Ecological Questions 

About: Ecological Questions is an academic journal published by Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika/Nicolaus Copernicus University. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Biology & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 1644-7298. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 411 publications have been published receiving 1439 citations.

The scientific research on ecosystem services: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract: The scientific research on ecosystem services (ES) has grown substantially over the past ten years, making more evident the vital role played by natural ecosystems in support of human economy and well-being. Several studies showed that biodiversity represents a fundamental part of the Earth’s life support system. Biodiversity considerably affects ecosystem functioning while contributing to the provision of different types of ES. The increasing ecological awareness of scientists, citizens, and policy makers on the importance of natural capital stocks and ES flows boosted nature conservation strategies and the development of more environmental friendly production processes. In this study, we explored the global scientific literature on ES over the last thirty years. The software VOSviewer was used to create maps based on network data of scientific publications displaying relationships among scientific journals, researchers, and countries. Specific keywords were finally used to explore the co-occurrence of different terms connected to the research on ES. Results show that the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment had a major impact on the scientific literature dealing with the ES concept. The top country researching on ES was USA, while the top journal was Ecological Economics. In terms of co-occurrence, the top keywords were “biodiversity”, “management”, “conservation”, and “climate change”. This study identified the main research areas characterizing the scientific literature on ES. Social network analysis and maps based on network data make possible the application of systems thinking in bibliometric science. This type of analysis allows for the investigation of research development in specific fields of science, capturing the interdisciplinarity of research topics crossing the boundary of specific disciplines, as it is the case of ES.

Field hospital wastewater treatment scenario

Abstract: In extreme situations with a large number of victims, field hospitals are deployed to provide patients with medical treatment. The large number of patients with different types of medications used generates the problem of hospital waste accumulation, including hospital wastewater (HWW). Wastewater is water having compromised characteristics that adversely affect the environment. Many countries do not have strict regulations regarding the disposal of hospital effluent, which contains pathogens, toxic chemicals and radioisotopes. The disposal of such substances poses a serious threat to public health and the environment. This paper discusses the possibilities of field hospital wastewater management development. Micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, are found in different ecosystem elements, like soil, surface and ground water, drinking water as well as treated effluent from conventional wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater discharged from different health facilities, with varying concentrations of pharmaceuticals, is often mixed with municipal sewage, thus remains untreated even after passing through conventional treatment plants. Extensive experience in the application of different types of HWW treatment methods allows the development of an optimal treatment scenario for field hospital wastewater problem resolution, including the combination of Microbiological Reactor and Fenton Process technologies. They are applicable in the case of low wastewater flow rate values, specific for field hospital conditions.

Modelling the interplay of environment, economy and resources in Marine Protected Areas. A case study in Southern Italy

Abstract: In order to improve environmental management and policy making based on the principles of sustainable development it is necessary to explore both ecological and economic dynamics interacting in human-dominated ecosystems. A way to perform such an integrated assessment is provided by the Emergy Synthesis method that allows to account for mass, energy and money flows supporting a given ecosystem. In this paper Geographical Information System and Emergy Synthesis methods were combined to model the interplay of environment, economy, and resources in the Site of Community Interest named Parco Marino di S. Maria di Castellabate and located in Southern Italy. The GIS allowed to organize and explore data dealing with several environmental features while the emergy modelling and accounting provided a characterization of the energy metabolism of the study area. The solar transformity of the net primary production of the marine system resulted in 4.86·10 4 seJ Joule -1 . The emergy cost for fish and mollusk (two of the main products of the fishing sector) resulted in 1.05·10 7 seJ Joule -1 and 2.43·10 7 seJ Joule -1 , respectively. These emergy-based indicators provided information about the environmental performance of the marine ecosystem and its fishing economic sector by relating the input emergy invested into the processes with the generated outputs. The solar transformities calculated in this case study (one of the first ever performed in Italy by adopting this methodological approach) will provide a benchmark for future comparison with similar marine systems in Italy and abroad. In conclusion, the combined use of GIS and Emergy Synthesis methods resulted a promising approach able to provide a deeper understanding of human-managed ecosystems and their dynamics.

The nature and detection of unauthorized waste dump sites using remote sensing

Abstract: Now a day’s waste disposal has become a massive tricky for environmentalist, as it is responsible for a various issue such as sanitary hygienic, ecological security, illegal dumps, lack of paved or asphalt access roads to the landfill, inadequate treatment facilities and low efficiency of public services of waste management. In the present study, we have discussed the detection of unauthorized dumps of municipal solid waste being potential raw materials for biofuel obtaining. The aim of the study is to investigate the possibility of using wide access data of remote sensing of Earth and geographic information technologies for operative detection of unauthorized waste dumps for the further extraction of waste from the environment to turn them into biofuel. The topicality of the study is substantiated with the complexity of detection of unauthorized waste dumps due to their multiplicity adjoined with unknown geographic and temporary dislocation. The universal classification of the image does not allow detecting unauthorized waste dumps and determining whether these wastes may be the source of potential raw materials for biofuel obtaining. The research results show that the developed specialized model based on the exclusion of the low hazard dumpsites allows distinguishing dump areas enriched with carbon-containing materials.

Nestedness analysis as a tool to identify ecological gradients

Abstract: Nestedness describes patterns of species composition within continental biotas and among isolated habitats such as islands and landscape fragments. In a nested pattern, the species composition of small assemblages is an ordered subset (a true sample) of the species composition of large assemblages. Nested subsets of species are generated by environmental and ecological gradients, such as habitat quality, carrying capacities of sites, isolation, or fragmentation, that cause ordered sequences of species extinctions and colonization. Therefore nestedness analysis can be used to identify gradients that influence species composition and richness among sites and to identify species that run counter to these gradients (idiosyncratic species). Here I review the use of nestedness analysis to identify such gradients. I also describe how to perform the analysis and which metrics and null models to use for statistical inference.