Introduction
The Algarve is the most Southern province in Portugal . It is one of the most appealing regions for tourism in the country. Its location and climate attracts tourists from all over the world. The Algarve is divided into three zones. The Litoral zone which is along the coast and where most economic activity is concentrated. The Algarve coast is very diverse with abrupt and jagged coastlines, sandy beaches, small islands and inlets , marshland areas and sand dunes. The Barrocal zone is the transitional area between the coast and the mountains . It has very favourable conditions for agricultural activities and is where most of the Algarve’s agricultural produce comes from. The Serra zone is the mountainous zone open to the ocean that separates the Algarve coast from most of the rest of Portugal. Most activities in this region are more traditional based on the forest recourses and agriculture. It has the lowest number of inhabitants and mostly consists of older generations.
While the Algarve may be divided into three different regions it shows a significant asymmetry between the Serra and the Litoral. It is within the coastal region that areas tend to be more fertile, and converging ecosystems in the southeast area create the unique Reserva Natural da Ria Formosa, known for many different types of edaphic species. However the increasing asymmetries between population increase in the south of the Algarve contrary to the northern perimeter, are putting at risk these important ecosystems and the development of rural areas. While agricultural activity has been high in the Barrocal, specializing in carob production, and in Serra,ranging from ovine production and other agro-pastoral activities the Litoral has lost largely its...
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Since the 1960s, the Algarve has been one of the most important tourist regions in Portugal. Its litoral zone running along the coast is characterized by offshore sandbars, and unique wetland ecosystems such as the Ria Formosa are a major attraction for tourists . These special characteristics mean that Algarve is very dependent on its coastal areas, which belong to the agricultural wetland system. However over the years the region had been experiencing coastal erosion which has lead to the loss of these fragile ecosystems and is an increasing threat to economic activities as well as to natural and historical landscapes. Systemic analysis based on imagery from 1938 up until 1995 of the Algarve coast showed significant changes to a 9.5 metre of stecth of the coast showing the effects of coastal erosion and possibly global warming ( Nijkamp., et a.,l 2013)
The settlements in the complex show a multimodal distribution which means that there is an extensive use of shaped and faced stone walling. Out of the three sites there are, only one has produced stone walling and that is Lago de Handel. Obsidian flows were identified in the Amontillado region and their products ca...
It is being managed by the local council in two different ways. These include; a rip-rap wall, dune stabilization. The rip-rap wall consists of large rocks which have been piled up at an angle. Behind the rip-rap wall the land use is mainly commercial, but there is also some residential land-use. This method has been used because human land-use is right on top of the ocean, and in order to defend these buildings a hard option is required.
Today, with our understanding of how fragile the coastal areas are, there are many study and restoration projects underway. Since the implementation of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) in 1990, there have been 151 coastal restorat...
The sole reason for the change in atmospheric temperature can be attributed to Carbon Dioxide emissions. Ocean acidification has occurred due to chemical changes in oceans. Highly concentrated carbonic acid is the product formed due to CO2 entering into the oceans and reacting with water.
The Portuguese began exploring Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Plain in the early 1500s (Kent 236). In fact, colonization and settlement began in this region (Kent 237). The region quickly became the focus of colonization, and the countries first two settlements, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro were located on the plain. Today roughly 45 million Brazilians call the plain their home (Kent 236). During the early years of colonization, tropical broadleaf forests and brazilwood tree were extensively logged. The Brazilwood could be used as a rich red dye, which became the colony’s first significant export. However, by the end of colonial period, forests were largely nonexistent (Kent 237). This led the colonists to seek another alternative export which in this case was agriculture, especially sugarcane, cacao, and pasture (Kent 237).
Over the past 100 years the Louisiana coastline has suffered greatly from biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors. The abiotic factors include things such as hurricanes or overnutrition that influence the surrounding biota. The biotic factors that contribute to coastal erosion are things like the immigration invasive species and the emigration or extinction of local flora and fauna that help preserve the wetlands. Additionally, there are anthropogenic factors such as pollution that can have strong negative influences on the abiotic and biotic factors of the wetlands. Each one of these factors cause ecological disturbances to the wetlands at a frequency and intensity that is unmanageable for the local flora and fauna. There are currently certain measures that are being taken into consideration to slow or stop the erosion of the Louisiana coastline.
This paper introduces the environmental concerns of the loss of coastal wetlands. The paper will discuss the significance of wetlands and the devastation that is occurring because of human activity. Wetlands are an essential element of our environment both ecological and societal; conservation will be essential for the preservation of these precious ecosystems.
is being eroded by the sea so that cliffs, up to 20 metres high rise
Conversion of the tropical forest into cropland and pasture began a long time ago in Ecuador, before their secession from Spain. Their major crop was cocoa, which was grown along the waterways to be exported out as their main source of trade. Due to the fact that after World War II expansion accelerated throughout the northwestern section of the forest, a highway system was put into construction. At this point in time, the Ecuadorian Amazon consisted of a few small towns that had been established in valleys and at the base of the mountains. Indigenous g...
Analysis of sites in five coastal states indicate that many marshes and mangrove ecosystems receive adequate mineral sediments to produce enough organic sediment and root material to remain above sea level at the present rate of sea-level rise (1-2 mm per year globally). However, three of the twelve wetlands studied were not keeping pace with the current rate of sea-level rise. If sea-level rise accelerates, some additional sites would also begin to slowly deteriorate and submerge.
RISING SEA LEVEL AND ITS MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS/COASTAL WETLANDS BEING MOST VULNERABLE AND THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES AND IMPACTS (2 PAGES)
The aim of this essay is to carefully examine the existing resources of tourism within the destination their potential and weakness, SWOT and PEST analysis, statistics of tourist visiting and comparing those numbers and their demographic factors so on. Moreover the objectives of this essay is to discuss and me...
One of the reasons for loss in biodiversity is alteration of habitats. A habitat is the natural environment in which a species of living organism lives. If the habitat of a species is changed, it will cause the species to die or migrate to other places where it can find its natural habitat. There are many ways in which the habitat of plants and animals can be altered. One of them is land use changes. Since the beginning of human life, human beings have been changing land use for farming. Large areas of forests have been cleared by humans to increase the area of farming to satisfy their growing needs. Many biodiversity-rich landscape characteristics have been lost due to intensive farming (Young, Richards, Fischer, Halada, Kull, Kuzniar, Tartes, Uzunov & Watt, 2007). For example, traditional farming was replaced by private farms in Europe after the First World War causing an immense change in land use patterns. Another major proble...
Global warming has further complicated the issue of marine conservation. Emissions from cars, factories and greenhouse gases have creat...