Category Archives: Peer Reviewed Article Review

unifying “Green Area Factor” and “No Net Loss of Biodiversity” measures

Here in the US, implementing these types of policies seems mostly like a political pipedream at the moment. I could imagine a really smart developer doing this as a marketing scheme, maybe. maybe. But this is a great article that gives us a window into some things that are being tried in Europe (although, I also hear voices in Europe speaking longingly of the perceived lack of regulation in the US). I don’t know – our regulations may be equally strong or stronger in some areas like hydrology and water quality (which is missing from the framework discussed here btw) wetland and floodplain protection, and endangered species (although these are under constant political threat). Ideally in my view, species would not have to get endangered first before we will do anything for them.

More than the sum of its parts – Integrating the use of green area factor tool and biodiversity offsetting for no net loss urban planning

As part of the actions to fight biodiversity loss, the European Union is working on a restoration regulation demanding the principle of no net loss (NNL) state of biodiversity of urban green space. Applying this principle in urban planning may raise conflicts between biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. Furthermore, integrating the NNL of biodiversity principle into urban planning cannot be isolated from existing planning tools or processes. Here we present a novel approach where the green area factor tool and biodiversity offsetting are integrated to achieve NNL of biodiversity in urban planning, while maintaining the necessary ecosystem services and avoiding the negative, unintended tradeoffs that may occur if only one of these tools is used in the planning process. We provide a model which combines the two approaches to create a holistic method to understand and govern both biodiversity and ecosystem services of urban greenery. The model is intended to be used as part of urban planning processes.

roots = more infiltration

The presence of growing plant roots and organic matter will increase the rate water can move into the soil. We all know this from elementary school, right? Right? Well, some adult professionals are unfamiliar or skeptical. I won’t call out any of my fellow civil engineers by name.

The Effect of Herbaceous and Shrub Combination with Different Root Configurations on Soil Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity

Information on the effects of differences in root and soil properties on Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is crucial for estimating rainfall infiltration and evaluating sustainable ecological development. This study selected typical grass shrub composite plots widely distributed in hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau: Caragana korshinskii, Caragana korshinskii and Agropyron cristatum (fibrous root), and Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia gmelinii (taproot). Samples were collected at different distances from the base of the shrub (0 cm, 50 cm), with a sampling depth of 0–30 cm. The constant head method is used to measure the Ks. The Ks decreased with increasing soil depth. Due to the influence of shrub growth, there was significant spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of Ks at different positions from the base of the shrub. Compared to the sample location situated 50 cm from the base of the shrub, it was observed that in a single shrub plot, the Ks at the base were higher, while in a grass shrub composite plot, the Ks at the base were lower. Root length density, >0.25 mm aggregates, and organic matter were the main driving factors affecting Ks. The empirical equation established by using principal component analysis to reduce the dimensions of these three factors and calculate the comprehensive score was more accurate than the empirical equation established by previous researchers, who considered only root or soil properties. Root length density and organic matter had significant indirect effects on Ks, reaching 52.87% and 78.19% of the direct effects, respectively. Overall, the composite plot of taproot herbaceous and shrub (Caragana korshinskii and Artemisia gmelinii) had the highest Ks, which was 82.98 cm·d−1. The ability of taproot herbaceous plants to improve Ks was higher than that of fibrous root herbaceous plants. The research results have certain significance in revealing the influence mechanism of the grass shrub composite on Ks.

Ozempic vs. drug and alcohol abuse

This journal article suggests GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic) are effective in reducing opioid and alcohol abuse.

The association between glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and/or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist prescriptions and substance-related outcomes in patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders: A real-world data analysis

Prescriptions of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and/or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists appear to be associated with lower rates of opioid overdose and alcohol intoxication in patients with opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. The protective effects are consistent across various subgroups, including patients with comorbid type 2 diabetes and obesity.

3-30-300

The idea is you can see 3 trees from your window, your neighborhood has 30% tree canopy cover, and you are within 300 m of a half-hectare park.

Parks Please! Implementing the 3–30-300 green space rule in developing countries − The case of Surakarta, Indonesia

Interest in the 3–30–300 green space rule has recently emerged in urban forest scholarship, but its applicability in developing country contexts, especially in intermediate cities, remains largely unexplored. This study assesses the feasibility of the rule’s three components—visibility of three trees from every building, achieving 30 % neighborhood canopy cover, and ensuring 300-meter walking access to 0.5-hectare parks—using geospatial analysis. We employ a combination of remote sensing data, local administrative records, and open-source global datasets to evaluate tree canopy cover, greenspace distribution, and accessibility under different scenarios. Our case study focuses on Surakarta, an intermediate city recognized as Indonesia’s most livable city. Results show that only 29 % of buildings meet the visibility requirement, 2 % are in neighborhoods with 30 % canopy cover, and 25 % are within 300 m of a greenspace. However, accessibility could increase to 79 % if all greenspaces were fenceless and high quality. Our findings highlight disparities in urban greening, as smaller residential buildings tend to have lower scores than larger office buildings. These results underscore the role of park governance in shaping access to green spaces and the persistent challenges of achieving the 3–30–300 targets. We propose place-based recommendations tailored for each urban commune and advocate for the adoption of the 3–30–300 rule as a target for national and local development planning to enhance urban green space accessibility and equity. This framework has the potential to be used in participatory planning processes for consensus-based siting of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in cities in developing countries.

My city (Philadelphia, USA) has set the 30% canopy goal in the past and failed to implement it. Not only failed, but failed to maintain the inadequate tree canopy we already have. Part of the reason is dysfunctional and uncoordinated government agencies, and part of the problem is the “sidewalks are private property” farce.

11 square miles of moss

11 square miles covered with moss since 1986 just doesn’t sound all that dramatic to me, but apparently for Antarctica this is a big deal and not a good sign. Apparently it has been happening for awhile in (originally sarcastically named?) Greenland, and it is not as big of a surprise there, but it is still not a good sign.

those f-ed up spreadsheets

I’ve seen a lot of fucked up spreadsheets in my time. In fact, you could probably say most spreadsheets contain errors, and this article confirms it. Nonetheless, quality control procedures that apply to other types of software (and spreadsheets are a very useful kind of software because they are very powerful and have an easy learning curve, which is also their downfall) can and should be adapted to spreadsheets. One of the most important ones (which really applies to any program or project) is to begin the quality control process in the planning and concept development phase.

Spreadsheet quality assurance: a literature review

Spreadsheets are very common for information processing to support decision making by both professional developers and non-technical end users. Moreover, business intelligence and artificial intelligence are increasingly popular in the industry nowadays, where spreadsheets have been used as, or integrated into, intelligent or expert systems in various application domains. However, it has been repeatedly reported that faults often exist in operational spreadsheets, which could severely compromise the quality of conclusions and decisions based on the spreadsheets. With a view to systematically examining this problem via survey of existing work, we have conducted a comprehensive literature review on the quality issues and related techniques of spreadsheets over a 35.5-year period (from January 1987 to June 2022) for target journals and a 10.5-year period (from January 2012 to June 2022) for target conferences. Among other findings, two major ones are: (a) Spreadsheet quality is best addressed throughout the whole spreadsheet life cycle, rather than just focusing on a few specific stages of the life cycle. (b) Relatively more studies focus on spreadsheet testing and debugging (related to fault detection and removal) when compared with spreadsheet specification, modeling, and design (related to development). As prevention is better than cure, more research should be performed on the early stages of the spreadsheet life cycle. Enlightened by our comprehensive review, we have identified the major research gaps as well as highlighted key research directions for future work in the area.

Greenland ice shelves

The floating ice shelves holding back the rest of the ice on Greenland are in worse shape than previously thought, according to this article. The article says the ice in this area is enough to raise global sea level by about 2 m. From a quick skim, I didn’t get a sense of how long the authors think that might take to happen, other than “long term”.

more evidence for rapid intensification

Anecdotally, we have seen an increase in rapid intensification of hurricanes in recent years. A “new study” (which the journalist does not name or link to, a pet peeve of mine) confirms this using data.

The study looked at 830 Atlantic tropical cyclones since 1971. It found that in the last 20 years, 8.1% of the time storms powered from a Category 1 minor storm to a major hurricane in just 24 hours. That happened only 3.2% of the time from 1971 to 1990, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports. Category 1 hurricanes top out at 95 mph (153 kph) and a hurricane has to have at least 111 mph (178 kph) winds to become major.

When storms rapidly intensify, especially as they near land, it makes it difficult for people in the storm’s path to decide on what they should do — evacuate or hunker down. It also makes it harder for meteorologists to predict how bad it will be and for emergency managers to prepare, Garner and other scientists said.

Associated Press

Insurance companies take note of these things, and recall that the National Flood Insurance Program does not cover wind damage. If you live near the coast, this could be catastrophic for you. I predict the government will have to start picking up more and more of the tab for storms and other natural disasters over time, and this will gradually make us all a little poorer as we can’t afford to have other nice things, even if we don’t live near the coast.

the world is drying out

Increased carbon dioxide concentrations have spurred plant growth up to a point, but at the same time increased temperatures have led to increased evaporation and transpiration (evaporation of water from plants to the atmosphere). The net result, if I understand this article in Science correctly, is that the drying effect now more than offsets the increased carbon uptake effect, so the growth rate of plants is no longer increasing as carbon dioxide concentrations increase.