Maryam Mirhashemi, Ali Shahnazari, Alireza Zarei Ghorkhodi
Extended Abstract
Background: A broad understanding of the dimensions and elements of integrated management is necessary to achieve the effective management of water resources. According to the report of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership, integrated management of water resources is a process that contributes to the protection, development, and coordinated exploitation of land water resources and other related resources to maximize economic and social well-being in an equitable manner without jeopardizing the stability of vital ecosystems. Achieving this goal requires providing the necessary tools to create the necessary infrastructure for the correct implementation of integrated management of water resources and achieving sustainable development goals. In this regard, the current research was conducted to identify the tools required for the integrated management of water resources to influence sustainable development.
Methods: In the current descriptive-analytical research, information was collected through library studies and distribution of questionnaires. At first, the comprehensive concept of integrated management of water resources was chosen by reviewing different and varied international views and the results of world water meetings and conferences. Then, the principles, structure, challenges, and goals of integrated water resources management and the relationship with sustainable development were also examined by referring to international sources, such as World Bank reports, FAO documents and meetings, United Nations Development Program, documents related to the perspectives of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership Program, documents of the United Nations Global Water Assessment Program, the United Nations 2030 document and also approved upstream documents, the water management of the country (including the macro water policies, the eighteen water policies of the country, the twenty-year vision document in the water sector, and the fourth development plan, documents and reports related to national and international conferences focusing on the integrated management of water resources and sustainable development, as well as the studies of researchers. To identify the tools needed for the integrated resource management approach to facilitate the sustainable development process, the effectiveness of four criteria, including 1) water resource protection and exploitation criteria, 2) policy making, 3) social, and 4) economic, on the implementation of the integrated water resources management approach in the Tajen catchment basin was evaluated by distributing 40 questionnaires among professors and students of the water engineering department at Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The questionnaire of the water engineering department of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences was validated after making corrections, and the final version was completed for distribution. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was compiled in such a way that there were 13 items and 5 subcategories for each component based on the Likert scale with numerical scores including very low (1), low (2), medium (3), high (4), and very high (5). The Cronbach's alpha obtained for the prepared questionnaires was equal to 0.891, which indicates the very good reliability of the prepared questionnaires. Finally, the effectiveness of each of these components in the implementation of the integrated water resources management approach was determined based on percentage by using the ratio of the total scores of each component to the number of distributed questionnaires.
Results: Based on the evaluations, the component of protection and exploitation of water resources had the most effectiveness (60.64%) on the implementation of integrated management of water resources in the Tajen catchment basin. On the other hand, policy levers had the second priority (40.52%) of effectiveness, and socioeconomic sectors had the third (52.40%) and fourth (43.30%) priorities, respectively. According to the above-mentioned results, it can be realized that in the current situation and the water crisis, the protection and exploitation of water resources is one of the basic pillars of achieving integrated management of water resources and ease in achieving sustainable development in the region. On the other hand, the impact of other components cannot be ignored because the successful implementation of an integrated approach to water resources and achieving sustainable development depends on comprehensive attention to all managerial, economic, social, and environmental sectors. This is because these tools are complementary to each other and the disruption in the availability of each of them leads to limitations in achieving the goals and perspectives of sustainable development in a region. This also requires the creation of necessary infrastructure in different sectors.
Conclusion: Factors such as population growth, economic development, and climate change have adversely affected the water resources of the Tajen catchment basin. Since goals such as sustainable water supply, ensuring public health, wastewater treatment, irrigation and drainage plans, and watershed protection cannot be properly implemented by taking temporary measures, the integrated management of water resources will ensure the continuous implementation of these goals. In general and according to the studies conducted in the current research, integrated management of water resources and sustainable development in the Tajen watershed and other areas are two inseparable components for the continued survival of a region. Therefore, providing the necessary infrastructure for this matter should be considered the main pillar of watershed management planning. This will not be possible except with the participation and coordination of all bodies, organizations, stakeholders, and users of water resources. The lack of a cooperative perspective is one of the biggest challenges in managing water resources and, consequently, achieving sustainable development. Therefore, the expansion of the participatory management approach in all dimensions related to water resources and achieving the goals of sustainable development can improve the current conditions and guarantee favorable future conditions to some extent.
River, lake, and water-supply engineering (General)
Bacteriophages (phages) offer a targeted biocontrol solution, but their direct application is hampered by environmental instability. To address this, we developed a novel, food-grade microcapsule system for phage delivery using layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly of zein and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS). Lytic phages targeting specific spoilage bacteria were successfully encapsulated via electrostatic interactions. Characterization confirmed the formation of a multilayer structure, driven primarily by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic forces between the wall materials. The microencapsulation markedly enhanced phage stability against thermal (60 °C and 70 °C) and extreme pH (2.0, 12.0) stresses and provided a controlled release profile in a simulated fish exudate. When applied to fresh-cut sea bass (<i>Lateolabrax japonicus</i>), the phage-loaded microcapsules (CMCS3), constructed via a three-layer zein/CMCS LbL assembly, significantly delayed the pH rise during refrigerated storage, maintaining a final pH of 6.28 compared to 7.28 in the control group after 5 days. The microcapsules also effectively suppressed microbial growth (total viable count (TVC) was maintained below 6 log CFU/g) and controlled lipid oxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values were kept at 0.62 mg malondialdehyde/kg) while better preserving texture and color stability compared to free phages. This zein/CMCS-based LbL system presents a promising strategy for advancing phage-based biopreservation in aquatic products through enhanced physical protection, sustained release, and improved stress tolerance.
Addressing the critical detection range limitation in active electrosensing (AES) for underwater sensing, this study proposes an enhanced AES system via novel array optimization. While AES offers advantages like interference immunity, acoustic stealth detection, and low cost, its short range restricts applicability. A target perturbation model under differential signal acquisition reveals that signal strength increases with local electric field intensity, target size, differential channel spacing, and conductivity contrast, but decreases with target-electrode distance.To extend detection, novel array configurations were explored. Simulations demonstrate that both rectangular and offset arrays significantly outperform the traditional collinear layout. Specifically, an offset array (with 8 m transmitting–receiving spacing) achieved an effective detection range enhancement exceeding 83% under the same distortion threshold while maintaining simplified electrode structure. Experimental validation confirmed a 100% increase in maximum detection distance to 5 m under identical noise thresholds compared to the collinear array. Furthermore, a fully connected neural network-based localization model achieved a mean positioning error of 14.12 cm at 3.15 m in static scenarios. In dynamic scenarios within 1–3 m, mean errors were controlled between 13.19 cm and 27.56 cm.Mechanistic analysis indicates that increasing the array baseline enhances the signal-to-noise ratio by simultaneously suppressing near-field environmental noise and amplifying far-field signal reception. Structural innovations in array design enabled this study to significantly expand the detection range of AES systems without compromising cost efficiency. These advancements directly promote the engineering application of AES technology, offering critical technical support for underwater defense security monitoring, long-range early warning systems, and maritime rights protection.
Dana Kühnel, Eberhard Küster, George Gyan Addo
et al.
International standard test guidelines for the ecotoxicological characterisation of various substances use organisms such as algae, daphnids and fish embryos. These guidelines recommend or use relatively high volumes of water for the process of testing, for example, 200 mL for a complete dose–response relationship in a daphnia assay. However, for various samples such as concentrated extracts from environmental monitoring or leachates from microplastic ageing experiments, the amount of available sample volume is limited, that is, rather in the range of 10–50 mL/biotest. Using the exposure volumes as recommended in test guidelines would not allow to test a range of different concentrations or to repeat tests or use multiple different organismic bioassays. Lower media volumes would allow the testing of more samples (more concentrations per sample, more test repetitions for statistical robustness, etc.) but it may also decrease the possible number of organisms tested in the same volume. Here, we aimed at reducing the test volumes in the acute daphnia assay (using a maximum of 30 mL for a complete dose–response relationship) without impacting animals’ sensitivity towards toxicants. A literature review on existing miniaturisation approaches was used as a starting point. Subsequently, assays employing conventional as well as reduced test volumes were compared for 16 selected test substances with a diverse spectrum of lipophilicity. Results showed that there are differences in EC50 between the two approaches, but that these differences were overall only within a range of a factor of two to three. Further, by retrieving EC50 values for the genus Daphnia and 16 test substances from the United States Environmental Protection Agency database, we demonstrated that our results are well in line with the general differences in sensitivities.
Scrapie, first reported in the 18th century, has led to considerable economic losses by affecting the livestock industry. This disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that mainly affects sheep and goats and is caused by the accumulation of prion protein in an abnormal form (PrPSc) in the nervous system of animals. The identification of genetic polymorphisms in the PRNP gene has allowed the development of effective genetic tests for the detection of susceptibility to Scrapie. In many European countries, these tests are being used to select resistant animals, thereby reducing the risk of spreading the disease in sheep flocks. The method applied in this research to identify susceptible or resistant genotypes to Scrapie in sheep, applies DNA tests made from biological samples such as hair, blood and other tissues. By analysing polymorphisms in the PRNP gene at codons 136, 154 and 171, the animals were classified into five different risk categories. Early genotyping of sheep at the PRNP locus allows rapid selection of genotypes conferring resistance to this disease, thus contributing to improving the genetic resistance of sheep breeds.
Anna M. Wójcik, Kamila Krypczyk, Weronika M. Buchcik
et al.
Abstract The study was focused on the WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 5 (WOX5), a member of the WUSCHEL family of homeodomain transcription factors, of the root apical meristem (RAM) – specific function in the quiescent center (QC) and columella stem cell maintenance. We revealed that WOX5 is also engaged in the embryogenic transition of plant somatic cells cultured in vitro. We showed that WOX5 controls the induction of somatic embryogenesis (SE) in Arabidopsis. The results suggest that the function of WOX5 in SE induction is related to controlling genes related to diverse auxin-related processes, including biosynthesis, transport, distribution, and signaling of auxin in plant development (TAA1, YUC1, PIN1, LEC2, PLT3, ARF5). The postulated WOX5 targets in embryogenic induction also involve CDF4, controlling cell differentiation in RAM. The study reveals genetic parallels between stem cell maintenance in RAM and in vitro-induced embryogenic transition in somatic cells. The findings identified WOX5 as a new regulatory element within the transcription factor network controlling embryogenic response in somatic plant cells. Identifying embryogenic/pluripotency-related functions of WOX5 opens further opportunities for improving in vitro plant regeneration of recalcitrant species.
The Yellow River Basin faces high-intensity coal resource development and severe water scarcity. This makes the treatment and use of mine water a critical factor constraining both coal industry development and ecological security for the region. This study uses kernel density estimation and the Standard Deviational Ellipse model to identify the spatial pattern of mine water production. It also combines bibliometric analysis and field investigations to assess research progress and current practice for mine water treatment and use in the basin. Results show that mine water production displays strong spatial clustering, with the center of gravity shifting northward. Research is moving from an engineering-focused stage to a theory-oriented one, emphasizing systematic optimization and sustainable use. Current practices still struggle with non-standardized data, uneven treatment quality, and incomplete management systems. This research underscores the importance of improving the region’s integrated management of mine water and proposes shifting mine water from an environmental burden to a resource asset.
Abstract Climate change significantly impacted on the survival, development, distribution, and abundance of living organisms. The Chinese serow Capricornis milneedwardsii, known as the “four unlike,” is a Class II nationally protected species in China. In this study, we predicted the geographical suitability of C. milneedwardsii under current and future climatic conditions using MaxEnt. The model simulations resulted in area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values above 0.9 for both current and future climate scenarios, indicating the excellent performance, high accuracy, and credibility of the MaxEnt model. The results also showed that annual precipitation (Bio12), slope, elevation, and mean temperature of wettest quarter (Bio8) were the key environmental variables affecting the distribution of C. milneedwardsii, with contributions of 31.2%, 26.4%, 11%, and 10.3%, respectively. The moderately and highly suitable habitats were mainly located in the moist area of China, with a total area of 34.56 × 104 and 16.61 × 104 km2, respectively. Under future climate change scenarios, the areas of suitability of C. milneedwardsii showed an increasing trend. The geometric center of the total suitable habitats of C. milneedwardsii would show the trend of northwest expansion and southeast contraction. These findings could provide a theoretical reference for the protection of C. milneedwardsii in the future.
Abstract The co‐evolutionary arms race between herbivores and plants forces plants to evolve protection strategies that reduce the palatability of the plant modules attacked by the herbivores. These characteristics of traits have consequences for both the survival of plant individuals and the composition of plant communities. Thus, correlating traits of for instance leaves with herbivory is an important step toward understanding the dynamics of plant populations and communities. Traits can either be measured using conventional lab methods or recently developed spectral sensing techniques. We examined whether leaf traits of trees are related to herbivory in a multispecies approach. Furthermore, we explored whether leaf traits characterized by spectral sensing provide similar relations to herbivory as lab‐based leaf traits. We established nine 1‐ha square plots evenly distributed over three different forest types in Ecuadorian tropical montane rainforests where we estimated herbivory as the leaf area loss (in square centimeters) of 20 (±5) leaves sampled from the canopies of 380 tree individuals belonging to 51 tree species (7 ± 1 individuals/species) using lab‐ and spectral‐sensing‐based methods. For each methodological approach, we ran 100 linear mixed‐effects models with all respective leaf traits as predictor and herbivory as response variables for data subsets containing one randomly selected tree individual of each species to estimate the range of the regression coefficients for each trait. Automated stepwise backward selections determined the frequency of each trait having an important influence on herbivory. We found no clear relations between leaf traits and herbivory for neither lab‐ nor spectral‐sensing‐based traits. A nested variance component analysis demonstrated that the observed variability was mainly due to the variation in trait concentrations between tree individuals of a species. Our results suggest that snapshot data lead to a mismatch between herbivory and the concentrations of traits during the peak of herbivory. Another explanation could be that environmental conditions or processes along the food web are more important in structuring herbivory than leaf traits.
The importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) aspects in investment decisions has grown significantly in today’s volatile financial market. This study aims to answer the important question of whether investing in ESG-compliant companies is a better option for investors in both developed and emerging markets. This study assesses ESG investment performance in diverse regions, focusing on developed markets with high GDP, specifically the USA, Germany, and Japan, alongside emerging nations, India, Brazil, and China. We compare ESG indices against respective broad market indices, all comprising large and mid-cap stocks. This study employs a variety of risk-adjusted criteria to systematically compare the performance of ESG indices against broad market indices. The evaluation also delves into downside volatility, a crucial factor for portfolio growth. It also explores how news events impact ESG and market indices in developed and emerging economies using the EGARCH model. The findings show that, daily, there is no significant difference in returns between ESG and conventional indices. However, when assessing one-year rolling returns, ESG indices outperform the overall market indices in all countries except Brazil, exhibiting positive alpha and offering better risk-adjusted returns. ESG portfolios also provide more downside risk protection, with higher upside beta than downside beta in most countries (except the USA and India). Furthermore, negative news has a milder impact on the volatility of ESG indices in all of the studied countries except for Germany. This suggests that designing a portfolio based on ESG-compliant companies could be a prudent choice for investors, as it yields relatively better risk-adjusted returns compared to the respective market indices. Furthermore, there is insufficient evidence to definitively establish that the performance of ESG indices varies significantly between developed and emerging markets.
Xingang Jin, Junyao Yan, Muhammad Ubaid Ali
et al.
Although mercury (Hg) mining activities in the Wanshan area have ceased, mine wastes remain the primary source of Hg pollution in the local environment. To prevent and control Hg pollution, it is crucial to estimate the contribution of Hg contamination from mine wastes. This study aimed to investigate Hg pollution in the mine wastes, river water, air, and paddy fields around the Yanwuping Mine and to quantify the pollution sources using the Hg isotopes approach. The Hg contamination at the study site was still severe, and the total Hg concentrations in the mine wastes ranged from 1.60 to 358 mg/kg. The binary mixing model showed that, concerning the relative contributions of the mine wastes to the river water, dissolved Hg and particulate Hg were 48.6% and 90.5%, respectively. The mine wastes directly contributed 89.3% to the river water Hg contamination, which was the main Hg pollution source in the surface water. The ternary mixing model showed that the contribution was highest from the river water to paddy soil and that the mean contribution was 46.3%. In addition to mine wastes, paddy soil is also impacted by domestic sources, with a boundary of 5.5 km to the river source. This study demonstrated that Hg isotopes can be used as an effective tool for tracing environmental Hg contamination in typical Hg-polluted areas.
Aleksandar Ivezić, Branislav Trudić, Zoran Stamenković
et al.
Modern agriculture necessitates the use of techniques and tools that pollute the environment less and improve the safety of food and feed production. In the field of plant protection, drones are attracting increasing attention due to their versatility and applicability in a variety of environmental and working conditions. Drone crop spraying techniques offer several advantages, including increased safety and cost effectiveness through autonomous and programmed operations based on specific schedules and routes. One of the main advantages of using drones for plant protection is their ability to monitor large areas of crops in a short amount of time. In addition to crop protection management, using drones for augmentative biocontrol facilitates the distribution of beneficial organisms to the exact locations where they are required, which can increase the effectiveness of biocontrol agents while reducing distribution costs. In this context, given the very limited commercial use of drones in the Western Balkans’ agri-food sector, the use of drones in the agri-food industry is a topic that needs to be elaborated on and highly promoted. Additionally, the specific legal regulations in Serbia that currently limit the use of drones in agriculture must be outlined. Conventional crop production is still significantly more prevalent in Serbia, but given the region’s continuous technological progress, there is no doubt that farmers’ education and future investments in precision agriculture will most likely increase the use of state-of-the-art technologies and drones in agriculture.
Cezary Chojnacki, Tomasz Popławski, Paulina Konrad
et al.
Abstract Background Optimal composition of intestinal bacteria is an essential condition for good health. Excessive growth of these bacteria can cause various ailments. The aim of this study was to assess the mental state and gastrointestinal complaints of patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in relation to tryptophan metabolism and rifaximin treatment. Methods 120 subjects, aged 23–61 years, were enrolled in the study, and divided into 3 groups, 40 individuals each: healthy subjects (Controls), patients with SIBO and chronic diarrhea (SIBO-D), and with chronic constipation (SIBO-C). The lactulose hydrogen breath test (LHBT) was performed to diagnose SIBO. The mental state of patients was assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). L-tryptophan (TRP) and its metabolites: 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), kynurenine (KYN), xanthurenic acid (XA) and quinolinic acid (QA) were measured in urine by liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and related to creatinine level. Patients with SIBO were recommended to take rifaximin for 10 days at daily dose 1200 mg, and this cycle was repeated in subsequent two months. Results Mild and moderate anxiety, as well as mild depression were diagnosed in all SIBO patients. Changes in TRP metabolism were also observed in these patients. Specifically, an increase in the activity of the serotonin pathway of TRP metabolism in the group SIBO-D was observed. The SIBO-C patients showed an increase in the concentration of KYN, XA and QA. 5-HIAA/TRP and KYN/TRP ratios significantly decreased in group SIBO-D, and KYN and QA levels decreased in group SIBO-C after treatment with rifaximin. The levels of anxiety and depression decreased in both groups. Conclusion Rifaximin treatment of SIBO patients ameliorated their mood disorders and gastrointestinal aliments underlined by changes in tryptophan metabolism. Trial registration Retrospectively registered (if applicable).
Nutrition. Foods and food supply, Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases
Continuous remote-sensing monitoring of sand in desert areas and the exploration of the spatio–temporal evolution characteristics of soil–wind erosion has an important scientific value for desertification prevention and ecological restoration. In this study, the Kubuqi Desert was selected as the study area, and the Landsat series satellite remote sensing data, supplemented by satellite remote sensing data such as GE images, SPOT-5, ZY-3, GF-1/2/6, etc., integrated object-oriented, decision tree, and auxiliary human–computer interaction interpretation methods, developed the Kubuqi Desert area dataset from 1990 to 2020, and established a soil erosion intensity database of the past 30 years based on the soil–wind erosion correction equation. The results show that the application of the training samples obtained by a high-score collaborative ground sampling to land use/cover classification in desert areas can effectively improve the efficiency of remote-sensing mapping of sand changes and the accuracy of change information identification, and the overall accuracy of the classification results is 95%. In general, the sandy area of the Kubuqi Desert area has decreased year by year, during which the mobile sand in the hinterland of the desert has expanded in a scattered distribution. The overall soil–wind erosion intensity showed a downward trend, especially since 2000; the ecological improvement trend after the implementation of desertification control projects is obvious. Changes in the sand type contributed the most to the reduction of soil–wind erosion intensity (contribution 81.14%), ecological restoration played a key role in reducing the soil–wind erosion intensity (contribution 14.42%), and the increase of forest and grass vegetation covers and agricultural oases played a positive role in solidifying the soil- and wind-proof sand fixation. The pattern of sandy land changes in desert areas is closely related to the national ecological civilization construction policy and the impact of climate change.
Maria Maniadaki, Athanasios Papathanasopoulos, Lilian Mitrou
et al.
Using remote sensing technologies to ensure environmental protection responds to the need of protection of a right and a public good and interest. However, the increasing introduction of these technologies has raised new challenges, such as their interference with the rights of privacy and personal data, which are also protected fundamental rights. In this paper the importance of remote sensing technologies as tools for environmental monitoring and environmental law enforcement is analyzed, while legal issues regarding privacy and data protection from their use for environmental purposes are presented. Existing legislation for reconciling emerging conflicts is also examined and major European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case law on the issue is approached. Finally, recent developments in Greek legislation and their application perspectives in environmental law are presented as a timely “case study”.
In order to understand the seasonal levels, formation mechanism and atmospheric chemical behaviours of water-soluble ions of PM10 in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, aerosol samples were collected from January 2nd to December 28th, 2017 at a WMO/GAW regional background station in Lin’an. The concentrations of PM mass and nine water-soluble inorganic ions were obtained. The annual average concentration of PM10 was 59.9±33.9 μg m−3, lower than those reported in previous studies, indicating air quality of YRD region was improved. Nine water-soluble inorganic ions was accounted for 30.2-45.1% of the total PM mass, while ammonium (NH4+), sulfate (SO42+), as well as nitrate (NO3-) were the major ions which contributed 86.3% to total ions. The NO3- concentration was lowest in summer but highest in winter, suggesting it was likely influenced by thermodynamics. The levels of SO42- in spring and winter were related to photochemical reaction and regional transportation. Except for the SNA, Ca2+ was highest in four seasons likely due to sand storm and road fugitive dust. The annual mean ratio of [NO3-]/[SO42-] was nearly to 1, indicating mobile and stationary sources were equally important in Lin’an. The mean nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) and sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) were 0.22±0.13 and 0.41±0.13, respectively, suggesting secondary formation was significant in the atmosphere at the background station of YRD region.
Excess deposition (including both wet and dry deposition) of nitrogen and
sulfur is detrimental to ecosystems. Recent studies have investigated the
spatial patterns and temporal trends of nitrogen and sulfur wet deposition,
but few studies have focused on dry deposition due to the scarcity of dry
deposition measurements. Here, we use long-term model simulations from the
coupled Weather Research and Forecasting and the Community Multiscale Air
Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model covering the period from 1990 to 2010 to study
changes in spatial distribution as well as temporal trends in total (TDEP),
wet (WDEP), and dry deposition (DDEP) of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and
sulfur (TS) in the United States (US). We first evaluate the model's
performance in simulating WDEP over the US by comparing the model results
with observational data from the US National Atmospheric Deposition Program.
The coupled model generally underestimates the WDEP of both TIN (including
both the oxidized nitrogen deposition, TNO<sub>3</sub>, and the reduced
nitrogen deposition, NH<sub><i>x</i></sub>) and TS, with better performance in
the eastern US than the western US. The underestimation of the wet deposition
by the model is mainly caused by the coarse model grid resolution, missing
lightning NO<sub><i>x</i></sub> emissions, and the poor temporal and spatial
representation of NH<sub>3</sub> emissions. TDEP of both TIN and TS shows
significant decreases over the US, especially in the east, due to the large
emission reductions that occurred in that region. The decreasing trends of
TIN TDEP are caused by decreases in TNO<sub>3</sub>, and the increasing trends
of TIN deposition over the Great Plains and Tropical Wet Forests (Southern
Florida Coastal Plain) regions are caused by increases in NH<sub>3</sub>
emissions, although it should be noted that these increasing trends are not
significant. TIN WDEP shows decreasing trends throughout the US, except for
the Marine West Coast Forest region. TIN DDEP shows significant decreasing
trends in the Eastern Temperate Forests, Northern Forests, Mediterranean
California, and Marine West Coast Forest and significant increasing trends in the Tropical Wet Forests,
Great Plains and Southern Semi-arid Highlands. For the other three regions
(North American Deserts, Temperate Sierras, and Northwestern Forested
Mountains), the decreasing or increasing trends are not significant. Both the WDEP and DDEP of TS have
decreases across the US, with a larger decreasing trend in the DDEP than that
in the WDEP. Across the US during the 1990–2010 period, DDEP of TIN
accounts for 58–65 % of TDEP
of TIN. TDEP of TIN over the US is
dominated by deposition of TNO<sub>3</sub> during the first decade, which then
shifts to reduced nitrogen
(NH<sub><i>x</i></sub>) dominance after 2003, resulting from a combination of
NO<sub><i>x</i></sub> emission reductions and NH<sub>3</sub> emission
increases. The sulfur DDEP is
usually higher than the sulfur WDEP until recent years, as the sulfur DDEP
has a larger decreasing trend than
WDEP.
Environmental protection and conservation of natural resources have become core concern of governance irrespective of its model. Debates and efforts are on since long back especially when scientists identified the negative impacts of human activities on the environment. Domestic and international bodies ventured upon to design measures in order to adopt policies, legislation and future plans conducive to the natural properties. Growing population and the unbridled exploitation of natural resources are accepted phenomenon now days. Consequently depletion of environment and its preservation cannot be controlled by these extraneous measures as hypocritical man could not altered the situation positively, thus, internal conscience became the only option. A theological implication of environmental ecology is now becoming crucial in order to testify the measures and its appropriateness. Religions do have the answer for the dichotomy of environment and development as the limit on human conduct is extremely desired. The failure of external regulatory mechanism forced us to look at different option and obvious shelter one finds in ethical component of individual’s behavior. Religious mandates and dictates may prove fruitful in this regard and eventually Hindu Religious texts have enough to say in this regard. Present paper very briefly ventured upon to discuss the texts and messages therein aiming at sustaining environmental properties. It also discusses how we treat and regard natural properties in our daily life.