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Worldwide oil discovery and consumption from 1930 until the present, and projected future discoveries. Most major discoveries were made before 1980. World consumption is currently four to five barrels for each barrel discovered with most production coming from fields discovered three to four decades ago. Source: Printed with permission from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO 2008).
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In an energy-scarce future, ecosystem services will become more important in supporting the human economy. The primary role of ecology will be the sustainable management of ecosystems. Energy scarcity will affect ecology in a number of ways. Ecology will become more expensive, which will be justified by its help in solving societal problems, especi...
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In 2008, Europe entered a deep recession causing the industrial production to drop by 20%. In an attempt to redress the situation, many strategies were set by industrials to gain market share. The construction sector, however, still struggles to secure a positive margin. Furthermore, this sector is known to be the least efficient in terms of indust...
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... However, up to now, no accelerator-driven system has been built for industrial use, even if the European Union, United States, Japan, etc., have supported long-term policies for their development [30,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38], carrying out specific nuclear waste research. In the future, the dead-time for oil and coal will be near and the development of natural gas and hydro-power will be relatively stable [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46], whereas the growth of nuclear power and renewable energy will be relatively fast. In the energy context, accelerator-driven systems could represent another renewable low-carbon clean energy source, useful for a great number of applications. ...
One of the present major issues for industrialised societies is the environmental impact of energy production. Nuclear power is identified as a possible sustainable opportunity to provide a technological answer to this problem. This review aims to overview the physical bases of accelerator-driven systems, focusing on spallation and transmutation phenomena. A discussion on the possible use of these nuclear devices is developed in the context of sustainable energy production, showing a possible new approach to nuclear energy, based on the developments of accelerator physics and technology during the last century.
... When considering the persistence of the CEP, ecologists should recognize it as a powerful organizing principle against which research exploring observed coexistence and the diversity paradox can be pitted as baffling, novel, and worth funding. With resources supporting ecological research seen as increasingly scarce, efficient, high-impact research has become increasingly valued (Day et al. 2009). In this type of funding and publishing landscape, research programs undergirded by the CEP may be seen as safer intellectual investments with more scientific backing than alternatives. ...
Over the past century, ecologists have attempted to understand patterns of species diversity by showing stable coexistence arising from a baseline expectation of competitive exclusion. This expectation stems from an explicit assumption of resource scarcity and implicit assumptions of Malthusian struggle and winner-takes-all dynamics. Fidelity to the competitive exclusion principle (CEP) presents species diversity as a paradox: if species compete for limited resources, how can they coexist? In this article, we investigate the contradiction between the theoretical expectation of competitive exclusion and the empirical prevalence of multispecies communities. We trace the persistence of the CEP in ecological research despite numerous challenges and explore publishing trends suggesting that this framework has resulted in a disproportionate focus on competition and exclusion in contemporary research. From a critical science studies perspective, we analyze the sociopolitical factors that have contributed to these patterns. We argue that we must excavate the ideological foundation on which competition-based coexistence research has been built to move beyond the current perceived "diversity paradox." To that end, we propose shifting the baseline expectation of coexistence research, introducing the notion of a coexistence principle, which positions the persistence of multispecies communities as the rule rather than the exception in nature.
... Nowadays, the present energy resources, and their management, must be analysedanalyzed in relation to their future availability (Moriarty and Honnery, 2011b). Indeed, recently, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of the limits of fossil fuels use and their availability, but also in the ecosystem in relation to fresh water and air pollution (Beddoe et al., 2009;Day et al., 2009), with particular regards to (Rockström et al., 2009): climate change, rate of biodiversity loss, nitrogen cycle and the phosphorus cycle, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, global freshwater use, change in land use, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution. These analyses have pointed out that human activities could have already exceeded safe limits; indeed, in relation to climate change, atmospheric CO 2 peak levels are 420 ppm compared with the recommended threshold of 350 ppm (Moriarty and Honnery, 2011b). ...
Energy resources, and their management, represent an open ongoing problem of our present days. An increasing interest in the analysis of the limits of fossil fuels’ use, and their availability, is growing in order to find solutions to the undesired impact of some anthropic activities to the environment. So, nowadays, aThe current shift to renewable energy resources has become a fundamental requirement. In this context, biofuels from micro-organisms can represent a response to the requirement of reducing the environmental impact, but also to generatinge new jobs. In this paper, the analysis of the biofuels from micro-organisms is developed by introducing the Thermodynamic Human Development Index (THDI). In particular, we show how its performance can be improved by using the third-generation biofuels in the road transport sector, and how it increases by exploiting biofuels derived from mutualistic species of some micro-organisms. The result consists inis affected by the fundamental role of the mutualistic behaviour of these species in order to increase the overall sustainability.
... Since the industrial revolution, the over exploitation of resources and the continuous expansion of population have led to a series of global environmental problems [1], these problems are especially obvious in Huangshi City, a resource exhausted city in Hubei province. The rise of Huangshi City is due to mineral resources, and it is also facing unprecedented challenges due to the depletion of mineral resources. ...
... High cost of N fertilizer can lead to reductions in amount applied which may compromise nutrient replenishment and reduce forage production leading to overgrazing (Sollenberger, 2014) and eventual pasture degradation (Boddey et al., 2004). Should N application occur, there is risk of nitrate leaching and runoff (Day et al., 2009) or greenhouse gas emissions (Sochorová et al., 2016), elevating the ecological footprint of animal production and impacting delivery of ecosystem services by grasslands . The incorporation of forage legumes may be a sustainable alternative to inorganic N application to grasslands (Muir et al., 2011). ...
Link for download: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0056041/00001
Perennial grasses are the predominant feed source for ruminant livestock in Florida, but N fertilizer is required to maintain acceptable levels of forage productivity, persistence, and nutritive value. Use of N fertilizer may increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
and risk of nitrate leaching to groundwater, and it may not be economical in some situations. Legumes are an alternative to N fertilizer to potentially address these limitations. The objective of this research was to compare the effects of year-round N fertilized grass (GN)- and legume (LG)-based forage systems, defoliated by grazing or
cutting for hay on nutrient cycling in plant litter, emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), and accumulation of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Greater herbage accumulation of GN than LG systems resulted in greater existing litter mass for GN. The LG system released 60% as much N as GN over two years (36 vs 59 kg N), despite receiving only
10% (30 vs. 290 kg N ha-1 yr-1) as much N fertilizer as GN. Thus, LG systems contributed important quantities of N through decomposition of aboveground plant litter, potentially decreasing need for N fertilizer. Nitrous oxide emissions varied widely among seasons and within and among treatments. The greatest emissions were associated with the GN treatment in summer and occurrence of significant rainfall events. The greatest N2O emissions following N fertilization of GN systems occurred by 20 d after fertilization. Differences among systems in cumulative emissions were observed only in summer of Year 2 when emissions for GN were approximately four times as great as for
LG. Cumulative changes in soil C stock to a 0- to 20-cm depth averaged 2.6 and 0.32 Mg C ha-1 year-1for GN and LG systems, respectively, while N accumulation averaged 0.3 and 0.2 Mg ha-1 year-1, respectively, and was 4.5 times greater for grazed than hayed LG treatments. The LG systems provided less but important amounts of N through plant litter, had lesser N2O emissions, and amounts of soil C and N accumulation than GN systems, while receiving only 10% as much N fertilizer year-1 as GN systems.
... These studies pointed out the highly valuable benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, and the costs that replacing those services by anthropogenic means would entail. In addition, Day et al. (2009) emphasized the increasing importance of ecosystem services in supporting human economy as energy becomes scarcer and, consequently, the pressing need to manage ecosystems sustainably. About 10 years after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, countries agreed in the UN Sustainable Development Summit (2015) to adopt 17 Sustainable Development Goals to promote a global action plant for sustainable development through ecosystem conservation. ...
... The effect of SOM priming on soil C pools can be of significance when ecosystem changes lead to a deepening of the root profile or to a rapid increase in belowground organic inputs to the soil. A deepening of the root profile has been observed in North American wetlands with the invasion of Phragmites australis (Windham, 2001;Rooth et al., 2003;Bernal et al., 2016;Mozdzer et al., 2016), while the increase and deepening of belowground inputs can be expected in scenarios of stimulated plant growth, such as under elevated CO 2 (Stover et al., 2007;Langley et al., 2009;Day et al., 2009) or warming temperatures (Updegraff et al., 2001;Baldwin et al., 2014;Koven et al., 2015). These global change scenarios can severely decrease the ability of deep peat-forming wetlands to function as C sinks, especially boreal and high-altitude peatlands, which support little vegetation due to cold temperatures in their regions (Roulet et al., 2007;Buytaert et al., 2006;Tarnocai and Bockheim, 2011). ...
Ecosystem services are becoming increasingly important and a reason to promote the sustainable use of natural resources. Wetlands provide many valuable ecosystem services, including carbon (C) sequestration. Wetlands are an important C sink, playing a key role in climate regulation. As such, their ability to sequester C is being considered in national GHG emissions assessments and private initiatives as a potential source of revenue to manage carbon-balanced landscapes and pay for ecosystem services. To be able to implement these initiatives widely some aspects of wetland carbon science and practice still need to be formalized and standardized. Here we synthesize the scientific basis of the biogeochemical processes that drive C sequestration in wetlands and assess the methods available for its measurement. We have reviewed data in 110 peer-reviewed studies form wetlands around the world and provide an overview of the current policies and guidelines in which C sequestration in wetlands is framed as an ecosystem management practice. The intention of this review is to provide a wide and comprehensive summary of C sequestration in wetlands, from science to practice. This analysis can help inform practitioners and landscape managers in future considerations regarding project design and policy implementation, improve current climate mitigation schemes and payment for ecosystem services frameworks, and foster the worldwide implementation of wetland restoration, creation, and conservation projects for sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
... The new vision of biophysical economics, based on the laws of nature, especially thermodynamics, is a workable alternative to addressing problems of resource constraints and sustainability ( Day et al., 2016a;Hall et al., 2001;Hall & Klitgaard, 2012;Yáñez-Arancibia et al., 2013). The grand challenges for the future of the binational region analyzed in this article in the 21st century are primarily ecological and environmental problems and will be solved, for bett er or worse, using ecological as well as social principles ( Day et al., 2009). Ecology is the science of how ecosystems function and how organisms deal with scarce resources and their allocation. ...
The arid border region that encompasses the American Southwest and the Mexican northwest is an area where the nexus of water scarcity and climate change in the face of growing human demands for water, emerging energy scarcity, and economic change comes into sharp focus.
... Thus, in a time of energy scarcity, we suggest that ecotechnology, and more specifically ecological engineering, are appropriate bases for sustainable management of deltas. Ecological engineering is the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with the natural environment for the benefit of both (Mitsch and Jørgensen, 2004;Day et al., 2009). It combines basic and applied science for the restoration, design, construction and sustainable use of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and because it uses mainly natural energies, it is not energy intensive. ...
... His disregard for the constraints imposed by the biophysical world is typical of his discipline, which is seemingly unaware of the degree to which humanity is coopting the flows of energy that underpin the life-support systems of humankind (Vitousek et al. 1997(Vitousek et al. , 1986. Krugman has explicitly attacked the idea of limits to growth, 9 although recent analyses indicate that the study of that name (Meadows et al. 1972) has been remarkably accurate in characterization of the behavior of the global system (Bardi 2011;Day et al. 2009;Hall and Day 2009;Turner 2008). ...
Today’s population–resource–environment situation is summarized in comparison with that pertaining in 1968 when The Population Bomb was published. The human predicament is now much more serious, since the human population has more than doubled in size since 1968, key resources are much more depleted, and environmental deterioration is substantially more advanced. It is concluded that a change of society as profound and far-reaching as the agricultural revolution may provide a slim hope of avoiding a collapse of civilization, a change so profound as to cause the disappearance of most of the features of the industrial age and the myths that sustain it.
... Compared with natural/semi-natural areas, development of urban ecological network, such as urban forest network (UFN), faces more difficulties due to complex ecological processes and disturbances (Groves et al. 2002;Day et al. 2009;Li et al. 2010b;Kong et al. 2010). The rising urban population aggravates the human-induced influences on ecosystem and causes an intensive conflict between biological conservation and economic growth (Seto et al. 2012). ...
... Additionally, various ecological requirements of forest-dependent species should also be measured and included in conservation planning (Opdam et al. 2006;Watts et al. 2010). Despite increasing awareness of these problems (Day et al. 2009;Gillies et al. 2011;Ignatieva et al. 2011), operational methods to achieve the purpose are not well developed, especially in China where the urban ecological network is still a burgeoning concept. The remaining challenges in UFN assessment and optimization include how to incorporate multiple species' needs, SSE and human-induced pressure, and how to explain the ecological importance of landscape elements for priority conservation. ...
Forest network development in urban areas faces the challenge from forest fragmentation, human-induced disturbances, and scarce land resources. Here, we proposed a geotechnology-based modeling to optimize conservation of forest network by a case study of Wuhan, China. The potential forest network and their priorities were assessed using an improved least-cost path model and potential utilization efficiency estimation. The modeling process consists of four steps: (i) developing species assemblages, (ii) identifying core forest patches, (iii) identifying potential linkages among core forest patches, and (iv) demarcating forest networks. As a result, three species assemblages, including mammals, pheasants, and other birds, were identified as the conservation targets of urban forest network (UFN) in Wuhan, China. Based on the geotechnology-based model, a forest network proposal was proposed to fulfill the connectivity requirements of selected species assemblages. The proposal consists of seven forest networks at three levels of connectivity, named ideal networks, backbone networks, and comprehensive network. The action priorities of UFN plans were suggested to optimize forest network in the study area. Additionally, a total of 45 forest patches with important conservation significance were identified as prioritized stepping-stone patches in the forest network development. Urban forest conserve was also suggested for preserving woodlands with priority conservation significance. The presented geotechnology-based modeling is fit for planning and optimizing UFNs, because of the inclusion of the stepping-stone effects, human-induced pressures, and priorities. The framework can also be applied to other areas after a sensitivity test of the model and the modification of the parameters to fit the local environment.
