Storm protection service of the Sundarbans mangrove forest,Bangladesh

Natural Hazards - Storm protection service of mangrove is often undervalued. This paper empirically assessed the damage avoided by the Sundarbans mangrove forest in 15 villages of southwest coastal...     

Dynamics of communal land degradation and its implications in the arid mountains of pakistan: A study of District Karak,Khyber Pakhtunkuwa

Similar to other areas of Pakistan, land resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa （KP） is kept under various ownership regimes for socio-economic and ecological benefits. For the last three to four decades, communal lands and resources are subjected to high rate of degradation and deterioration, which is leading to multifarious socio-economical and ecological implications. This paper intends to look into factors that are responsible for the degradation of communal land and the adaptability of the management mechanisms developed by the local inhabitants to conserve these resources. Moreover, this study also explores the sustainability of these adopted strategies in present circumstances. Data regarding socio-economic parameters of the inhabitants and their interactions with communal lands were collected through questionnaire cum interview method. As long-term climatic data for the area do not exist therefore focus group discussions were conducted to document the changing trend in rainfall regimes and temperature variations for the last about four decades. Results indicate that communal lands are highly vulnerable to degradation due to biophysical and anthropogenic factors. Local inhabitants have developed suitable measures to control the situation, however, accelerated socio-economic transformations in the area have weakened the role of local institutions and that led to further degradation of these resources. Nevertheless, a number of locally formulated rules have been revived and implemented and it is hoped that these threatened resources would be conserved.     

The socioeconomic impact of climate-related hazards: flash flood impact assessment in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

Small-scale flash flood events are climate-related disasters which can put multiple aspects of the system at risk. The consequences of flash floods in densely populated cities are increasingly becoming problematic around the globe. However, they are largely ignored in disaster impact assessment studies, especially in assessing socioeconomic loss and damage, which can provide a significant insight for disaster risk reduction measures. Using a structured questionnaire survey, this study applied a statistical approach and developed a structural equation model (SEM) for assessing several socioeconomic dimensions including physical impacts, mobility disruption, lifeline facilities, health and income-related impacts. The study reveals that respondents have experienced a stronger impact on direct tangible elements such as household contents and buildings as well as direct intangible elements with β coefficients 0.703, 0.576 and 0.635, respectively, at p?<?0:001 level. The direct intangible impacts affect mobility disruption with β coefficients equal to 0.701 at p?<?0:001 level which then further cause adversity to income-generating activities with β 0.316 at significant p?<?0:001 as well. The overall model fit indices show highly acceptable scores of SRMR 0.068, RMSEA 0.055 and PClose 0.092. Thus, the SEM has successfully incorporated the socioeconomic dimensions of disaster impact and explained the impact phenomena reliably. This modeling approach will allow inclusion of various variables from different disciplines to assess hazard impact, vulnerability and resilience.

     

Life history pattern of mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki (Girard, 1859) in the Tajan River (Southern Caspian Sea to Iran)

Investigation of the ecology of introduced species in new habitats can allow determinations of the degree, direction, and rate of evolutionary change. The introduction of Gambusia holbrooki in the southern Caspian Sea presents such a situation. We evaluated the life history traits of mosquitofish in the Tajan River basin. A total of 744 G. holbrooki specimens were collected between January and December 2008. The maximum observed ages are 0+ years for males and 1+ years for females. Both sexes grew allometrically (negative for males: b=2.442 and positive for females: b=3.232). The overall sex ratio is unbalanced and dominated by females. GSI values suggest that this population of G. holbrooki matures between February–July. The highest mean GSI value is 1.80 for males and 15.97 for females in May. Egg diameter ranges from 1.00 to 3.00 mm with a mean value of 2.098 mm. Absolute fecundity varied from 7 to 57 eggs. Both ova diameter and absolute fecundity were positively correlated to fish size (length and weight). Fecundity relative to total weight fluctuated from 34.44 to 582.64 eggs/g, and to total length from 2.33 to 12.95 eggs/cm. Both were negatively correlated with female size. The characteristics of this population are important with respect to life history of the species.