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Topic Review
Relative Humidity
Relative humidity (RH) is the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative humidity depends on temperature and the pressure of the system of interest. The same amount of water vapor results in higher relative humidity in cool air than warm air. A related parameter is the dew point.
  • 4.1K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Reinforcement (Speciation)
Reinforcement is a process of speciation where natural selection increases the reproductive isolation (further divided to pre-zygotic isolation and post-zygotic isolation) between two populations of species. This occurs as a result of selection acting against the production of hybrid individuals of low fitness. The idea was originally developed by Alfred Russel Wallace and is sometimes referred to as the Wallace effect. The modern concept of reinforcement originates from Theodosius Dobzhansky. He envisioned a species separated allopatrically, where during secondary contact the two populations mate, producing hybrids with lower fitness. Natural selection results from the hybrid's inability to produce viable offspring; thus members of one species who do not mate with members of the other have greater reproductive success. This favors the evolution of greater prezygotic isolation (differences in behavior or biology that inhibit formation of hybrid zygotes). Reinforcement is one of the few cases in which selection can favor an increase in prezygotic isolation, influencing the process of speciation directly. This aspect has been particularly appealing among evolutionary biologists. The support for reinforcement has fluctuated since its inception, and terminological confusion and differences in usage over history have led to multiple meanings and complications. Various objections have been raised by evolutionary biologists as to the plausibility of its occurrence. Since the 1990s, data from theory, experiments, and nature have overcome many of the past objections, rendering reinforcement widely accepted,:354 though its prevalence in nature remains unknown. Numerous models have been developed to understand its operation in nature, most relying on several facets: genetics, population structures, influences of selection, and mating behaviors. Empirical support for reinforcement exists, both in the laboratory and in nature. Documented examples are found in a wide range of organisms: both vertebrates and invertebrates, fungi, and plants. The secondary contact of originally separated incipient species (the initial stage of speciation) is increasing due to human activities such as the introduction of invasive species or the modification of natural habitats. This has implications for measures of biodiversity and may become more relevant in the future.
  • 1.3K
  • 28 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Reindeer Distribution
The reindeer is a widespread and numerous species in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest). Originally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Russia , Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada , Alaska (United States ), and the northern contiguous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. It also occurred naturally on Sakhalin, Greenland, and probably even in historical times in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer were found further south, such as at Nevada, Tennessee , and Alabama in North America and Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway , Finland , Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada . Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 semi-domesticated reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway . A few reindeer from Norway were introduced to the South Atlantic island of South Georgia in the beginning of the 20th century. The South Georgian reindeer totaled some estimated 2600 animals in two distinct herds separated by glaciers. Although the flag and the coat of arms of the territory contain an image of a reindeer, they were eradicated from 2013 to 2017 because of the environmental damage they caused. Around 4000 reindeer have been introduced into the French sub-Antarctic archipelago of Kerguelen Islands. East Iceland has a small herd of about 2500–3000 animals. Caribou and reindeer numbers have fluctuated historically, but many herds are in decline across their range. This global decline is linked to climate change for northern, migratory caribou and reindeer herds and industrial disturbance of caribou habitat for sedentary, non-migratory herds.
  • 4.0K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Rehabilitation of Salt-Affected Land
Soil salinity is a major threat to the sustainability of agricultural production systems and has defeated civilisations whenever the cost of remediation exceeded the benefits. Among the reasons for this is the complexity of the plant-water-soil nexus and that the causes of salinity are often separated from the damage in time and space. a more concerted effort, perhaps initiated by a philanthropist, is needed to show merchants and agencies how a range of payments for ecosystem services can be turned into true markets in an aggregate way so the ‘knowledge of what can be done can be transformed into benefit’.
  • 550
  • 20 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Regulatory Approach to Ocean Plastics
The research investigates the problems and maps the solutions to the serious threat that plastics pose to the oceans, food safety, and human health, with more than eight million tons of plastic debris dumped in the sea every year. The aim of this study is to explore how to better improve the regulatory process of ocean plastics by integrating scientific results, regulatory strategies and action plans so as to limit the impact of plastics at sea. Adopting a problem-solving approach and identifying four areas of intervention enable the establishment of a regulatory framework from a multi-actor, multi-issue, and multi-level perspective. The research methodology consists of a two-pronged approach: 1. An analysis of the state-of-the-art definition of plastics, micro-, and nanoplastics (respectively, MPs and NPs), and 2. The identification and discussion of loopholes in the current regulation, suggesting key actions to be taken at a global, regional and national level. In particular, the study proposes a systemic integration of scientific and regulatory advancements towards the construction of an interconnected multi-tiered (MT) plastic governance framework. The milestones reached by the project SECURE at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway provide evidence of the strength of the theory of integration and rights-based approaches. The suggested model holds substantial significance for the fields of environmental protection, food security, food safety, and human health. This proposed MT plastic governance framework allows for the holistic and effective organization of complex information and scenarios concerning plastics regulation. Containing a clear definition of plastics, grounded on the precautionary principle, the MT plastic framework should provide detailed mitigation measures, with a clear indication of rights and duties, and in coordination with an effective reparatory justice system. 
  • 419
  • 18 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Regulation Promoting the New Circular Economy
Over the past few decades, the production and consumption of clothing has increased exponentially, leading to a dramatic increase in the negative environmental consequences produced by the fashion industry. Given the rising pace of global warming and the rising concern about the fashion industry’s contribution to the climate crisis and its exploitative social dimensions, decision makers, politicians and government officials have begun to promote sustainable fashion through public policy. This article reviews the main barriers facing a circular economy in general and the fashion industry in particular. It considers nascent regulations emerging throughout the world in the field of sustainable fashion, applying circular economic principles to the fashion industry.
  • 579
  • 06 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys), a distributed physical processes-based ecohydrological model, that can simulate the regional multi-components cycle of nitrogen, carbon, and water. Many RHESSys-based studies have been implemented for sustainable watershed management. 
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Regional Geological of the Biga Peninsula
Biga Peninsula is a geologically diverse and complex peninsula that has been exposed to a series of tectonic events during its lengthy history. It represents the western section of the Sakarya Zone (S Pontide Domain) along the boundary between Gondwana and Laurasia and consists of numerous tectonic units, representing both continental and oceanic assemblages. The tectonic activity of the Biga Peninsula is primarily impacted by the motion occurring along the North Anatolian Fault Zone.
  • 268
  • 23 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Regional Economic Resilience in China
The notion of resilience has been increasingly adopted in economic geography, concerning how regions resist and recover from all kinds of shocks. Most of the literature on the resilience of coastal areas focuses on biophysical stressors, such as climate change and some environmental factors.
  • 308
  • 26 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Regenerative Agriculture and Farmscape Function
The concept of a regenerative agriculture can be traced back to the cusp of the 1980s and discussions of sustainability. Early authors stressed that to achieve sustainable food production, the resources agriculture depended upon initially needed to be restored from the degraded state conventional agriculture had caused. For modern authors, within and outside regenerative agriculture, these resources—soil, water, biota, and the long term viability of human agricultural labor—have continued to deteriorate. To prioritise the regeneration of these resources; as has begun with the concept of ecosystem functions, goods, and services generally; researchers must specifically determine the functions people require of their farmscapes so that agricultural systems can be iteratively designed to meet these needs. 
  • 513
  • 26 May 2022
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