Landscape Institute

Urban and suburban forests provide major cultural ecosystem services, yet planning still often relies on destination-based indicators (e.g., nearest forest, simple distance buffers). These measures miss how real access is shaped by corridor continuity, available transport modes, and last-mile connections to entrances. As a result, they can misrepresent both visitation pressure and equity patterns across a metropolitan region.We analyse forest recreation in the Vienna Metropolitan Area using representative Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) data (n = 3,121). We link anonymised home locations to reported forest destinations and entrances, derive origin–destination (OD) flows, and assess accessibility using both Euclidean distance and mode-specific network travel times for walking, cycling, public transport, and car. To move beyond a destination-only assessment, we apply density-based OD flow clustering (DBSCAN/HDBSCAN) to detect corridor-like patterns and compare clusters by travel time, mode share, and visitation frequency.We identify six visitor groups (with sub-clusters in the two largest), differing in mobility profiles and spatial structure. We find a clear distance–decay relationship: each additional kilometre to the forest is associated with ~11% fewer annual visits. Importantly, distance alone does not explain use. Corridor structure matters. Multimodal “belts” around the city support access within feasible travel times, while other areas remain underused despite being geographically close, suggesting gaps in connectors and continuity rather than limited forest supply.This corridor-based perspective complements destination-centric metrics and supports more actionable planning and mitigating environmental impacts. Strengthening gateways and last-mile links, protecting high-performing multimodal corridors, and targeting specific accessibility gaps can improve equity while limiting car dependence.

Assessing theories of consciousness is a challenge. Normative scientific methodology, including falsification and prediction, is notoriously difficult when addressing phenomenal consciousness. For example, it is often less than obvious that the claimed predictions of theories reflect the actual essences of those theories. I suggest two ‘orthogonal’ approaches that, while not dispositive in principle, might be insightful in practice. The first is a comparison with other theories using what I call a ‘landscape of consciousness’ to discern commonalities and differences in their foundations, arguments, evidence, ways of thinking, and prospects of progress. The second is to explore the implications of theories with respect to big questions of sentience, including AI consciousness, virtual immortality, free will, meaning/purpose, and life after death. Of course, the implications of a theory, no matter what they are, cannot affirm or deny the veracity of that theory directly. However, just perhaps, the implications might offer insights indirectly. I apply both orthogonal approaches to superpsychism.

The DOF transcription factors regulating plant bud dormancy were novelly identified. A representative member, PlOBP4, was first experimentally verified to promote bud elongation. Herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora) is a world-renowned ornamental flower mainly cultivated in temperate regions. However, insufficient winter chilling accumulation may limit bud endodormancy release (BER) due to climate change or when grown at lower latitudes or elevations. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms of endodormancy release will help develop new cultivars adapted to warm winter conditions, advancing the application of herbaceous peony in subtropical and even tropical areas. The role of DNA-BINDING WITH ONE FINGER (DOF) TF family members in the regulation of bud dormancy remains limited. In this study, a bioinformatics analysis of the DOF family in P. lactiflora 'Hang Baishao' (a subtropical low-chilling-requirement cultivar) was performed using the full-length transcriptome sequencing data collected during a whole winter and early spring. A total of 15 DOF family members were identified and were phylogenetically classified into four subgroups. Expression profiles of some PlDOFs were correlated with bud endodormancy acquisition, BER, release of ecodormancy, and inducing break. A PlOBP4 with a 906bp coding sequence, which is highly expressed in the BER stage, was identified and cloned. Subcellular localization confirmed that PlOBP4 was nuclear-localized. Silencing PlOBP4 in buds during the endodormancy induction period significantly reduced bud length after sprouting, indicating that PlOBP4 may promote bud elongation in P. lactiflora 'Hang Baishao'. This relatively rare study in regulating bud dormancy/budbreak enriches the knowledge regarding the role of DOF TFs and may further aid in breeding cultivars with short endodormancy duration (low chilling requirement) and facilitate the cultivation of herbaceous peony in subtropical or even tropical regions.

The experiment was conducted during November, 2024 to 2025 at the Department of Postharvest Management, Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Arabhavi, Belagavi District, Karnataka, to study the influence of pre-treatments and different drying methods on the quality of roselle powder. The roselle powder was prepared by following a Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) consisting of twelve treatments with three replications. The experiment included two factors: pre-treatments (without blanching, steam blanching for one minute and steam blanching for two minutes) and drying methods (sun drying, shade drying, solar drying and cabinet drying at 60°C). The samples were analysed to determine the effects of these treatments on the physical parameter’s recovery (%), moisture content (%) and water activity and chemical parameters including anthocyanin (mg 100 g-1), total phenols (mg GAE 100 g-1) and antioxidant activity (%) of the end product. Among the various treatments, the roselle powder that was prepared with steam blanching for one minute followed by cabinet drying at 60°C was found to be superior with respect to both physical and chemical properties. It showed desirable physical characteristics with a recovery of 10.50%, a moisture content of 10.14% and a water activity of 0.29. The chemical composition recorded higher values with anthocyanin content of 243.15 mg 100 g-1, total phenols of 321.50 mg GAE 100 g-1, and antioxidant activity of 71.39%, indicating better colour stability and improved nutritional quality.

Spruce budworm ( Choristoneura fumiferana) outbreaks are a major disturbance in northeastern American forests. Monitoring, forecasting, and mitigating outbreak risks require information on how local population densities translate to defoliation. Given landscape-scale heterogeneity, forest structure, and local population dynamics, one expects the relationship between population densities and defoliation to vary spatially and temporally. We analyzed 17 years of larval density data from over 1000 locations in Québec, Canada, to investigate how larval densities and environmental context translate into observable defoliation. We found a positive latitudinal gradient and a positive effect of hardwood species on insect population growth rates. Further, we identified a 3-year cumulative effect of larval densities on defoliation, with a 2-year lag having the strongest influence. On average, a density of 15 larvae per branch corresponded to a 29% probability of defoliation. However, this probability varied widely (13%–52%) with the proportions of balsam fir and black spruce. Our study elucidates the relationship between SBW populations and defoliation, highlighting the importance of cumulative larval density effects and environmental context in defining defoliation risk.

Abstract Increasing population, dwindling soil and water resources, severe soil degradation, resource poor and subsistence farming by small holders in SSA has created a serious food and nutritional security problem and the climate change impacting food productivity has aggravated this problem further. Agriculture sector programs are primarily focused on increased production, ignoring nutritional issues; and therefore, nutrition-sensitive agriculture investments and guidance for program formulation are needed. Successful management of drought requires adoption of conservation agriculture, including integrated soil fertility management, agroforestry, and integration of crops with trees and live stocks. Furthermore, incentivizing resource-poor small land holders through payments for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration in soil) is critical and policies which are pro-nature, pro-agriculture and pro-farmers are needed. Research and development priorities on technologies such as climate -resilient and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, irrigation and water management, integrated soil fertility management, protection and restoration of soil health and policy formulation through constructive integration of technological knowledge with societal knowledge are highly needed.

:A field experiment was conducted during the spring growing season of 2022–2023 at the research stations, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad. The study aimed to evaluate the impact of foliar application of eco-friendly fertilizers on the field performance and the quantitative and chemical yield characteristics of potato plants (Arizona hybrid). The experiment included two factors: the first involved foliar spraying with four treatments—water only, 5 mL L⁻¹ shrimp shell extract, 5 mL L⁻¹ dried fish extract, and 5 mL L⁻¹ sardine extract—coded as F0, F1, F2, and F3, respectively. The second factor included spraying with three concentrations of organic silicon: 0, 1, and 2 mL L⁻¹, coded as Si0, Si1, and Si2, respectively, along with their interactions. The research was implemented as a factorial experiment following a Randomized Complete Block Design (R.C.B.D.) with three replications. The results indicated that treatment (F1) resulted in the highest values for the number of aerial branches, marketable plant yield, number of tubers, tuber weight, and total soluble solids (T.S.S.).Treatment Si1 resulted in tubers with the highest yield, dry matter content, and specific gravity. The interaction treatment F1Si2 produced the highest number of tubers, while F2Si2 yielded the firmest tubers.

We discuss the novel application of homeland security functional exercises to evaluate emergency managers’ use of simulation-based decision support tools for response to major coastal storms (e.g., hurricanes, tropical storms, nor’easters), such as Hurricane Katrina. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program” (HSEEP) is the universally accepted standard for emergency management exercises in the United States and provides a templated format familiar to emergency management practitioners. Using HSEEP in a scenario-based approach to end-user evaluation provides a plausible, realistic environment that encourages open and honest player feedback. We present the results of two HSEEP-based functional exercises run as part of implementation research with the Coastal Hazards Analysis, Modeling, and Prediction (CHAMP) system. CHAMP combines high-resolution storm models with a database of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities to predict storm consequences and aid decision-making. Findings suggest that the HSEEP exercise format provides a ready-made process for evaluating emergency management tools in a format comfortable and familiar to participants. User feedback and observation data collected during the CHAMP workshops and exercises are used to inform real-world activation protocols and to guide ongoing development of the CHAMP system.

This study presents a systematic evaluation of age-friendly public spaces in Chinese urban villages, focusing on an empirical investigation of Xin'er Village in Chengdu. Using the Elderly-Friendly Urban Space Questionnaire (EFUSQ), data were collected from a purposive random sample of 104 elderly residents. The results indicate that street spaces exhibit relatively higher age-friendliness (accessibility, β = 0.054, p < 0.05), whereas significant deficiencies persist in public activity areas and green spaces, largely due to inadequate planning and design. Key influencing factors such as barrier-free design (β = 0.054, p < 0.05), nighttime lighting (β = 0.04, p < 0.05), and spatial cleanliness (β = 0.059, p < 0.05) were identified, providing empirical evidence for targeted urban regeneration strategies. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive improvements in the planning and upgrading of urban village environments to enhance safety, accessibility, comfort, and diversity, particularly for vulnerable elderly populations. The study's main contribution lies in establishing an evidence-based framework and validating the application of the EFUSQ within the unique context of Chinese urban villages, a typical informal urban setting. It offers both theoretical insights for environmental gerontology and concrete policy recommendations for improving elderly well-being through spatial interventions.