http://www.hindawi.com The latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation © 2013 , Hindawi Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:34:45 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jes/2013/209890/ Upland heath is an extensive habitat in the UK and is currently managed for a range of objectives: agricultural grazing, sporting interests, and biodiversity conservation. Increasingly land management will also have to address the provision of the ecosystem service of carbon sequestration (transfer of CO2 from the atmosphere into long-lived pools for storage). This study investigates carbon sequestration in Calluna- and Nardus-dominated upland heath vegetation communities in NE Scotland, which typically occurs as a result of low and high intensity management (grazing and burning) regimes, respectively. A 13CO2 tracer experiment compared the rate of carbon assimilation and the retention of assimilated carbon over six weeks during the growing season between these two communities. There was no difference in 13CO2 uptake between Calluna- or Nardus-dominated vegetation communities and they both retained over 40% of the assimilated 13C after six weeks. The 13C retained was mostly held in Calluna leaf and stem tissue in the Calluna-dominated community and in graminoid leaves in the Nardus-dominated community. Consideration of the strategies of the dominant species and the attributes of the tissues in which 13C was retained suggests that Calluna-dominated vegetation may be of greater benefit to carbon sequestration in the longer term. Samuel L. O. Quin, Tara R. A. Conolly, Rebekka R. E. Artz, Andrew Coupar, and Sarah J. Woodin Copyright © 2013 Samuel L. O. Quin et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:38:21 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jes/2013/379429/ The paper provides an insight into the chronological extinction of the Indo-Malayan mangroves along the South and Southeast Asian coast and categorizes several area-specific anthropogenic and climatic factors that triggered the annihilation of 1.9 million ha of diverse mangroves. On a regional scale, coastal agricultural land development and shrimp farming were identified as major factors accounting for 90% of the reported loss. The paper also focuses on the existing mangrove management framework of nine developing countries of this region and conducts a comparative analysis of the prevailing legislative arrangement for mangrove management. In general, weak enforcements of legal measures and improper monitoring have been identified as major drawbacks in conservation and restoration initiatives. On the other hand, this paper strongly encourages the prospects of community-based mangrove management (CBMM) and provides good examples from the ecoregion through comparative case studies. Finally, it concludes with recommendations that outline a suitable mangrove management strategy involving more community empowerment, legalization and mainstreaming of comanagement initiatives, inclusive benefit sharing, and regional cooperation for transboundary ecosystem management. Rajarshi DasGupta and Rajib Shaw Copyright © 2013 Rajarshi DasGupta and Rajib Shaw. All rights reserved. Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:17:46 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jes/2013/148793/ The present study was carried out to determine the monthly variations of physico-chemical parameters in water samples from Chiffa river at Blida, North West of Algeria from April to August 2006. Water samples were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters and the results showed their monthly variations as follows: pH 7.5-7.6, electrical conductivity 0.87–1.06 mS·cm−1, nitrate 0–7.00 mg·L−1, nitrite 0–0.28 mg·L−1, ammonia 0–0.03 mg·L−1, phosphate 0–0.94 mg·L−1, sodium 19.3–47.0 mg·L−1, chloride 35.7–52.0 mg·L−1, calcium 90.3–104.7 mg·L−1, magnesium 27.3–37.7 mg·L−1, organic matter 0.4–3.9 mg·L−1, chlorophyll a 0.7–132.3 mg·L−1, and bicarbonate 219.3–248.7 mg·L−1. The analyzed physico-chemical parameters were almost not exceeded the maximum permissible limit of WHO and Algerian Water Quality Guidelines. A total of 53 taxa belonging to 4 divisions have been identified, including Chlorophyta (52.83% of taxa), Bacillariophyta (28.30%), Cyanophyceae (16.98%), and Charophyta (1.89%). Fella Hamaidi-Chergui, Mohamed Brahim Errahmani, Fatouma Benouaklil, and Mohand Said Hamaidi Copyright © 2013 Fella Hamaidi-Chergui et al. All rights reserved.