BackgroundPollinators are well known for the ecosystem services they provide, and while urban areas are generally perceived as low-quality habitat for most wildlife, these cities often support a surprising degree of pollinator diversity. The current rapid growth of urban areas and concern over global pollinator declines have spurred numerous studies examining pollinator communities in temperate cities, but knowledge about tropical urban pollinators remains scarce.MethodsThis study investigated the effects of habitat and landscape factors on pollinator richness and abundance in a highly-populated, tropical city: Bangkok, Thailand. We conducted pollinator observations in 52 green areas throughout the city and collected data on patch size, floral abundance, plant richness, location type, and percent vegetation at five spatial scales.ResultsOf the 18,793 pollinators observed, over 98% were bees. Both patch size and floral abundance generally had positive effects on pollinators, although there was a significant interaction between the two factors; these findings were generally consistent across all focal taxa (Tetragonula stingless bees, Apis honey bees, Xylocopa carpenter bees, and butterflies).DiscussionOur results demonstrate the importance of maintaining large green areas in cities, since small green areas supported few pollinators, even when floral resources were abundant. Moreover, most pollinator taxa utilized a variety of location types (e.g., public parks, school campuses, temple grounds), with the exception of butterflies, which preferred parks. Our findings are generally consistent with those of temperate urban studies, but additional studies in the tropics are needed before global patterns can be assessed.

Nitrate contamination in groundwater is a worldwide problem especially in agricultural countries. Environmental factors, such as land-use pattern, type of aquifer, and soil-drainage capacity, affect the level of contamination. Exposure to high levels of nitrate in groundwater may contribute to adverse health effects among residents who use groundwater for consumption. This study aimed to determine the relationship between nitrate levels in groundwater with land-use pattern, type of aquifer, and soil-drainage capacity, in Photharam District, Ratchaburi Province, lower Mae Klong basin, Thailand. Health risk maps were created based on hazard quotient to quantify the potential health risk of the residents using US Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) health risk assessment model. The results showed the influence of land-use patterns, type of aquifer, and soil-drainage capacity on nitrate contamination. It was found that most of the residents in the studied area were not at risk; however, a groundwater nitrate monitoring system should be implemented.

Abstract-LANDSAT TM 5; band 1-3-4 was used to predict soil organic matter contents in central plain of Thailand: Nakhon Pathom province as a representative area. There were 135 plots from several agricultural land use; paddy fields, sugarcane and fruit orchard. Y=3.926+0.0176 X1-0.0117 X3+0.0476 X4 (R 2 =0.357) was the result from the interpolation method at RMSE=0.95. The soil organic matter map was build up via Geoinformatics techniques with additional data sources. These techniques include organic matter models and qualitative methods. Finally, validation methods used to assess the accuracy of maps produced with image data are discussed. It is concluded that a general lack of validation data is a main concern. Validation is of utmost importance to achieve regional operational monitoring systems, and close collaboration between the image data and field-based soil scientists is therefore required.

Local people in the Central Dry Zone (CDZ) of Myanmar have been facing climatic variability for several decades. They are among the first communities to observe climate and environmental changes first-hand, and are applying traditional knowledge and skills in order to adapt to these changes. We used participatory action research in which a series of group discussions and debates were conducted in community workshops at the village level. Using this input, we analysed the perceptions of the local people about climate variability, impacts, and adaptation practices. The majority of the local people perceived climate change patterns in the CDZ with the increase of temperature and erratic rainfall patterns perceived as the most critical changes. The majority of the people also perceived that the impacts of climate change have already been affecting agriculture and its related sectors, including land and water resources and their livelihood strategies. Most of the local people also perceived that migration of young people away from the communities has gradually increased due to the consequences of climate change impacts. Farmers have already been attempting to cope with those climate change impacts by using locally relevant adaptation measures such as mixed and multiple cropping systems, changing to drought-resistant plant varieties, and using soil conservation measures to cope with water scarcity. In addition, most of the local people perceived that getting information from traditional weather prediction was helpful to cope with drought and erratic rainfall patterns. However, the results suggest the adaptive capacity of the local people in responding to the impacts of climate change can be improved. In this regard, effective adaptation planning relies on the best available knowledge base, and the urgent need to respond to the pressures of climate change has put a premium on the generation, interpretation and use of information to improve adaptive capacity, including improved access to scaling up the traditional best practices of local people.

Abstract-The aim of this research was to analyze risk areas of land subsidence. Risk factors were selected from related research on the problem of land subsidence. There were six factors selected: geological, hydrogeological, number of wells, groundwater used, land use and amount of population. The factors were analyzed by weighting and rating scores from twelve governmental officers from concerned agencies. The total score of each factor was employed to assess risk area of land subsidence by GIS and PCA method. The output in this study is a map of risk area of land subsidence in Nakhon Pathom Province, representative central plain area. In this study, the risk area of land subsidence was classified into 3 levels. Most of the land consisted of areas at a moderate risk of subsidence and these areas were scattered throughout the study area, covering 1,905.93 km 2 , while a high level to at risk areas was found in parts of the west and south of the study area, covering 251.02 km 2 . The low level of land subsidence risk covered the least area, at only 14 km 2 , mainly in the northwestern and eastern parts of the study area. Furthermore, the results showed land subsidence is most heavily influenced by excessive utilization of groundwater. The second most influential factor is the number of wells. A comparison of bench marks from the Royal Thai Survey Department, ground checks of the real situation and the assessments made in this study showed all.Index Terms-Land subsidence, central plain of Thailand, GIS, PCA. I. INTRODUCTIONA number of phenomenon factors account for land subsidence in has been attributed to: 1) loading of a land surface, 2) vibrations at or near the land surface, 3) compaction due to irrigation, 4) solution due to irrigation, 5) drying and shrinkage of deposits, 6) oxidation of organic materials, 7) decline of the water table, 8) decline of artesian pressure in water sands, 9) decline of pressure in oil zones due to the removal of oil and gas, and 10) tectonic movement [1]. Spatial variation in geological, ground water, geomorphological, soil and vegetation characteristics can distribute to diversity of landform [2] The nature and intensity of land subsidence are therefore likely to be highly dependent on the physical context (geological, hydrogeological, well location, groundwater use, land use) and amount of population and also the level of problem varies by difference factors [3].Thailand, land subsidence is crisis problems which occur to central plain region as especially economic area [4]. The major cause of this problem comes from over pumping groundwater, since people have problems with lack of water supply in household and industrial sectors [5] for water to groundwater pumping increases every year, this event resulted in the land subsidence [7]. Central Plain of Thailand got the land subsidence as high rate around 10 cm. per year [8]. Nakhon Pathom, one main province in the central plain of Thailand with the total area of 2,170.96 km 2 . Nakhon Pathom province is divided into 7 Distri...

Seasonal flooded forest is one of the most important wetlands in northeastern Thailand, not only for its abundant biodiversity, but also as a source of carbon sequestration. Organic carbon plays an specially important role in the soil carbon cycle. To reinforce comprehension on soil organic carbon, five profiles in a northeast plateau were observed and determined. The most common trees were Albizzia Odoratissima, Combretum quadrangulare Kurz, and Streblusasper Lour. The contents of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) varied from 3.52 g/kgto 5.90 g/kg in top soil and varied from 4.01 g/kg to 4.60 g/kg in sub soil. There was a close relationship between SOC content and basic soil properties, especially the bulk density of both top soil layer and sub soil layer. The distribution of SOC content was harmonized with distribution of plants. In comparative analysis, the flooded forest that composted with a high percentage of vegetation coverage (Khud Tew, Khud Chi Tao) had a significantly higher SOC content. The SOC storage varied from 2.65 kg/m2 to 4.18 kg/m2. Khud Chi Tao contained the maximum amount of SOC storage, whereas Kwo Chi Yai had the minimum. Limitation of flooded forest survival concerned over landscape change, particularly plant disappearance and waterlogged shortage. Therefore, vegetation and hydrology management have to be implemented practically to retain the existing organic carbon in wetlands and allow the soil to sequester additional carbon.

Abstract-The objective of this research is finding the way to design architectures harmonized with the environmental contexts and represented local identity. This research emphasizes cognitive analysis and contemplation of the relationships between environmental factors and their effects to local design by using matrix analysis in order to find out the solutions in sustainable design by using documentary research and a site survey. In addition, this research focus on vernacular architectures which were designed related to and with respect to their environments in various dimensions, such as natural, social, cultural, and economic. Moreover, they contain environmental friendly concepts that appear on their physical design, detail design, and layout planning. The case study site is Huai Jorakaemak (HJK) non-hunting area, Northeastern of Thailand that the one of the RAMSAR list of Wetlands International Importance and Eastern Sarus Crane reintroduction site. The output can apply these concepts into the real architectural design process, so that architects, planners, and environmentalists can create sustainable architecture and a sustainable environment for local community development.Index Terms-Architectural design, vernacular architecture, environmental contexts, local identity, landscape ecology.