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  • Valasia Iakovoglou
Valasia Iakovoglou

Valasia Iakovoglou
  • Ph.D.
  • Managing Director at UNESCO chair Con-E-Ect

About

72
Publications
23,613
Reads
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638
Citations
Current institution
UNESCO chair Con-E-Ect
Current position
  • Managing Director
Additional affiliations
October 2007 - February 2016
International Hellenic University
Position
  • Research/Teaching Assistant
October 2007 - June 2013
International Hellenic University
Position
  • Research Assistant
October 2007 - February 2013
Technological Educational Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Position
  • Research Assistant
Education
June 2001 - August 2005
Iowa State University
Field of study
  • Ecophysiology
June 1998 - May 2001
Iowa State University
Field of study
  • Urban Forestry
January 1996 - May 1998
Iowa State University
Field of study
  • Forest Biology

Publications

Publications (72)
Chapter
Stream bank erosion is a major pathway by which sediment reaches and pollutes water bodies. Nature-based solutions, such as riparian forests, can help significantly reduce stream bank erosion rates. There have been major research efforts in this scientific field worldwide, but there is a finite number of such studies in Greece. The objective of thi...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the contributions of stream bank and bed erosion will allow us to implement the most effective management practices. The objective of this study was to assess different methods to measure bank and bed erosion at different scales, specifically the watershed, reach and plot. Innovative and traditional methods were utilized. At the water...
Chapter
The Black Sea is considered one of the most degraded regional seas. Efforts have been made to improve the conditions of the Black Sea, but little focus has been on the inland pollutants and litter, specifically from the rivers and streams that end in the Black Sea. Streams and rivers are significant sources of sediment and litter. This study aimed...
Article
Full-text available
Riparian areas offer many ecosystem services, especially in urban settings. Their conservation can be complex because of the many urban anthropogenic pressures they face. Adopting new technological approaches can provide insights on the most cost-effective and sustainable management for riparian areas. In this study, different new technological app...
Article
A high-quality university-level education and strengthening the collaboration of stakeholders are essential issues for water security, particularly under climate change conditions. This research involved a questionnaire survey in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond. The aim was to capture the current situation in curricula and...
Chapter
Riparian areas provide many unique ecosystem services. These have been intensively utilized leading to the consequent ecosystem degradation. With the expected increase in population and congregation of people in urban centers, urbanization is a major threat. The alteration of the hydrologic cycle due to climate change is also expected to firstly im...
Article
Full-text available
The study attempts to monitor geomorphological changes (e.g., erosion/deposition) with innovative tools at a typical Mediterranean torrent. The torrent’s geomorphological conditions are studied for an entire affected stream reach. The investigation utilizes two different environments/point views: (a) traditional terrestrial and (b) innovative aeria...
Chapter
Full-text available
There is a strong interconnection between tourism and World Heritage Sites. This interconnection, on the one hand, can have a positive impact by presenting these sites to the public and helping generate conservation funds, but, on the other hand, if done unsustainably, can lead to their degradation. The adoption of digital technologies in tourism h...
Chapter
Could advances in geoinformatics, irrigation management and climate adaptive agronomic practices ensure the sustainability of water supply in agriculture? This book comprises 33 chapters that contribute to a broad discussion and demonstration of state-of-the-art multifunctional role of water resources in agriculture. The aim of the book to provide...
Article
Full-text available
The riparian areas of the Mediterranean are unique but face many pressures from anthropogenic and climate change impacts. They have very rich and diverse plant communities as a result of the dynamic fluvio-geomorphologic conditions of the Mediterranean streams. In this study, the riparian areas of two adjacent mountainous tributaries (Arkoudorema a...
Article
Full-text available
Riparian ecosystems in urban environments are usually degraded. Their sustainable management can reduce water pollution, mitigate climate change while providing recreation opportunities. This study assessed the current condition of the streams/torrents and their riparian areas in the city of Drama in Greece. In addition, practices to improve their...
Article
Full-text available
Riparian areas, especially in the Mediterranean, offer many ecosystem services for the welfare of society benefits from their sustainable management. This study presents different tools used to assess riparian areas of Greece and their results. Riparian areas with different land-uses/vegetation covers along streams or torrents were assessed. The as...
Article
Full-text available
Anthropogenic activities and climate change have accelerated soil erosion in the Mediterranean. In the region, erosion rates are further exacerbated due to frequent wildfires and flash floods. Soil bioengineering works and nature-based solutions need to be placed in targeted areas to provide the greatest erosion control in the burnt areas. The purp...
Book
Full-text available
The International Conference “Environmental Toxicants in Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems in the Black Sea Basin” is organized by the International Hellenic University (IHU), Greece and Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, (UDJG), Romania, in the frame of the project with code BSB27, "Black Sea Basin interdisciplinary cooperation network for sustai...
Article
Full-text available
Restoration activities in semi-arid Mediterranean areas like Greece face many obstacles, such as summer droughts that are becoming more intense with climate change, that pose limitations to transplanting success. Seedlings for restoration must be of high quality; a vigorous root system is critical to enable seedlings to tolerate adverse conditions....
Article
Human activities have intensively relied on and utilized riparian areas that have led to their substantial degradation. This is the reason why easy-to-use, reliable, inexpensive monitoring tools that describe the ecosystem integrity of riparian areas need to be developed. Bio-indicators are such tools, with many recommending the use of ground-dwell...
Article
Soil loss and erosion is a major environmental problem in the Mediterranean. Soil and water bioengineering uses plants and/or parts of plants along with inert material to create solutions to fulfill soil conservation objectives combined with an ecological rehabilitation approach. The ECOMED project developed novel approaches and tools to specialize...
Article
Full-text available
Las áreas ribereñas y los deltas ofrecen muchos servicios ecosistémicos que han llevado a su intensa utilización y degradación por parte de los humanos. Estos variados y únicos servicios han llevado a una priorización mundial de la conservación y protección de estos ecosistemas. Esta cuestión fue reconocida por la UNESCO al establecer la Cátedra Co...
Article
Human and wildlife well-being are linked to riparian and deltaic ecosystems. Human impacts and climate changes affect their environmental sustainability. To secure their protection, various national laws and international agreements have been established. Ecotourism can assist in promoting conservation for sustainability and economic improvement. T...
Article
The Mediterranean ecoregion is prone to soil loss and degradation; serious problems to the human well-being. The ECOMED project promotes eco-friendly methods to mitigate such problems by generating material and tools on soil bioengineering specific for the ecoregion. Specifically, the know-how transfer within the sector is being reinforced, existin...
Chapter
Soil erosion is a one of the most serious environmental problems worldwide. This is the result of unsustainable anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, deforestation and urbanization. In addition, the extreme events caused by climate change are expected to accelerate soil erosion. The Mediterranean region, due to the sparse vegetation, topogr...
Article
Full-text available
Transplanting seed-derived seedlings has many advantages for site restoration, one of which is the enhancement of its genetic material. Producing seedling with characteristics such as vigorous root systems is beneficial since they enhance regeneration success. The aim of this study was to determine if seed-derived seedlings, based on an altitudinal...
Conference Paper
Water is considered as the most precious natural resource on Earth as it is required for all living organisms. Readily available freshwater supplies are limited compared to human needs. As a result, water resource management plans are necessary in order to protect and preserve the available freshwater resources. Hydrologic models are therefore usef...
Article
The conservation and protection of riparian areas is a worldwide priority. The main reason is because humans have utilized riparian areas for thousands of years for agricultural or urbanization purposes. Establishing tools that quickly and accurately assess these areas that can help make proper management decision is the objective of this study. Sp...
Article
Riparian areas and deltaic ecosystems are essential to humans because of the many services they offer that have been over utilized by humans for thousands of years, especially in the Mediterranean region. This is evident by the many riparian areas and deltas that are protected by international (e.g. Ramsar Convention) and European Union (Natura 200...
Article
Full-text available
Water is considered as the most precious natural resource on Earth as it is required for all living organisms. Readily available freshwater supplies are limited compared to human needs. As a result, water resource management plans are necessary in order to protect and preserve the available freshwater resources. Hydrologic models are therefore usef...
Article
Full-text available
Ecosystem-specific prevailing unfavorable climatic conditions pose obstacles to a successful regeneration. For the Mediterranean ecosystems those adverse growth conditions occur especially during summer when drought phenomena are more intense and frequent. Forest nurseries need to produce the best quality of transplanting material in order to achie...
Article
Full-text available
Unsustainable anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and urbanization have caused excessive erosion rates that exceed soil formation rates. The Mediterranean region has and continues to experience severe erosion because of the inappropriate agricultural management, overgrazing, deforestation, wildfires, land abandonment, intense road construc...
Chapter
Decisions related to the use of genetically modified (GM) forest trees could be more rational if they would take into account socio-economic considerations in addition to environmental risk assessment. This chapter presents an overview of available socio-economic approaches and tools for assessment of GM forest crops and presents options for their...
Chapter
Information on public awareness and acceptance issues regarding the use of Genetically Modified (GM) trees in forestry is lacking, although such information is available for GM organisms in agriculture. This is mainly due to the fact that in Europe there is no authorization for commercial planting of GM forest trees. To address this issue and withi...
Chapter
Full-text available
In the European Union (EU) genetically modified (GM) trees—like all genetically modified organisms (GMO)—are regulated based on the process and product, not on the phenotype alone. The regulatory system includes a risk assessment which is science-based and concentrates on the assessment of risks rather than benefits. Lately consideration of socio-e...
Chapter
Transgenic forest products are not currently purchased in the markets mainly due to lack of transgenic forest plantations. This is partly associated with the early stage of development of GM trees and also due to biosafety concerns and the existing regulation frameworks, particularly in Europe. However, due to the increased global demand for wood p...
Article
Full-text available
Information on public attitudes towards the use of transgenic trees in forest plantations is important in the decision-making process and policy implementation for safe tree development, particularly at the EU level. In Europe, the use of transgenic forest trees is very limited and therefore such information is completely lacking. To address this i...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
This paper aims to examine the attitudes of the consumers in Greece towards the use of biotechnology in forest plantations and their potential purchases of forest transgenic products. Three groups of factors related the consumers' attitude on the use of biotechnology in forest plantations with the potential purchases of transgenic forest products:...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
A new fast growing trend in tourism is ecotourism, in which tourists visit natural ecosystems under low impact, nonconsumptive and locally oriented activities. Through these activities species and habitats are maintained and typically, underdeveloped regions are emphasized. Ecotourism provides a great alternative, especially for rural and undev...
Article
Full-text available
Biodiversity levels could be enhanced when regenerating a site by seed-derived seedlings. However, seed dormancy poses limitations for many species. As a result, nurseries either produce seedlings from species where dormancy is not an obstacle, or they propagate through cuttings with the risk of decreasing the genetic diversity within and among spe...
Article
Full-text available
Recently, the interest in wood products and bioenergy applications of transgenic forest trees is increasing worldwide, though plantations have been established to this purposes only in China. Information on the anticipated attitudes of consumers towards products from genetically-modified forest trees would therefore be of a particular interest both...
Article
Full-text available
Lake Koronia is located in the North part of Greece and is protected by the Ramsar Convention of wetlands. A deficit in the water balance has been presented at the last twenty years due to the excessive water consumption for agricultural uses. This research is an attempt to simulate water flow with MIKE SHE model in order to observe how the water i...
Conference Paper
Droughts on the island of Cyprus are more frequently occurring during the last decades. This has and will have major impacts on natural resources, particularly on semi-aquatic and aquatic ecosystems. Wetlands are very important aquatic ecosystems with many functions and values, especially in semi-arid regions. The study area is the Wetland of the L...
Article
Storage of recalcitrant seeds remains an unsolved problem. The study of gaseous atmospheres could provide insights in understanding the metabolism of recalcitrant seeds and their potential in being used as means for storage. This study investigated the metabolism of the recalcitrant Quercus alba seeds when subjected under nitrous oxide (N2O) and ai...
Article
Abstract: Riparian areas are significant ecosystems due to the numerous and substantial services they provide. These ecosystem services can range from wildlife habitat, water quality improvement, flood mitigation and recreational opportunities. Human developments, including cities and towns are frequently established in the riparian areas and degra...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Greek forest nurseries are urged to produce a substantial number of seedlings in order to respond to regeneration needs. Nonetheless, the transplanting success faces many obstacles, mainly due to the adverse environmental conditions that Mediterranean ecosystems pose. The ability to produce adequate number of seedlings, accompanied with the "best"...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Reducing erosion in the Mediterranean region is a major priority because of its susceptibility and millennia long human inhabitation. The objective of this paper was to assess soil erosion risk on the semi-arid island of Rhodes, Greece. Rhodes has many protected areas that are part of the Natura 2000 network. To implement this assessment a Geograph...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Riparian areas are very significant ecosystems due to the numerous services they provide such as wildlife habitat, water quality improvement, flood mitigation and recreation opportunities. These ecosystem services make their protection and conservation a necessity. Many human developments, including cities and towns are frequently established in th...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
It is a high priority to maintain high levels of biodiversity within and among populations when managing ecosystems based on long term sustainability. One way to achieve this is by regenerating a site either by seeds or seed-derived seedling from an increased number of mother plants and a variety of species. This mode of action could increase genet...
Article
Full-text available
This study investigated how nurseries could benefit by inducing "short" photoperiods as low as 4 hr to produce "better" seedlings characterized by more vigorous roots; a substantial feature to overcome transplanting stress. The carryover effect of the photoperiod was also investigated on seedlings that grew for 30 days more underthe consistent 14 h...
Article
Full-text available
A major initiative in Europe is the protection of its biodiversity. To accomplish this, specific areas from all countries of the European Union are protected by the establishment of the "Natura 2000" network. One of the major threats to these areas and in general to ecosystems is soil erosion. The objective of this study was to quantitatively estim...
Poster
Full-text available
Mitigating land degradation in a Natura 2000 site by targeting reforestation areas with the use of Remote Sensing, GIS and Multi-Criteria Analysis
Article
Full-text available
Riparian areas are ecosystems whose importance has been recognized worldwide for decades. These areas are adjacent to surface water bodies and are essential for ecological attributes such water quality and wildlife. In this paper all scientific publications related to riparian areas of Greece are reviewed and categorized. To accomplish this, online...
Article
Storage of recalcitrant seeds was, and still is, problematic. This study investigated the effects of nitrous oxide (N2O) on storage of recalcitrant oak seeds. Containers of Quercus alba and Quercus macrocarpa seeds were placed under three atmospheric treatments: air, 80/20% and 98/2% of N2O/oxygen. Every 2 weeks (total of 12 weeks), a sample of fiv...
Article
Full-text available
Riparian areas are unique and of high importance ecosystems because they are adjacent to surface freshwater bodies suchas streams, rivers and lakes. They are the semi-aquatic transitional zones (ecotones) between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.Water, soil and vegetation are the three main characteristics that differentiate them compared to othe...
Article
Full-text available
This paper describes a web services application based on a Flora database. A relational database model is used to deliver information access services mainly to students, as well as educators and researchers of Landscape Architecture. The contents of the database are related to the vascular species of the Flora of Greece which could be used as ornam...
Article
Successful oak regeneration is problematic because of species competition, environmental stresses, and the biological limitations of the recalcitrant oak seeds. is study investigated the effect of seed size and parent tree on 3-month-old seedlings for biomass and morphological variables. Seeds of Quercus macrocarpa and Quercus alba were separated...
Article
Full-text available
Successful regeneration of the high-valued species of Quercus macrocarpa L. and Quercus alba L. is restricted by biological (recalcitrant nature of oak seeds) and physical (eg. environmental stresses) limitations. This study investigated how we could benefit by careful seed selection prior to any regeneration attempts. The effects of seed size and...
Article
Full-text available
Long-term urban tree growth is crucial because of the need for tree-derived benefits and high placement costs. This study was conducted in five U.S. midwestern states to examine how tree characteristics are related to community population level and land-use type. Age, height, diameter, and average growth rates for the last decade were measured on 3...
Article
Several environmental factors influence tree growth at any site. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors and tree growth rate (mean ring width averaged over the last 10 years) in settings ranging from urban to rural. Six “clusters”, each with five communities and two rural parks, were sampled i...
Article
Full-text available
Urban ecosystems are often characterized as hostile environments for tree growth due to high level of human interference. For this study, 320 established healthy open-crown trees were sampled according to community population gradients (approximately 0, 500, 5,000, and 50,000 people) and by land uses (city parks, residential, and commercial sites)...

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