Resilience of environment, infrastructure, communities, and governance in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and the need for community empowerment to develop decentralized, nature-based solutions to sustainability.

Collapse of electric and water infrastructure throughout Puerto Rico with Hurricane Maria is well documented but assessment of interactions among environment, infrastructure, and society is lacking. A classification system is developed to assess the resilience of each component based on principles of ecosystem responses to long-term and unexpected environmental change. All infrastructure sectors have experienced long-term decline because of a patch and stabilize approach that excludes strengthen and innovate.

Effects of forestry-driven changes to groundcover and soil moisture on amphibian desiccation, dispersal, and survival.

Over 80% of amphibian species that are declining are forest dependent. Forestry practices are a major cause of forest alterations globally, and it is well documented that clearcutting can contribute to amphibian declines. However, there might be adverse effects of forestry practices other than clearcutting.

Leaf litterbag sampling for larval plethodontid salamander populations in Georgia.

Survey techniques for larval salamanders vary in their effectiveness and efficiencies. In this study, the leaf litterbag sampling technique was employed to gather data on larval salamander populations in perennial streams of southern Georgia. Salamanders were collected monthly for 12 months to analyze capture counts and population size-class structure.

Remote sensing and GIS techniques for selecting a sustainable scenario for Lake Koronia, Greece.

During recent decades, Lake Koronia has undergone severe degradation as a result of human activities around the lake and throughout the basin. Surface and groundwater abstraction and pollution from agricultural, industrial, and municipal sources are the major sources of degradation. Planning a restoration project was hampered by lack of sufficient data, with gaps evident in both spatial and temporal dimensions.

Effects of the herbicide imazapyr on benthic macroinvertebrates in a logged pond cypress dome.

Increased herbicide use in silviculture over the last several decades has led to concern over potential water contamination, which may affect biotic health. In the southeastern United States, pine flatwoods are important for timber production and are often interspersed with cypress wetlands. Cypress domes are isolated, shallow basins that collect surficial waters from adjacent forested areas and therefore might be expected to contain pesticide from storm runoff.