all the major models developed in the area by identifying their fundamental assumptions, structural attributes, and general consistency against empirical knowledge derived from the system. The existing modelling work opted for parsimonious representations of the lower food web coupled with granular grid configurations to effectively link hydrodynamic processes and mass transport between nearshore and offshore waters. The establishment of comprehensive ecophysiological modules that will recreate the mechanisms underlying the interplay among bioavailable phosphorus, planktonic dynamics, dreissenid mussels, and Cladophora is a critical undertaking to reproduce the water quality conditions in the nearshore zone of Lake Ontario. Striving to integrate the lower food web with fisheries and ecosystem-service modelling, we also offer a technical analysis on knowledge gaps and monitoring-assessment objectives that should be addressed to ensure that ecosystem processes of management interest are adequately measured and the local modelling enterprise is focused on suitable performance indicators.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139859038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Neumann, Yasasi Fernando, Ali Saber, G. Arhonditsis
{"title":"TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ECOSYSTEM MODEL ENSEMBLE TO SUPPORT ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT IN LAKE ONTARIO","authors":"A. Neumann, Yasasi Fernando, Ali Saber, G. Arhonditsis","doi":"10.1139/er-2023-0100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2023-0100","url":null,"abstract":"Notwithstanding the continuing advancement of our understanding of the broader ecosystem functioning in Lake Ontario, emerging evidence suggests that there are fundamental knowledge gaps to accurately describe the relationship between exogenous phosphorus (P) loading and in-lake total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. The whole-lake load appears to frequently exceed the target of 7,000 t·year-1, although the offshore-water P concentrations are consistently below the water-quality objective of 10 μg TP·L–1. Contrasting ecological conditions can prevail in different locations of Lake Ontario, owing to the significant urban footprint along the shoreline but also the capacity of dreissenid mussels to sequester P in the littoral zone. Specifically, low ambient P levels threaten fisheries productivity in the offshore waters, while nuisance benthic algae (Cladophora) and toxin-producing cyanobacteria blooms affect the aesthetics/water quality in the nearshore zone. The present study offers a technical analysis of the recent and on-going modelling work that has been conducted in Lake Ontario, and can be potentially used to address the multitude of ecosystem management challenges. Our aim is to provide an overview of all the major models developed in the area by identifying their fundamental assumptions, structural attributes, and general consistency against empirical knowledge derived from the system. The existing modelling work opted for parsimonious representations of the lower food web coupled with granular grid configurations to effectively link hydrodynamic processes and mass transport between nearshore and offshore waters. The establishment of comprehensive ecophysiological modules that will recreate the mechanisms underlying the interplay among bioavailable phosphorus, planktonic dynamics, dreissenid mussels, and Cladophora is a critical undertaking to reproduce the water quality conditions in the nearshore zone of Lake Ontario. Striving to integrate the lower food web with fisheries and ecosystem-service modelling, we also offer a technical analysis on knowledge gaps and monitoring-assessment objectives that should be addressed to ensure that ecosystem processes of management interest are adequately measured and the local modelling enterprise is focused on suitable performance indicators.","PeriodicalId":49208,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139799469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}