TY - CHAP A1 - Berendt, Ferréol A1 - Pegel, Erik A1 - Blasko, Lubomir A1 - Cremer, Tobias T1 - Bark Characteristics of Scots Pine Logs T2 - Environmental Sciences Proceedings N2 - The wood of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) shows... KW - bark thickness KW - bark volume KW - bark damage KW - industrial wood Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2040 SN - 2673-4931 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reder, Stefan A1 - Mund, Jan-Peter A1 - Albert, Nicole A1 - Waßermann, Lilli A1 - Miranda, Luis T1 - Detection of Windthrown Tree Stems on UAV-Orthomosaics Using U-Net Convolutional Networks JF - Remote Sensing N2 - The increasing number of severe storm events is threatening European forests. Besides the primary damages directly caused by storms, there are secondary damages such as bark beetle outbreaks and tertiary damages due to negative effects on the market. These subsequent damages can be minimized if a detailed overview of the affected area and the amount of damaged wood can be obtained quickly and included in the planning of clearance measures. The present work utilizes UAV-orthophotos and an adaptation of the U-Net architecture for the semantic segmentation and localization of windthrown stems. The network was pre-trained with generic datasets, randomly combining stems and background samples in a copy–paste augmentation, and afterwards trained with a specific dataset of a particular windthrow. The models pre-trained with generic datasets containing 10, 50 and 100 augmentations per annotated windthrown stems achieved F1-scores of 73.9% (S1Mod10), 74.3% (S1Mod50) and 75.6% (S1Mod100), outperforming the baseline model (F1-score 72.6%), which was not pre-trained. These results emphasize the applicability of the method to correctly identify windthrown trees and suggest the collection of training samples from other tree species and windthrow areas to improve the ability to generalize. Further enhancements of the network architecture are considered to improve the classification performance and to minimize the calculative costs. KW - forest damage assessment KW - windthrow detection KW - deep learning KW - U-Net KW - UAV KW - semantic segmentation KW - natural disaster analysis Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2213 SN - 2072-4292 VL - 14 IS - 1 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zou, Jie A1 - Ding, Jianli A1 - Welp, Martin A1 - Huang, Shuai A1 - Liu, Bohua T1 - Assessing the Response of Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency to Drought During and after Drought Events across Central Asia JF - Sensors N2 - The frequency and intensity of drought are expected to increase worldwide in the future. However, it is still unclear how ecosystems respond to drought. Ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE) is an essential ecological index used to measure the global carbon–water cycles, and is defined as the carbon absorbed per unit of water lost by the ecosystem. In this study, we applied gross primary productivity (GPP), evapotranspiration (ET), land surface temperature (LST), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data to calculate the WUE and drought index (temperature vegetation dryness index (TVDI)), all of which were retrieved from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. We compared the mean WUE across different vegetation types, drought classifications, and countries. The temporal and spatial changes in WUE and drought were analyzed. The correlation between drought and WUE was calculated and compared across different vegetation types, and the differences in WUE between drought and post-drought periods were compared. The results showed that (1) ecosystems with a low (high) productivity had a high (low) WUE, and the mean ecosystem WUE of Central Asia showed vast differences across various drought levels, countries, and vegetation types. (2) The WUE in Central Asia exhibited an increasing trend from 2000 to 2014, and Central Asia experienced both drought (from 2000 to 2010) and post-drought (from 2011 to 2014) periods. (3) The WUE showed a negative correlation with drought during the drought period, and an obvious drought legacy effect was found, in which severe drought affected the ecosystem WUE over the following two years, while a positive correlation between WUE and drought was found in the post-drought period. (4) A significant increase in ecosystem WUE was found after drought, which revealed that arid ecosystems exhibit high resilience to drought stress. Our results can provide a specific reference for understanding how ecosystems will respond to climate change. KW - water use efficiency KW - drought KW - arid land KW - legacy effect KW - resilience Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2361 VL - 20 IS - 3 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Shi, Lei A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Mamat, Zulpiya A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Urban Green Space Accessibility and Distribution Equity in an Arid Oasis City: Urumqi, China JF - Forests N2 - Urban green space (UGS) is crucial to the healthy development of urban residents. However, UGS that is accessible can benefit residents to an even greater degree. Based on the two-step floating catchment area model (2SFCA) and the location quotient (LQ), we analyzed the changes from 1999 to 2019 in UGS walking accessibility and equity in built-up areas of Urumqi at different administrative levels, and how UGS policy affects the improvement of accessibility. The results showed that UGS accessibility and equity are not evenly distributed at different administrative levels and UGS categories. Although the overall UGS accessibility and equity has improved with policy implementation, these changes are caused by metro-level UGS construction in urban fringe areas. The improvement in UGS accessibility at the neighborhood level in densely populated areas is neglected, which leads to a mismatch between UGS construction and population distribution. In addition, the accessibility of UGS is also limited by geographical location, population density, road distribution, and water shortage in arid metropolitan Urumqi. Our research results provide a theoretical basis for Urumqi and other cities in the optimization of UGS structure and the realization of social equity. KW - oasis city KW - urban green space (UGS) KW - two-step gloating catchment area method (2SFCA) KW - accessibility KW - inequality KW - UGS policy Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2385 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 11 IS - 6 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stoldt, Mirja A1 - Göttert, Thomas A1 - Mann, Carsten A1 - Zeller, Ulrich T1 - Transfrontier Conservation Areas and Human-Wildlife Conflict: The Case of the Namibian Component of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) TFCA JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Our study deals with human-wildlife conflicts in the Namibian component of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA). The study reconstructs the historical occurrence of selected mammal species and adopts a socio-ecological approach to assess the impact of human dimensions in the KAZA TFCA. Our results reveal pronounced human–wildlife conflicts with considerable impacts on the livelihoods of communities. Human–wildlife conflict has the potential to become a significant contributor to the failure of the TFCA concept. Conflicts are influenced by a growing human population and large mammal species re-colonising formerly abandoned areas. Mapping the occurrence of selected mammal species over time reveals an interesting picture: although conservation initiatives have led to an increase in the population size of selected species, their occurrence is more restricted than in times of heavily decimated wildlife populations. The increasing restriction of wildlife to protected areas reduces the resilience of the ecosystem. To sustainably manage and conserve wildlife populations, a bigger picture including areas outside of the current borders of KAZA TFCA should be considered. This could support re-connecting ecologically important areas for congested populations to move to and reduces the concentration of wildlife and pressure on the land and people of the region. KW - animal migration KW - biodiversity KW - conservation biology KW - Mensch-Wildtier-Konflikt Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2407 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 10 PB - Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehta, Kedar A1 - Ehrenwirth, Mathias A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Degembaeva, Nadira A1 - Akmatov, Kuban A1 - Zörner, Wilfried T1 - Energy Profiling of a High-Altitude Kyrgyz Community: Challenges and Motivations to Preserve Floodplain Ecosystems Based on Household Survey JF - Sustainabilty N2 - The floodplain areas along the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan are essential as they hold the riparian (local) ecosystems because they provide firewood, pastureland, and areas for recreation and protection against erosion. Due to limited access to adequate, reliable, and sustainable energy services, the rural population usually derived their energy needs from multiple natural energy resources (i.e., firewood, charcoal, agricultural residues, animal dung, and wood branches). This is considered a common and predominant practice in rural Kyrgyzstan. This situation leads to a negative impact on local ecosystem services. In addition to that, the reliance on solid fuels contributes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, which is partially threatening the local ecosystem services. By contrast, the employment of renewable-based energy supply systems would substantially reduce the burden on the environment, which is mainly untapped. To integrate renewable energies, it is important to understand the energy behavior of floodplain communities. In that response, the presented article is the first attempt to capture the energy identity of the floodplain community of Kyrgyzstan based on a quantitative energy-based (on-site) household survey. Furthermore, the present research article synthesizes the driving factors that have a (direct or indirect) impact on the energy and local ecosystem services. In addition, the present article proposes a brief pathway for the sustainable energy transition. The article records the recommendation to integrate renewable energies to preserve the local ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan. KW - Central Asia KW - ecosystem services KW - energy pattern KW - energy profiling KW - floodplain community KW - high-altitude KW - household survey KW - Kyrgyzstan KW - renewable energies KW - Sustainability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2468 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 23 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziche, Daniel A1 - Riek, Winfried A1 - Russ, Alexander A1 - Hentschel, Rainer A1 - Martin, Jan T1 - Water Budgets of Managed Forests in Northeast Germany under Climate Change - Results from a Model Study on Forest Monitoring Sites JF - Applied Sciences N2 - To develop measures to reduce the vulnerability of forests to drought, it is necessary to estimate specific water balances in sites and to estimate their development with climate change scenarios. We quantified the water balance of seven forest monitoring sites in northeast Germany for the historical time period 1961–2019, and for climate change projections for the time period 2010–2100. We used the LWF-BROOK90 hydrological model forced with historical data, and bias-adjusted data from two models of the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) downscaled with regional climate models under the representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 2.6 and 8.5. Site-specific monitoring data were used to give a realistic model input and to calibrate and validate the model. The results revealed significant trends (evapotranspiration, dry days (actual/potential transpiration < 0.7)) toward drier conditions within the historical time period and demonstrate the extreme conditions of 2018 and 2019. Under RCP8.5, both models simulate an increase in evapotranspiration and dry days. The response of precipitation to climate change is ambiguous, with increasing precipitation with one model. Under RCP2.6, both models do not reveal an increase in drought in 2071–2100 compared to 1990–2019. The current temperature increase fits RCP8.5 simulations, suggesting that this scenario is more realistic than RCP2.6 KW - evapotranspiration KW - soil moisture KW - drought KW - CMIP5 KW - RCP KW - LWF-BROOK90 KW - ICP Forest KW - soil hydrological model Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2470 SN - 2076-3417 VL - 11 IS - 5 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schuster, Rolf K. A1 - Specht, Peter A1 - Rieger, Siegfried T1 - On the Helminth Fauna of the Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus (Linnaeus, 1766)) in the Barnim District of Brandenburg State/Germany JF - Animals N2 - The muskrat is a neozoon species that has occupied many countries of continental North Europe after its introduction from north America as fur animals. Due to its burrowing activity it damages river and canal banks and structures of flood control. For this reason, the eradication of this alien species is recommended. Muskrats are also of parasitological interest since they can act as suitable intermediate hosts for Echinococcus multilocularis. On the other hand, little is known on the other helminths that infect muskrats. A total of 130 muskrats of different age groups trapped in different habitats in the Barnim district of the Brandenburg state by a professional hunter were examined for parasites and seven trematodes (Echinostoma sp., Notocotylus noyeri, Plagiorchis elegans, Plagiorchis arvicolae, Psilosostoma simillimum, P. spiculigerum, Opisthorchis felineus and four larval cestode species (Hydatigera taeniaeformis, Taenia martis, Taenia polyacantha, Taenia crassiceps) were detected. Larval stages of E. multilocularis were not found. O. felineus was found for the first time in muskrats in Germany. All the named parasites were present in Europe prior to the introduction of muskrats. With a prevalence of 48.9%, Strobilocercus fasciolaris, the larval stage of the cat tapeworm, H. taeniaeformis, was the most frequent parasite found in adult muskrats. KW - Ondatra zibethicus KW - Helminths KW - Federal State of Brandenburg KW - Germany Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2496 SN - 2076-2615 VL - 11 IS - 8 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ibisch, Pierre L. A1 - Dichte, Angela A1 - Hamor, Fedir D. A1 - Holovko, Andrii A1 - Pokynchereda, Vasyl F. A1 - Ryback, Mykola P. A1 - Shvediuk, Iuliia T1 - About borders and limits: experiences with UNESCO Biosphere Reserves for transboundary cooperation in Ukraine and neighbouring countries JF - eco.mont - Journal on Protected Mountain Areas Research and Management N2 - In Eastern Europe, several UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BRs) have been important promoters of transnational and transboundary nature conservation and sustainable development. Nevertheless, political and institutional barriers and scarcity of resources have hindered successful cross-border cooperation. The prospects for BRs in Eastern Europe are mixed, especially in relation to the challenges of ecosystem degradation and climate change, as well as socioeconomic and (geo)political crises. Based on our own experience of one and a half decades of growing cooperation between partners in Ukraine and Germany, we conclude that transnational cooperation between BRs and science is particularly rewarding and mutually beneficial. KW - Biosphere reserves KW - Eastern Europe KW - Ukraine KW - Transboundary cooperation Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2508 SN - 2073-1558 VL - 13 SP - 136 EP - 141 PB - Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schillaci, Guido A1 - Schmidt, Uwe A1 - Miranda, Luis T1 - Prediction Error-Driven Memory Consolidation for Continual Learning: On the Case of Adaptive Greenhouse Models JF - KI - Künstliche Intelligenz N2 - This work presents an adaptive architecture that performs online learning and faces catastrophic forgetting issues by means of an episodic memory system and of prediction-error driven memory consolidation. In line with evidence from brain sciences, memories are retained depending on their congruence with the prior knowledge stored in the system. In this work, congruence is estimated in terms of prediction error resulting from a deep neural model. The proposed AI system is transferred onto an innovative application in the horticulture industry: the learning and transfer of greenhouse models. This work presents models trained on data recorded from research facilities and transferred to a production greenhouse. KW - Adaptive models KW - Deep neural networks KW - Episodic memory KW - Memory consolidation KW - Greenhouse Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2510 SN - 1610-1987 VL - 35 SP - 71 EP - 80 PB - Springer ER -