The Cockpit Country, Jamaica: Boundary Issues in Assessing Disturbance and Using a Karst Disturbance Index in Protected Areas Planning

Human disturbance of the Waitomo catchment, New Zealand

“…Consequently, the application of the KDI was useful in bringing together this disparate information. Day et al (2011) studied the importance of boundary issues in the cockpit karst of Jamaica. By varying the boundaries at which the KDI was applied, they were able to determine the least impacted area.…”

“…The strength of the KDI is its comprehensive and systematic structure that enables karst scientists to measure, compare, and contrast the environmental state of karst environments spatially and temporally via the collection of data using mostly preexisting 'grey' literature (reports, theses, conference proceedings, and official documents not published commercially) and scientific sources (Murray and Legget, 1997; van Beynen and Townsend, 2005). The KDI has been applied to Florida, USA, Sardinia, southern Italy, Jamaica, Austria (van Beynen et al, 2006;North et al, 2009;De Waele, 2008;Calò and Parise, 2006;Day et al, 2011;Bauer and Kellerer-Pirklbauer, 2010), and is currently being applied in Puerto Rico and Cuba.…”

Hazards in Karst and Managing Water Resources Quality

“…Case study-Evaluation of the disturbance induced by man to karst environments at the local and regional scale The Karst Disturbance Index (KDI, proposed by van Beynen and Townsend 2005, and modified by North et al 2009) is a way to determine the impact deriving from human activities to the karst environment. It has been applied to different karst settings worldwide (Calò and Parise 2006;De Waele 2009;North et al 2009;Day et al 2011). Taking into account a number of indicators, subdivided into five different categories the disturbance to the karst environment deriving by anthropogenic actions can be evaluated, to provide some insights about how the karst landscape has negatively been modified by man.…”

Recent advances in karst research: from theory to fieldwork and applications

“…The KDI covers five categories (geomorphology, atmosphere, hydrology, biota and cultural factors), each composed of several attributes, which are, in turn, subdivided into a number of indicators. Since its proposal, the KDI has been applied in a number of karst areas worldwide (Calò & Parise 2006;North et al 2009;Day et al 2011;Van Aken et al 2014;Porter et al 2016).…”