Ecosystems Ecology

Biomimicry, where flora, fauna or entire ecosystems are emulated as a basis for design, has attracted considerable interest in the fields of architectural design and engineering,
as an innovative new design approach and importantly as a potential way to shift the built environment to a more sustainable paradigm. The practical and comprehensive application of biomimicry as a design methodology and
benchmarking tool, particularly in the built environment, remains elusive. One reason identified for this is the lack of a comprehensive and rigorous general theory of biomimicry that could be applied to the architectural design process and its outcomes over entire building lifecycles. This paper attempts to clarify various approaches to biomimicry and provides a set of principles that could form the basis of an ecosystem based biomimicry. It is posited that such an approach could become a vehicle for creating a built environment that goes beyond simply sustaining current conditions to a restorative practice where the built environment becomes a vital component
in the integration with and regeneration of natural ecosystems as the wider human habitat.

Tree loss and its effect to well-being, society, and energy are the inevitable results of rapid economic breakthroughs. Civilization has to constantly adapt to change, and while economic modifications commence society has to deal with preexisting issues on environmental health decline. While Amy Chillag’s CNN Article provides facts, allusions and statistics, there are particular details in the article that needs to be considered...

My bold suggestions in this paper, as an artisan-anthropologist-therapist, are as follows: (a) human manufacturing of objects brings about individual/collective (deep well-being) experiences of beauty and grace and (b)‘making artifacts’ represents an important ancient continuity in (social-cultural-biological) humanization. Combining these two assertions suggests a universal existence of ‘crafting in the world’. The argument was ignited by the termination of both my mother’s and father’s family blacksmithing workshops in the twentieth century. Being a technical engineer/craftsman in my first career, and being one of six sons, I was deeply puzzled about why and how our transgenerational arts and crafting family tradition would die out when my father closed down his metal construction workshop in 1986. My great-uncles from mother’s side had already closed down their smithy decades earlier.

Sacred groves are small or large patches of forest and are rich in biodiversity, store carbon (C) in biomass and soil, besides providing important ecosystem services. However, the information on tree species diversity, biomass, and C storage in sacred groves of Central India, Madhya Pradesh is elusive and fragmented. In the present study, 41 sacred groves were inventoried for tree species diversity, biomass, and C storage in vegetation and soil. A total of 103 tree species from 81 genera belonging to 37 families were recorded. Shannon's diversity, Dominance, Fisher's alpha, and species evenness indices for trees varied: 0.77-2.53, 0.07-0.64, 1.58-20.37, and 0.28-0.90 respectively. Tree density ranged 75-675 no. of stems ha −1 with a mean of 271 no. of stems ha −1 , while basal area ranged 6.8-47 m 2 ha −1 with a mean value of 27 m 2 ha −1. Tree biomass ranged 34.9-409.8 Mg ha −1 with a mean value of 194.01 Mg ha −1 , while, tree C ranged between 17.5 and 204.9 Mg C ha −1 wit...

Ecosystem respiration is the biotic conversion of organic carbon to
carbon dioxide by all of the organisms in an ecosystem, including
both consumers and primary producers. Respiration exhibits an
exponential temperature dependence at the subcellular and
individual levels1, but at the ecosystem level respiration can be
modified by many variables2–4 including community abundance
and biomass5, which vary substantially among ecosystems6.
Despite its importance for predicting the responses of the biosphere
to climate change, it is as yet unknown whether the temperature
dependence of ecosystem respiration varies systematically
between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Here we use the
largest database of respiratory measurements yet compiled to show
that the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to seasonal changes in
temperature is remarkably similar for diverse environments
encompassing lakes, rivers, estuaries, the open ocean and forested
and non-forested terrestrial ecosystems, with an average activation
energy similar to that of the respiratory complex3 (approximately
0.65 electronvolts (eV)). By contrast, annual ecosystem respiration
shows a substantially greater temperature dependence across aquatic
(approximately 0.65 eV) versus terrestrial ecosystems (approximately
0.32 eV) that span broad geographic gradients in temperature. Using
a model5 derived from metabolic theory7, these findings can be
reconciled by similarities in the biochemical kinetics of metabolism
at the subcellular level, and fundamental differences in the importance
of other variables besides temperature—such as primary productivity
and allochthonous carbon inputs—on the structure of
aquatic and terrestrial biota at the community level.

A variety of chemicals including foaming agents are used to aid in the protection of forest resources from the wild land fires. The fire-fighting foams (FFFs) are formulations composed principally of surfactants. As a part of Japanese national project, environmentally inert FFFs have been developed. There is an emerging need for testing the impacts of these FFFs on the living organisms composing the typical landscapes or ecosystems in Japan. In the present report, we aimed to describe our latest attempt for assessing both the short-tem and long-term impacts of FFFs in aquatic (fresh water) and semi-aquatic (wetland) ecosystems , by employing the laboratory-sized model assays (preliminary studies) and the biotope-based observation, respectively. In the biotope assays which was based on the observation in compact biotopes mimicking the fresh water environments and wetland, both the acute and long-term eco-toxic impacts of two FFFs (soap-based and synthetic detergent-based) were assessed. Spraying of synthetic detergent-based foam formula was shown to be more toxic compared to soap-based formula and mock water treatment.

This dissertation explores the usefulness of mycorrhizal fungal networks as a metaphor for community support systems in human societies. The research is intentionally positioned between academic scholarship and activism, practising hope as a discipline, radical care as praxis and decoloniality as a priority. I begin by proposing a liberatory, decolonial approach toward nature that rejects extractivism, with the intention of situating the research field of mycology within a historical and social context. Next, I conduct a literature review of peer-reviewed scientific journals to ascertain the key characteristics of mycorrhizal networks that allow them to support life in forest ecosystems. I then apply the findings of the literature review to a case study of UK-based mutual aid networks in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, I evaluate the strength of the mycorrhizal network metaphor, arguing that it can reveal certain nuances involved in mutual aid work – the messy, worldly realities of care work in practice. Given that the discipline of Science and Technology Studies (STS) analyses social and historical phenomena to inform actions in the present and the future, I further argue that the mycorrhizal network metaphor has the potential to guide future social justice work in STS.

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration , biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this develop...

Birds are one of the most diverse groups of ecosystem
service providers, whose ecological functions range
from creating soil to shaping primate behavior, Nevertheless,
the impression that birds have little influence on
ecological processes has been hard to change. Given the
ongoing declines in avian functional groups, there is a
pressing need to compare avian ecological functions to
those of other taxa, to understand how these functions
translate to ecosystem services and to estimate the
ecological implications of bird declines. Here, I review
the ecological functions of birds, link them to ecosystem
services and outline research priorities for understanding
avian contributions to ecosystem functioning.

Jayne Belnap (USA), Laura K. Brown (Canada), Ernesto Brugnoli (Uruguay), Jana E. Compton (USA), Richard H. Coupe (USA), Marcello Hernández-Blanco (Costa Rica), Forest Isbell (USA), Julie Lockwood (USA), Juan Pablo Lozoya Azcárate (Uruguay), David McGuire (USA), Anibal Pauchard (Chile), Ramon Pichs-Madruga (Cuba), Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (Brazil), Gerardo Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa (Costa Rica/Canada), Alvaro Soutullo (Uruguay), Avelino Suarez (Cuba), Elizabeth Troutt (Canada)

Software ecosystems are collections of interacting and communicating software projects developed by the same developer community. Dealing with the complex interaction and dynamics of these ecosystems is an important problem that raises additional challenges compared to the maintenance of individual soft- ware systems. In particular, the social aspect becomes crucial, requiring to understand evolving ecosystems as dynamic socio-technical networks. Based on software repository mining research advances, in this lecture I explore the state of the art in the empirical analysis of software ecosystems, with a focus on the evolutionary aspect. I present some of the challenges that need to be overcome during the extraction and cleaning of data obtained from different data sources (such as version control repositories, bug trackers, and mailing lists). I draw an analogy between software ecosystems and natural ecosystems, and illustrate through previously reported empirical case studies how ecological diversity metrics and econometric inequality metrics can be used to increase understanding of evolving software ecosystems from dual viewpoints.
This lecture has been conceived as a work of reference. It does not provide any novel research results by itself, but rather introduces the important concepts and challenges in the field. It also provides many pointers for further reading for those researchers that wish to start working in this important research domain.

An in depth analysis of the relationship between biotic and abiotic factors in an enclosed environment. Details the fundamental relationship between nutrient cycles in terrestrial, aquatic, and decomposition chambers. Research conducted in order to further understand limiting factors within ecosystems (phosphorus and nitrogen) and how they impact living organisms.

Air-drying and wetting of air-dried soil samples with water (i.e., rewetting) are widely used sample
treatments in soil analyses. It is recognized that both air-drying and rewetting of soil samples affect the
characteristics of organic matter (OM), but systematic evaluations are scarce. In this review, we synthesize
what is known in the scientific literature concerning the types and magnitudes of effects
resulting from air-drying and rewetting with respect to i) characteristics of aggregate-associated and
water-extractable OM, ii) soil microbiota, and iii) decomposition of OM. Air-drying of soil samples results
in the formation of new and/or stronger OM-mineral interactions as well as increased hydrophobicity
and mineral surface acidity. The formation of new and enhancement of existing OM-mineral interactions
may lead to an increase in perceived aggregate stability, potentially affecting estimates of amount and
persistence of OM associated with soil aggregates. Compared to field moist samples, air-dried samples
had 8e41% higher relative dry mass proportions in the 2e0.25 mm aggregate size fraction. Pronounced
changes in the amount and composition of the water-extractable OM and soil microbiota are also
detected during the course of air-drying and rewetting with the potential to affect the conclusions
derived from OM decomposition experiments. Air-dried soil samples were found to have 2e10 times
higher amounts of water extractable organic carbon and a decrease between 3% and 69% in the microbial
biomass carbon (using the substrate-induced respiration technique) compared to field moist samples.
The magnitude of air-drying and rewetting derived effects on sample characteristics appears to be site
and soil type specific.

Pollution, mutations and electromagnetic fields are, among many other elements, elements of the next nature (1). The next nature, at the global level, is the outcome of technology coevolving with us from the beginning of the humankind. Nowadays, technology, because of its scale is similar to the forces of nature and is currently beyond our control.

On the global level, the holistic eco-centric concept of unifying the geosphere, biosphere, technosphere, and noosphere to the one complex, hierarchical and dynamic entity is called the Total Human Ecosystem (THE) (Naveh 2005).
In this paper, the interactions between constituent elements of the Total Human Ecosystem and their outcomes are presented and analyzed as the next nature, new nature or new normal. Thus, the next nature is the fusion of the cultural sphere with all other spheres that are present on Earth. Supernature is what comes after the elements of the next nature are further processed. As for example: the carbon dioxide can be manufactured into the concrete; nitrogen oxide, which is a component of smog can be conditioned into food; highly toxic styrene plastic waste can be processed into biocompatible implants and tissues’ replacements.


Technology has been accompanying humans from the very beginning; the discovery of fire gave us, through generations of eating heated food, bigger brains. The invention of agriculture gave us settlements and later cities.
Nevertheless, the 21st-century techno-driven evolution is too rapid for almost every subject dependent on biological processes, including humans.
As a part of the process of adaptation to the next nature’s environment, human bodies gradually lose the innate ability for self-healing. Through generations people have been contaminated, irradiated and infected by processes of inhalation, ingestion, dermal absorption, and placental transfer. Nowadays, we live and work in a polluted environment and unwholesome interiors, where our bodies have become slowly or rapidly contaminated with toxins mainly coming from transportation and industrial sources, as well as from commonly used building materials. The organic bodies that undergo slow (and archaic) biological processes are unable to cope fast enough with the new compounds or their excessive accumulation. That causes the discomfort as well as dysfunctions in the form of different types of diseases.
In order to maintain our internal milieu in homeostasis, we develop ever new technologies, such as medical software, antibiotics, supplements, treatment methods and human body part replacements, such as artificial hearts or bionic limbs and extensions, such as for example exoskeletons and virtual reality. We constantly try to be complementary to our environment that changes us while we change it.

Technology is an inherent part of our nature and now is an inherent part of the evolution of the geosphere and biosphere. Therefore, we should see the existing manufactured environment as native. Where technology has already mutated into a geological and ecological phenomenon, we can hunt, gather and mine next natural stocks and resources, such as e.g. trash, chemicals, new types of microbes and enzymes, computer data, blockchains, engineered organisms in order to transform this energy and matter to the new supernatural forms, along with developing the ecological intelligence to attempt to balance our supernatural future.

Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer urges readers to see coyotes as crucial members of the natural community whose predation is essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and ecological stability. Their cultural production provides a human story of ecocritical engagement for understanding the cascading effects of removing top predators from their ecosystems. By envisioning biocentric possibilities within place-based and scientific contexts, Edward Abbey and Barbara Kingsolver share a common theme of political ecology: political processes shape ecological conditions. A close reading of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer provides a literary entryway to connect research, arguments, and discourse across disciplines tasking readers to engage in political discussions of environmental sustainability and to consider viable solutions to preserve the ecological diversity of our predator populations and ecosystems.

The dynamics of the nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus contents in the detrital particles suspended in the water column was examined. The study was carried out in two freshwater reservoirs of different trophic levels. Detritus was collected in natural aquatic ecosystems at various depths. The nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon concentrations in the detrital particles were found to decrease significantly during the detritus sedimentation in the water column. This pattern was observed both for a mesotrophic reservoir and an eutrophic aquatic ecosystem. It was the phosphorus concentration that decreased especially rapidly during the sedimentation of the detrital particles in the water column. These findings were considered in the context of water quality formation. The new facts and their analysis advance our understanding of the most important functions of detritus in aquatic ecosystems; a new aspect of coupling of ecological and biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems was revealed. The results were analyzed using the innovative scientific term, exometabolism, which was proposed by S.A. Ostroumov in his monograph "Aquatic Organisms in Water Self-Purification" in 2008.

https://www.academia.edu/68340285/ ;

Reforestation projects in semiarid lands often yield poor
results. We evaluated a variety of low-cost planting techniques in order to increase water availability to plants. Treatments included various combinations of traditional planting holes; waterharvesting microcatchments; stone or plastic mulches; small waterproof sheets to increase water harvesting; dry wells; buried clay pots; and deep irrigation. Treatment effects on the survival and growth of Olea europaea seedlings varied between experimental sites.

In natural ecosystems, plants interact with biotic components such as microbes, insects, animals and other plants as well. Generally, researchers have focused on each interaction separately, which condenses the significance of the interaction. This limited presentation of the facts masks the collective role of constantly interacting organisms in complex communities disturbing not only plant responses but also the response of organisms for each other in natural ecological settings. Beneficial microorganisms interact with insect herbivores, their predators and polli-nators in a bidirectional way through the plant. Fascinatingly, insects employ diverse tactics to protect themselves from parasites or predators. Influences of microbial and insects attack on plants can bring changes in info-chemical frameworks and play a role in the food chain also. After insect herbivory and microbial pathogen-esis, plants exhibit intense morpho-physiological and chemical reprogramming that leads to repellence/attrac-tion of attacking organism or its natural enemy. The characterization of such interactions in different ecosystems is receiving due consideration, and underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms must be the point of concentration to unveil the evolution of multifaceted multitrophic interactions. Therefore, we have focused this phenomenon in a more realistic setting by integrating ecology and physiology to portray these mul-tidimensional interfaces. We have shown, in this article, physiological trajectories in plant-microbe and insect relationship and their ecological relevance in nature. We focus and discuss microbial pathogenesis in plants, induced defense and the corresponding behavior of herbivore insects and vice-versa.

Managing fisheries through rapid environmental change requires diverse approaches for identifying and adapting to novel ecological conditions. For the Wisconsin Ceded Territory, we calculated 473 adult walleye (Sander vitreus) production (P), biomass (B), and P/B estimates for 1990-2012. Frequency distributions for production statistics were right-skewed, indicating the fishery is generally dominated by low production populations. Mean P, B, and P/B were significantly elevated in natural recruitment (NR) lakes compared with combination (NR + stocking) and stocked-only lakes. Furthermore, combination populations had significantly higher production compared with stocked-only lakes. In NR lakes, walleye productivity changed little over time; however, the proportion of NR populations has declined over time. In combination and stocked-only populations, there were significant temporal declines in P, B, and P/B, and the proportion of these lakes has increased through time. This study reveals the crucial link between fish recruitment potential and fish production, helping to explain why the regional walleye fishery is struggling. Causes for walleye recruitment and production declines remain unclear, but long-term shifts in fish habitats are likely involved (e.g., from climate change and indirect food web effects). Decreasing walleye production is an important and emerging fishery management challenge in the region and portends a need to adapt fisheries management systems collaboratively for future sustainability. Résumé : La gestion des ressources halieutiques dans un contexte de changements environnementaux rapides requiert des approches variées pour cerner les nouvelles conditions écologiques et s'y adapter. Pour le Wisconsin Ceded Territory, nous avons calculé 473 estimations de la production (P), de la biomasse (B) et du rapport P/B de dorés jaunes (Sander vitreus) adultes pour la période de 1990 à 2012. Les distributions de fréquences des statistiques sur la production étaient asymétriques vers la droite, indiquant que des populations de faible production sont généralement dominantes dans cette pêche. Les valeurs moyennes de P, B et P/B étaient significativement élevées dans les lacs à recrutement naturel (RN) par rapport aux lacs à recrutement combiné (RN + empoissonnement) et aux lacs à empoissonnement seulement. En outre, les populations de lacs à recrutement combiné avaient une production significativement plus élevée que celles des lacs à empoissonnement seulement. Dans les lacs RN, la productivité des dorés jaunes a peu varié dans le temps, alors que la proportion de populations de lacs RN a diminué. Dans les populations de lacs à recrutement combiné et de lacs à empoissonnement seulement, il y a eu des baisses significatives dans le temps des valeurs de P, B et P/B, et la proportion de ces lacs a augmenté au fil du temps. L'étude fait ressortir le lien crucial entre le potentiel de recrutement de poissons et la production de poissons, contribuant à expliquer pourquoi la pêche régionale au doré jaune est en difficulté. Les causes des baisses du recrutement et de la production de dorés jaunes demeurent incertaines, mais des changements à long terme des habitats des poissons y participent vraisemblablement (p. ex. découlant des change-ments climatiques et d'effets indirects sur les réseaux trophiques). La baisse de la production de dorés jaunes constitue un important nouveau défi pour la gestion de cette ressource dans la région et souligne la nécessité d'une approche collaborative pour adapter les systèmes de gestion afin d'assurer la pérennité de cette pêche. [Traduit par la Rédaction]

This paper opens up new possibilities for the coaching profession to adapt in order to help deliver new forms leadership for our new times.  Coaching has emerged as a major developmental activity in the field of leadership yet is a conservative practice that focuses on developing individual potential at the expense of working towards the system-change that we urgently need.  This paper offers a way out of these limited and restricted coaching practices, arguing for a more systemic, radical and engaged approach.

Este trabajo aborda el ecosistema alimentario, sus actores, problemas y posibles estrategias de innovación, en clave de diseño, incorporando marcos conceptuales, herramientas y casos. Se trata de una búsqueda para ampliar un poco más el campo del diseño, en un territorio en el que América Latina tiene mucho para aportar y aprovechar.

Jayne Belnap (USA), Laura K. Brown (Canada), Ernesto Brugnoli (Uruguay), Jana E. Compton (USA), Richard H. Coupe (USA), Marcello Hernández-Blanco (Costa Rica), Forest Isbell (USA), Julie Lockwood (USA), Juan Pablo Lozoya Azcárate (Uruguay), David McGuire (USA), Anibal Pauchard (Chile), Ramon Pichs-Madruga (Cuba), Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (Brazil), Gerardo Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa (Costa Rica/Canada), Alvaro Soutullo (Uruguay), Avelino Suarez (Cuba), Elizabeth Troutt (Canada)

Sweeping across Bangladesh and India, the Sundarbans forest is the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest.
Although the human population density is high at the edge, Sundarbans has not encountered significant areal
transformation in the last four decades. However, we argue that forest degradation can occur discontinuously
within the forest without alteration of the entire forest area. In this paper, we used MODIS land products to compare the spatiotemporal ecological dynamics of the Bangladesh and Indian part of this mangrove forest between
2000 and 2010. We used the following 5 ecological parameters for our analysis: the Percent Tree Cover (PTC), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Net Primary Productivity (NPP), Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Evapotranspiration
(ET). Our pixel-based time-series trend analysis for each MODIS image stack, using an ordinary least square
(OLS) regression method, showed that forest degradation is happening in fragmented parcels within the forest.
The degradation rate is comparatively higher in the Bangladesh part than in the Indian part of Sundarbans. Compartments 8, 10, 12, and 15 in the Bangladesh part, in particular, show high degradation, while compartment 48
and the southern edge of 45 show slight increases in PTC or EVI. Forest degradation in the Indian part of the forest
is evident in the National Park and Reserve Forest blocks; however, no substantial degradation is evident in the
western section. We have identified certain anthropogenic stressors (i.e., oil pollution, shrimp farming) and natural stressors (i.e., increased salinity, cyclones, forest fire) which might be responsible for the observed degradation. We have provided sustainable planning options and policy transformation alternatives for those areas under
pressure from these stressors. We anticipate that our analysis of forest degradation will help management agencies, conservators, and policy makers achieve better management of this world's largest mangrove forest for a sustainable future

Birds’ ecological functions cover a wide spectrum, from creating soil to shaping primate behavior, and many species play key ecological roles, such as decomposition, predation, pollination, nutrient deposition, and seed dispersal. From an ecosystem functional perspective, birds are mobile links that are crucial for maintaining ecosystem function, memory, and resilience. The three main types of mobile links, genetic, process, and resource linkers, encompass all major avian ecosystem services. Rapid losses of tropical bird species may cause substantial reductions in certain ecosystem processes before we have time to study and understand the underlying mechanisms.

Cite this article: Raszkowski, A., Bartniczak, B. Towards Sustainable Regional Development: Economy, Society, Environment, Good Governance Based on the Example of Polish Regions. Transformations in Business & Economics, 2018, Vol. 17, No 2 (44), pp.225-245.The presented study discusses problems referring to the concept of sustainable development at regional level, based on the example of Polish regions in the period 2005-2011. The first part presents theoretical aspects of sustainable regional development, raises the problems of primary phenomena hindering such development, sustainable development definitions, the role of creativity, the importance of NGOs, good governance of regional space. The next part of the article provides the characteristics of sustainable development indicators selected for the analysis in accordance with the approach adopted by the Central Statistical Office in Poland towards measuring the level of sustainable regional development. The synthetic measure of development (SMD) represents the applied research method, which offered the basis for constructing the ranking and identifying the position of particular Polish regions. The research results remain the core of the study since they illustrate the indicator values in the years under analysis. Within the framework of the final remarks and conclusions it was emphasized that in none of the studied regions, in terms of implementing sustainable development standards, the situation can be assessed as favourable or very favourable and the reasons for such state of the matter were provided. In spite of the relatively unfavourable results, a gradual improvement of the situation was observed over the years. It was pointed out that one of the fundamental barriers to the implementation of sustainable development standards is the absence of awareness and understanding of the discussed development concept.

The demand for leather and leather goods is ever increasing and that the global trade is now crossing US dollar 60 billions. The Indian leather industries have a great potential to beat the worlds market particularly in the sector of leather goods that remain below 2 per cent of its share. It means that the future of leather products is very bright for India. Conversely, recent ban on cow slaughter in certain States and further comparing against the slaughter country-wide would surely affect the agro-industry and associated trade at larger extent that contribute huge economy of the nation and employments.  Beside export having greater future and economy, the leather garment industry has tremendous source for domestic market too as people are more conscious about fashion and style would suffer further more if the country-wide ban is enforced. In fact, India’s leather and tanning industries have a big space for its trade tree to spread and to harvest the money for economy and development. Nevertheless, the tree cannot stand firmly and healthy until the ground on which it grows is stable or environmentally sustainable and does not cause adverse effects on ecology and human health. Tanneries are contaminating the precious soil, air, and water with its poisonous waste and effluents. Contaminated atmosphere, cops produce and polluted water resources made it hazardous to breathe the air, eat the food and drink the water. Arable lands are damaged to support the cultivation and growth of crops. Tens of thousands of poor farmers cannot afford to cultivate on dead farmlands that lower their crop productivity. Farmers and people are suffering with a variety of ailments and diseases. Although, there are enough legislations and laws to tackle the problems of pollution and arising hazards, lacking is only the strict enforcement of laws to punish the polluters and compel them to follow the clean environmental technologies to maintain the health of the ecosystems and recover the damages done to environment and livelihood. Over all we have to see what we are leaving for our coming generation and the poor Nature. 

This Article is published in parts and can be referred as:

Shafiq-ur-Rehman. 2005. Agro-ecosystem: Tannery and Leather Industry. Greater Kashmir, July 31, p 5. Part-I.

Shafiq-ur-Rehman. 2005 Agro-ecosystem: Tannery and Leather Industry. Greater Kashmir, August 1, p 7. Part-II.
Shafiq-ur-Rehman. 2005. Agro-ecosystem: Tannery and Leather Industry. Greater Kashmir, August 2, p 7. Part-III.

Abstrakti: Bota po shkon drejt urbanizimit me ritme të shpejta, por vazhdon të varet nga Natyra për arsye jetësore. Zonat urbane përbëjnë vetëm 2.8% te rruzullit tokësor, por 50% e popullsisë jetojnë në të, dhe vazhdon të rritet. Qytetet janë të varura nga ekosisteme që ndodhen përtej kufirit të tyre, por u duhen edhe benefitet nga ekosistemet urbane në brendësi të zonës urbane. Kjo tregon që zonat urbane janë vendet që përdorin me shumë shërbimet nga ekosistemet. Qëllim i kësaj eseje është analizimi i shërbimeve nga ekosistemet të gjeneruara nga ekosisteme në brendësi të zonave urbane. Shërbime nga ekosistemet i referohet benefiteve që popullsia merr nga ekosistemet. Ndër ekosistemet urbane mund të përmenden 1) pemët në trotuare 2)lëndinat/parqet 3)pyjet urbane 4)zona të kultivuara 5)lumenj/përrenj 6)liqene/dete 7)ligatinat. Këto ekosisteme gjenerojnë një varietet shërbimesh nga ekosistemet. Konkretisht do të fokusohemi në benefite lokale që Tirana përfiton nga këto ekosisteme urbane. Eshtë arritur në përfundimin që ekosistemet e gjeneruara në shkalle lokale kanë një impakt të konsiderueshëm në cilësine e jetës në zonat urbane dhe duhet të konsiderohen gjatë planifikimeve territoriale. Për të arritur këtë ne duhet të kuptojmë se si ekosistemet urbane me zonat urbane janë të lidhur me njëri-tjetrin, si struktura e zonës urbane ndikon në këtë ndërlidhje. Për rrjedhojë mund të arrijmë në të ardhmen të projektojmë forma urbane që punojnë më mire. 1.Hyrje Njerëzimi po urbanizohet me ritme të shpejta dhe mendohet se brenda 2050 më shumë se 60 % e popullsisë botërore do të jetojë në qytete. Kjo ka bërë që të kemi një intensifikim në zonat urbane dhe gjithashtu një zgjerim përtej kufijve të qyteteve. Pavarësisht këtij urbanizimi, ne përsëri jemi të varur nga Natyra si më parë. Eshtë vlerësuar që suporti që ekosistemi i jep qyteti është 500–1000 herë më e madhe se sa vetë sipërfaqja e qyetetit. Njerëzimi konsiderohet si pjesë e natyrës dhe mund të themi që qytetet janë urë globale mes ekosistemeve. Megjithatë ekosistemet natyrale janë të paafta që të përballojnë rritjen në mënyrë të shpejtë të ndikimit të njeriut dhe përdorimin jo në mënyrë efektive të resurseve që na ofrojnë si energjia, uji, etj. Sidoqoftë kemi praninë e ekosistemeve brenda qyteteve. Ekosistemet urbane natyrale kontribuojnë në shëndetin e popullsisë dhe në rritjen e cilësisë të jetës së qytetarëve, psh. rritja e cilësisë të ajrit dhe ulja e zhurmave. Shumica e problemeve të pranishme në zonat urbane janë të gjeneruara në mënyrë lokale, si ato për shkak të trafikut. Shpesh mënyra më efektive e zgjidhjes së këtyre problemeve lokale, janë zgjidhje po lokale. Në këtë çështje ekosistemet urbane janë pika kyce. Qëllimi i kësaj eseje është analizimi i shërbimeve të gjeneruara nga ekosisteme urbane brenda kufijve të qytetit dhe rëndësia që përbën për cilësinë e jetës urbane. Theksimi bëhet në identifikimin e shërbimeve dhe në mundësinë e vlerësimit të tyre në qytete të caktuara, në këtë rast Tirana. Para vitit 1990 Tirana kishte një popullsi prej 225000 banorësh. Deri mësh. Deri më atë koh shumica e pronave ishte shtetërore. Privatizimi i tokës dhe i objekteve bëri që qyteti të përballej me një bum të madh ndërtimesh si dyqane, shtëpi etj. Tirana u kthye në një metropol prej 600,000 banorësh. Meqenëse është e vështirë që të bëhet një përgjithësim përsa i përket kësaj teme, për të reflektuar rëndësinë e shërbimeve të ekosistemeve në të gjithë qytetet e botës. Qyetet ndryshojnë nga njëri–tjetri, për vetë faktin që ndodhen në klimë të larmishme, madhësia e tyre varion nga qyteza deri në metropole, dhe gjithashtu mund të përballemi me mirëqënje nga varfëri ekstreme deri në pasuri të ekzagjeruar. Identifikimi dhe vlerësimi i shërbimeve që ekosistemi i ofron, mund të shihet si një input që synon një përdorim më eficient të përdorimit të tokës në zonat urbane. 2.Ekosistemet urbane Një ekosistem mund tëpër kufizohet si një bashkëveprim i biologjikes me jobiologjikes. Megjithatë kufijtë ndërmjet ekosistemeve të ndryshme zakonisht janë të shkrirë. Në rastin e hapësirës urbane, mund të përcaktohet si një

In the era of the 21st century, the best higher education institutions have more than one role. Not only do they educate and train students but they also create new ideas and knowledge for the short-term contemporary issues as well as long-term complex problems. In the strategic goals, five aspects are critical in higher education: the democratization of knowledge and access, the contestability of the market and funding, the research technologies, the global mobility and the integration with the industry. Universities should have strategic plans including strategic goals. In this study, the strategic models and plans of the public (5) and private (5) universities are analysed from the five different aspects. In order to deeply understand the dynamics at these universities, the phenomenological interpretive analysis is preferred. University leaders
and managerial departments should consider market needs and do strategic plan accordingly. Hence, they should develop the strategic thinking capacity of both their academic staff and researchers for short and long terms need of the industry. Results have shown that most universities have wrong perception regarding the strategic model and plan. Neither private nor public universities possess enough knowledge on the subject.
Keywords: Higher education, university and industry partnership, strategic model and planning, higher education management, financing of higher education.

The aim of this chapter is to assess evidence of the status and trends of the drivers that affect biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. There are three wider categories of nature’s contributions to people: regulating, material and non-material contributions, that are similar to, but not identical to classifications of ecosystem services (see Chapter 1). Ecosystems are dynamic interacting networks of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms, above and below ground and water-surfaces. These biodiverse networks of interacting organisms respond to a set of environmental factors such as climate, soil, or water conditions. Social-ecological systems also include human activities (direct drivers) that modify almost all of these ecosystem interactions and environmental factors, and the underlying societal (indirect) drivers of these activities. It is thus important to understand the status and trends of the direct and indirect drivers that affect biodiversity, including ecosystems and, thereby, affect nature’s contributions to people.