The 77 categories of first scheduled waste in the five grouping [7].
\r\n\tDigital images can be easily distorted by noise during the acquisition, processing, and transmission. Noise level is an important parameter to consider in image processing algorithms, including denoising, compression, feature extraction, motion estimation, optical flow, segmentation, super-resolution, and image quality assessment. Their performance depends on the accuracy of the noise level estimate.
\r\n\r\n\tImage denoising is an important stage to improve the accuracy of many image processing techniques, such as image segmentation and recognition. Image segmentation is another important stage in computer vision applications. Many methodologies utilize both stages in a unique algorithm to solve the problem of the segmentation of noisy images to provide better classification and recognition compared to algorithms that independently use these two stages.
\r\n\tThe goal of this book will be to collect original research chapters that develop or apply new theories and/or hardware or software to process the acquired noisy images to solve the problem of Segmentation of noisy images in the field of medical imaging, remote sensing, engineering, and other research applications.
Malaysia is one of the fast growing nations in the global economy. Malaysian economy ranked 24th in the global competitive index of 2013 [1] and has grown to occupy the 18th position in the 2015 global competitive index ranking [2]. Economic growth comes with some burden on the environment which includes waste generation, greenhouse gas emission from energy systems, deforestation, etc. The continued increase in waste generation in Malaysia has been associated with the growing population and the growing economy. These factors create high demand for goods and services by the growing classes of people with an aim to meeting their varying lifestyles, while the environment bears the consequence of the increasing waste generation [3]. The quantity of municipal solid waste generated in Malaysia was analyzed in 2010 by Agamuthu [4] with a projection of 30,000 tons/day of waste generation by 2020; in a review by Aja and Al-Kayiem [5], it was found that in 2013, the waste generation in Malaysia was 33,000 tons/day which exceeded the projection cited earlier. In a recent review by Fazeli et al. [6] on waste to energy, it was noted that the growing economy of Malaysia contributes to the environment burden levied by high energy consumption and high volume waste generation. Wastes generated in Malaysia are categorized based on level of potential hazard. According to the Department of Environment, waste is defined as “any substance prescribed to be scheduled waste or any matter whether in a solid, semi-solid, or liquid form, or in the form of a gas or vapor, which is emitted, discharged, or deposited in the environment in such volume, composition, or manner as to cause pollution” [7]. Scheduled wastes are the categories of waste listed in the First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005 [8, 9]. Some categories of the scheduled waste are classified as environmental hazardous waste due to the toxic and hazardous nature of such wastes.
\nEnvironmentally hazardous substance (EHS), under the Malaysian Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974, is defined as “any natural or artificial substances including any raw material, whether in a solid, semi-solid, or liquid form, or in the form of gas or vapor, or in a mixture of at least two of these substances, or any living organism intended for any environmental protection, conservation, and control activity, which can cause pollution” [10–12]. There are currently 3839 items in the EHS reference list [13] and in a situation where a potentially hazardous material is not on the list, such substances are classified using the globally harmonized system (GHS) classification scheme and assigned a hazard category as implemented by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia [10].
\nThere are currently 77 categories defined in the First Scheduled Waste of the Environmental Quality in Malaysia as EHS, which are classified into five groups as detailed in Table 1. The hazardous wastes in the five groups are from different sources such as industrial sector, agricultural sector, health sector, and households. Industrial waste poses potential serious hazard to the environment as most industrial processes employ chemical or chemically produced materials. In agriculture, hazardous wastes are generated through the use of pesticides [14], herbicides and even the use of inorganic fertilizer which has fluoride as by-product of phosphate fertilizer production [15, 16]. The use of organic manure also constitutes a hazard in agriculture by the dissolution of manure nitrate into ground water. This causes health hazards in most developing countries where there is no access to treated water and ground water is used as alternate source [17, 18]. Medical wastes include hospital disposables contaminated with blood and tissues, used pharmaceutical products, expired and used drugs, chemical wastes, radioactive isotopes used for diagnosis and treatment, etc. which require careful disposal [19–21]. In homes, several hazardous wastes are generated in meeting the desired lifestyle of the people. Such wastes include caustic cleaner, toxic paints, flammable solvents, pesticides, expired/unused drugs, mercury, etc. [22, 23].
\nSW 101 | \nWaste containing arsenic or its compound | \n
SW 102 | \nWaste of lead acid batteries in whole or crushed form | \n
SW 103 | \nWaste of batteries containing cadmium and nickel or mercury or lithium | \n
SW 104 | \nDust, slag, dross, or ash containing arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, copper, vanadium, beryllium, antimony, tellurium, thallium or selenium excluding slag from iron and steel factory | \n
SW 105 | \nGalvanic sludge | \n
SW 106 | \nResidues from recovery of acid pickling liquor | \n
SW 107 | \nSlags from copper processing for further processing or refining containing arsenic, lead, or cadmium | \n
SW 108 | \nLeaching residues from zinc processing in dust and sludge form | \n
SW 109 | \nWaste containing mercury or its compound | \n
SW 110 | \nWaste from electrical and electronic assemblies containing components such as accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes and other activated glass or polychlorinated biphenyl-capacitors, or contaminated with cadmium, mercury, lead, nickel, chromium, copper, lithium, silver, manganese, or polychlorinated biphenyl | \n
SW 201 | \nAsbestos wastes in sludge dust or fiber forms | \n
SW 202 | \nWaste catalysts | \n
SW 203 | \nImmobilized scheduled wastes including chemically fixed, encapsulated, solidified, or stabilized sludge | \n
SW 204 | \nSludge containing one or several metals including chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, cadmium, aluminum, tin, vanadium, and beryllium | \n
SW 205 | \nWaste gypsum arising from chemical industry or power plant | \n
SW 206 | \nSpent inorganic acids | \n
SW 207 | \nSludge containing fluoride | \n
SW 301 | \nSpent organic acids with pH less or equal to 2 which are corrosive or hazardous | \n
SW 302 | \nFlux waste containing mixture of organic acids, solvents, or compounds of ammonium chloride | \n
SW 303 | \nAdhesive or glue waste containing organic solvents excluding solid polymeric materials | \n
SW 304 | \nPress cake from pretreatment of glycerol soap lye | \n
SW 305 | \nSpent lubricating oil | \n
SW 306 | \nSpent hydraulic oil | \n
SW 307 | \nSpent mineral oil–water emulsion | \n
SW 308 | \nOil tanker sludge | \n
SW 309 | \nOil–water mixture such as ballast water | \n
SW 310 | \nSludge from mineral oil storage tank | \n
SW 311 | \nWaste oil or oily sludge | \n
SW 312 | \nOily residue from automotive workshop, service station, oil, or grease interceptor | \n
SW 313 | \nOil contaminated earth from re-refining of used lubricating oil | \n
SW 314 | \nOil or sludge from oil refinery plant maintenance operation | \n
SW 315 | \nTar or tarry residues from oil refinery or petrochemical plant | \n
SW 316 | \nAcid sludge | \n
SW 317 | \nSpent organometallic compounds including tetraethyl lead, tetramethyl lead, and organotin compounds | \n
SW 318 | \nWaste, substances, and articles containing or contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or polychlorinated triphenyls (PCT) | \n
SW 319 | \nWaste of phenols or phenol compounds including chlorophenol in the form of liquids or sludge | \n
SW 320 | \nWaste containing formaldehyde | \n
SW 321 | \nRubber or latex wastes or sludge containing organic solvents or heavy metals | \n
SW 322 | \nWaste of non-halogenated organic solvents | \n
SW 323 | \nWaste of halogenated organic solvents | \n
SW 324 | \nWaste of halogenated or unhalogenated non-aqueous distillation residues arising from organic solvents recovery process | \n
SW 325 | \nUncured resin waste containing organic solvents or heavy metals including epoxy resin and phenolic resin | \n
SW 326 | \nWaste of organic phosphorus compound | \n
SW 327 | \nWaste of thermal fluids (heat transfer) such as ethylene glycol | \n
SW401 | \nSpent alkalis containing heavy metals | \n
SW402 | \nSpent alkalis with pH more or equal to 11.5 which are corrosive or hazardous | \n
SW403 | \nDiscarded drugs containing psychotropic substances or containing substances that are toxic, harmful, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic | \n
SW404 | \nPathogenic wastes, clinical wastes, or quarantined materials | \n
SW405 | \nWaste arising from the preparation and production of pharmaceutical product | \n
SW406 | \nClinker, slag, and ashes from scheduled wastes incinerator | \n
SW407 | \nWaste containing dioxins or furans | \n
SW408 | \nContaminated soil, debris, or matter resulting from cleaning-up of a spill of chemical, mineral oil, or scheduled wastes | \n
SW409 | \nDisposed containers, bags, or equipment contaminated with chemicals, pesticides, mineral oil, or scheduled wastes | \n
SW410 | \nRags, plastics, papers, or filters contaminated with scheduled wastes | \n
SW411 | \nSpent activated carbon excluding carbon from the treatment of potable water and processes of the food industry and vitamin production | \n
SW412 | \nSludge containing cyanide | \n
SW413 | \nSpent salt containing cyanide | \n
SW414 | \nSpent aqueous alkaline solution containing cyanide | \n
SW415 | \nSpent quenching oils containing cyanides | \n
SW416 | \nSludge of inks, paints, pigments, lacquer, dye, or varnish | \n
SW417 | \nWaste of inks, paints, pigments, lacquer, dye, or varnish | \n
SW418 | \nDiscarded or off-specification inks, paints, pigments, lacquer, dye, or varnish products containing organic solvent | \n
SW419 | \nSpent di-isocyanates and residues of isocyanate compounds excluding solid polymeric material from foam manufacturing process | \n
SW420 | \nLeachate from scheduled waste landfill | \n
SW421 | \nA mixture of scheduled wastes | \n
SW422 | \nA mixture of scheduled and non-scheduled wastes | \n
SW423 | \nSpent processing solution, discarded photographic chemicals, or discarded photographic wastes | \n
SW424 | \nSpent oxidizing agent | \n
SW425 | \nWastes from the production, formulation, trade, or use of pesticides, herbicides, or biocides | \n
SW426 | \nOff-specification products from the production, formulation, trade, or use of pesticides, herbicides, or biocides | \n
SW427 | \nMineral sludge including calcium hydroxide sludge, phosphate sludge, calcium sulfite sludge, and carbonates sludge | \n
SW428 | \nWastes from wood preserving operation using inorganic salts containing copper, chromium, or arsenic of fluoride compounds or using compound containing chlorinated phenol or creosote | \n
SW429 | \nChemicals that are discarded or off-specification | \n
SW430 | \nObsolete laboratory chemicals | \n
SW431 | \nWaste from manufacturing or processing or use of explosives | \n
SW432 | \nWaste containing, consisting of or contaminated with, peroxides | \n
SW 501 | \nAny residues from treatment or recovery of scheduled wastes | \n
The 77 categories of first scheduled waste in the five grouping [7].
Malaysian government is set to ensure that industrial processes meet her environmental protection rules and regulations. It is a resolve demonstrated in a demand that chemicals must be produced and used such that risks and significant adverse effects are minimized on the environment and human health. The process involves cross-sector commitment of all stakeholders to coordinate approaches and common principles in the adoption and strengthening of good practices for a safe and ecologically sustainable chemicals management regime [8, 24].
\nThe manufacturing sector in Malaysia was the first identified generators of toxic and hazardous waste. The hazardous waste problems were very much noticeable between the 1970s and 1980s; this is connected to the boom in the manufacturing sector between 1966 and 1988. The manufacturing sector in 1966 contributed 11% to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), 24% in 1988 [25], and 24.6% in 2010 [26], while in 2012, the manufacturing sector contributed 24.2% to the Malaysian GDP [27]. The volume of hazardous waste generated from the Malaysia industrial sector in 1987 was about 400,000 tons, yet there was no institutional mechanism for managing the wastes [25]. In 2008, the hazardous waste generated was 1304902.74 metric tons [28, 29], while in 2011, it grew to 1622031.52 metric tons [29]. The hazardous waste generation for 2008 and 2011 is reported in Tables 2 and 3, respectively, showing the waste categories as presented in Table 1.
\nNo | \nWaste category | \nWaste code | \n2008 waste generation | \n|
---|---|---|---|---|
MT/Year | \nPercentage | \n|||
1 | \nDross/slag/clinker/ash | \nSW 104, 107, 406 | \n208319.53 | \n15.96 | \n
2 | \nGypsum | \nSW 205 | \n366771.99 | \n28.11 | \n
3 | \nMineral sludge | \nSW 427 | \n107122.05 | \n8.21 | \n
4 | \nHeavy metal sludge | \nSW 204, 105, 108 | \n91730.67 | \n7.03 | \n
5 | \nE-waste | \nSW 110 | \n102808.53 | \n7.88 | \n
6 | \nOil and hydrocarbon | \nSW 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 315, 415 | \n129701.99 | \n9.94 | \n
7 | \nClinical/pharmaceutica1 | \nSW 404, 403, 405 | \n26967.95 | \n2.07 | \n
8 | \nBatteries | \nSW 102, 103 | \n34283.59 | \n2.63 | \n
9 | \nAcid and alkaline | \nSW 206, 401, 414 | \n38179.66 | \n2.93 | \n
10 | \nUsed container/oil filter | \nSW 409 | \n38876.05 | \n2.98 | \n
11 | \nSpent solvent | \nSW 322, 323 | \n38062.81 | \n2.92 | \n
12 | \nContaminated paper and plastic | \nSW 41O | \n17270.40 | \n1.32 | \n
13 | \nInk and paint sludge | \nSW 416, 417, 418 | \n18695.75 | \n1.43 | \n
14 | \nResidue | \nSW 501 | \n13544.07 | \n1.04 | \n
15 | \nRubber sludge | \nSW 321 | \n15512.02 | \n1.19 | \n
16 | \nMixed wastes | \nSW 422, 421 | \n33928.70 | \n2.60 | \n
17 | \nPheno1/adhesive/resin | \nSW 325, 319, 303 | \n6184.99 | \n0.47 | \n
18 | \nCatalyst | \nSW 202 | \n5225.53 | \n0.40 | \n
19 | \nOthers | \nNA | \n6627.73 | \n0.51 | \n
20 | \nArsenic | \nSW 10l | \n– | \n– | \n
21 | \nChemical waste | \nSW 430, 429 | \n1169.75 | \n0.09 | \n
22 | \nContaminated land/soil | \nSW 408 | \n1324.77 | \n0.10 | \n
23 | \nPhotographic waste | \nSW 423 | \n418.77 | \n0.03 | \n
24 | \nContaminated active Carbon | \nSW 411 | \n934.42 | \n0.07 | \n
25 | \nPesticide | \nSW 426 | \n12.26 | \n0.00 | \n
26 | \nMercury | \nSW 109 | \n469.31 | \n0.04 | \n
27 | \nAsbestos | \nSW 201 | \n668.94 | \n0.05 | \n
28 | \nThermal fluids | \nSW 327 | \n– | \n– | \n
29 | \nSludge contain cyanide | \nSW 412 | \n84.78 | \n0.01 | \n
30 | \nPeroxide agent | \nSW 432 | \n5.73 | \n0.00 | \n
Total | \n1304902.74 | \n100.00 | \n
No | \nWaste category | \nWaste code | \n2011 Waste generation | \n|
---|---|---|---|---|
MT/Year | \nPercentage | \n|||
1 | \nDross/slag/clinker/ash | \nSW 104, 107, 406 | \n370789.09 | \n22.86 | \n
2 | \nGypsum | \nSW 205 | \n278139.00 | \n17.15 | \n
3 | \nMineral sludge | \nSW 427 | \n207445.01 | \n12.79 | \n
4 | \nHeavy metal sludge | \nSW 204, 105, 108 | \n173837.06 | \n10.72 | \n
5 | \nE-waste | \nSW 110 | \n152722.04 | \n9.42 | \n
6 | \nOil and hydrocarbon | \nSW 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 314, 315, 415 | \n133260.91 | \n8.22 | \n
7 | \nClinical/pharmaceutica1 | \nSW 404, 403, 405 | \n44674.52 | \n2.75 | \n
8 | \nBatteries | \nSW 102, 103 | \n41246.65 | \n2.54 | \n
9 | \nAcid and alkaline | \nSW 206, 401, 414 | \n38152.48 | \n2.35 | \n
10 | \nUsed container/oil filter | \nSW 409 | \n36706.83 | \n2.26 | \n
11 | \nSpent solvent | \nSW 322, 323 | \n30976.89 | \n1.91 | \n
12 | \nContaminated paper and plastic | \nSW 41O | \n23332.03 | \n1.44 | \n
13 | \nInk and paint sludge | \nSW 416, 417, 418 | \n19224.56 | \n1.19 | \n
14 | \nResidue | \nSW 501 | \n18118.39 | \n1.12 | \n
15 | \nRubber sludge | \nSW 321 | \n16130.66 | \n0.99 | \n
16 | \nMixed wastes | \nSW 422, 421 | \n10708.41 | \n0.66 | \n
17 | \nPheno1/adhesive/resin | \nSW 325, 319, 303 | \n7904.42 | \n0.49 | \n
18 | \nCatalyst | \nSW 202 | \n6229.05 | \n0.38 | \n
19 | \nOthers | \nNA | \n5505.33 | \n0.34 | \n
20 | \nArsenic | \nSW 10l | \n2131.57 | \n0.13 | \n
21 | \nChemical waste | \nSW 430, 429 | \n1327.61 | \n0.08 | \n
22 | \nContaminated land/soil | \nSW 408 | \n1072.87 | \n0.07 | \n
23 | \nPhotographic waste | \nSW 423 | \n587.63 | \n0.04 | \n
24 | \nContaminated active carbon | \nSW 411 | \n510.03 | \n0.03 | \n
25 | \nPesticide | \nSW 426 | \n487.10 | \n0.03 | \n
26 | \nMercury | \nSW 109 | \n434.18 | \n0.03 | \n
27 | \nAsbestos | \nSW 201 | \n194.11 | \n0.01 | \n
28 | \nThermal fluids | \nSW 327 | \n178.00 | \n0.01 | \n
29 | \nSludge contain cyanide | \nSW 412 | \n5.09 | \n0.00 | \n
30 | \nPeroxide agent | \nSW 432 | \n– | \n– | \n
Total | \n1622031.52 | \n100.00 | \n
Hazardous waste generation by category for year 2011 [29].
Analysis of the hazardous waste generation growth rate between 2008 and 2011.
The highest volume of hazardous waste generated in 2008 was from gypsum with a total volume of 366771.99 metric tons, while in 2011, Dross/Slag/Clinker/Ash was the highest with 370789.09 metric tons of hazardous waste. Pesticide showed the highest percentage growth which is connected to the rapidly growing agricultural status of Malaysia, most especially the oil palm. In 2008, the hazardous waste generated from pesticides was 12.26 metric tons which drastically shot up to 487.1 metric tons in 2011, showing an increase of 474.84 metric tons in three years translating to 3873% increase waste generation compared to the waste generated in 2008. An analysis of the variation in the hazardous waste generation between 2008 and 2011 by categories is analyzed in Figure 1. It was found that even though oil and hydrocarbon was a strong industry in Malaysia, the change in the waste generation was (3558.92) lower than the change in clinical and pharmaceutical waste which increased by 17706.57 metric tons between 2008 and 2011. Similar observation can be made from the figure for other waste categories such as mineral sludge, batteries, and heavy metal sludge. There was no reference on the reason for the change, but it can be attributed to the sound safety and environmental regulations in the oil and gas industries championed by PETRONAS in Malaysia [30].
\nThe core objective of pollution control and waste management was centered on human health protection and environmental cleanliness [31]. The Environmental Quality Act (EQA) of 1974 is the foundation of almost all the environmental protection and waste management policies in Malaysia. The EQA was enacted in 1974 and came into force in 1975 and has since been amended in 1976, 1985, and 1996 to meet the changing technologies and meet international standards. Hazardous waste management during the boom in the manufacturing sectors was unsuccessful because no regulation was in place till 1989; thus, there were no comprehensive hazardous waste management facilities in Malaysia. Industrial wastes were disposal freely into refuse disposal sites [25] which were unsuitable as destinations for hazardous waste without proper treatment. The improper disposals led to poor air quality near the disposal sites, contamination of ground water, and surface water bodies by chemical and biological agents from the waste dumps/disposal sites causing adverse effects on human health and the environment [32]. To protect the environment and the health of the citizens, the Sixth Malaysia Plan 1991–1995 clearly defined the policy statement for full integration of environmental concerns into all development processes of the nation with direct focus on sustainable development [33, 34]. As the adverse effects became known, industries began to treat, recycle, and reuse some of their waste materials [35]. The Malaysia Government also stepped up programs to render all scheduled waste harmless by enacting policies for scheduled wastes to be treated at the waste generation point or at specially designed treatment plants following the National Policy on the Environment. This policy, launched in 2002, is aimed at harmonizing economic development goals in line with environmental imperatives following the dictates of the Eight Malaysia Plan [36]. The enforcement of the regulations with some tax rebates to promote compliance and penalties for non-compliance made the industries become active players in waste reduction and recycling [37].
\nIn the Environment Quality Act, 1974 as amended, legislation on hazardous waste management has the main objective of controlling/regulating waste generation and improving waste management process and procedure in Malaysia. The legislation describes waste management process from generation, storage, handling, treatment, and final disposal. The EQA, 1974 is the primary legislation upon which other subsidiary environmental legislations and policies are built. Other environment regulations are also in place for the management of hazardous wastes as shown below:
\nEnvironmental Quality (prescribed activities) (environmental impact assessment) Order 1987: This order is established following the dictates of EQA 1974, section 34A. The article 18a of the order is centered on waste treatment and disposal of toxic and hazardous waste outlining the developmental plan and procedure for sustainable management of hazardous waste. The plans and procedures are stipulated for the construction of incineration plants, off-site recovery plants, off-site waste water treatment plants, secure landfill sites, and off-site waste storage facilities [38].
Environmental Quality (scheduled wastes) Regulations, 1989: This document contains regulations specifically for the management of scheduled waste from generation to final disposal. It classifies the most common hazardous scheduled wastes generated in Malaysia and defines a case of incompatible scheduled waste which is a condition, where a non-hazardous waste can be treated as hazardous waste. These regulations have been replaced by Environmental Quality (scheduled wastes) Regulations, 2005.
Environmental Quality (prescribed premises) (scheduled wastes treatment and disposal facilities) Order, 1989: The order prescribed the premises occupation or use a holder of a license issued will cover. The premise occupation include off-site storage facilities, off-site treatment facilities, off-site recovery facilities, scheduled waste incinerators, land treatment facilities, and secure landfills.
Environmental Quality (prescribed premises) (scheduled waste treatment and disposal facilities) Regulations, 1989: These regulations support the order 1989 and set procedure for licensing for prescribed premises (scheduled waste treatment and disposal facilities).
In compliance with the Basel Convention on control of transboundary hazardous waste, import and export orders were formulated under the Malaysian Customs Act, 1967 which prohibits importation or exportation of hazardous wastes unless with prior written approval from the Director General of the Department of Environment. The two orders are as follows:
\nCustom (Prohibition of Export) Order (Amendment) (No. 2) 1993 now replaced with Custom (Prohibition of Export) Order 1998.
Custom (Prohibition of Import) Order (Amendment) (No. 2) 1993 now replace with Custom (Prohibition of Import) Order 1998.
The Department of Environment of Malaysia does not encourage the import of hazardous waste into the country. Waste generators are allowed to export waste for recycling, recovery, or treatment with prior written approval from the importing state to discourage abuse of other nations’ rights. On importation of used electrical and electronics equipment, Malaysia does allow such importations, provided the products are not older than three years from manufacturing date following the guideline policies for the classification of used electrical and electronic equipment in Malaysia 2008, revised 2010 [39].
\nThe waste management facilities used by the various waste management operators in Malaysia depend on the waste that the operators handle. Below is the current hazardous waste management facilities used in Malaysia.
\nScheduled/hazardous waste transport facilities.
Off-site waste storage and waste transfer stations/facilities.
Secure landfill—for final disposal of stabilized wastes.
Scheduled waste incineration plant which can be on-site or off-site activities depending on the type of waste and volume generation.
Clinical waste incineration—specifically for the management of clinical and pharmaceutical wastes.
Off-site physio-chemical waste treatment facilities for waste stabilization or solidification for final landfilling.
Centralized waste treatment facility (e.g., electroplating park).
Resource recovery—this involves the recovery of reusable materials from hazardous waste such as oily wastes, metal dross/metal hydroxide, and catalyst.
Land treatment—treatment of contaminated land.
Waste water/sewage treatment facilities.
To establish any of the facilities, the operator needs to apply for a license through the office of the Director General of the Department of Environment. The licensing process is well detailed in Part III of the EQA, 1974 as amended. The process involves the following four stages:
\nEnvironmental impact assessment (EIA)—proposes site inspection to access suitability for the operation against environmental pollution following the developmental plan of Malaysia.
Processing of the written permission—Provision of all qualifying document for the operator to prove capability to run the operation in conformity with the EQA, 1974 and other environmental regulations.
Pre-licensing inspection.
Processing of the operating license.
A hazardous waste facility is any of the government-approved waste management facility that observes ethical practices and sustainable development. The facilities include contiguous land, waste storage facility, waste recovery facility, recycling facility, incinerator, and secure landfill [40]. A hazardous waste facility can function independently depending on the type of hazardous waste that it handles or may require a combination of technologies as in the case of commercial facility processing different types of wastes. The different facilities available in Malaysia for hazardous waste management include the following:
\nIn the mid-1960s through 1980, Malaysia experienced rapid economic growth in the manufacturing sector which triggered the generation of hazardous wastes in Malaysia and the associated negative effects on the environment [25]. The Malaysian government recognized the growing problem of hazardous waste generation in the country and worked out general waste management strategies to carter for her waste generations. The growing concern on hazardous waste generation led to a survey by a Danish consultancy corporation, which findings helped in drafting regulations on hazardous waste management in 1984. Further surveys on hazardous waste generation and the effect on the environment were conducted by the Department of Environmental (DOE) in 1985 [25]. After several surveys and review of reports of findings on the growing problems of hazardous waste, the Malaysian Government issued the first formal legislation on hazardous waste in 1989. The legislation was supported with the development of a national scheduled waste program aimed at developing an integrated scheduled waste management system which was given to two private companies to design. In 1995, one of the companies, Kualiti Alam Sdn. Bhd, a consortium of Malaysian and Danish companies was given approval to establish integrated scheduled waste plant and was granted the exclusive right operate the plant for 15 years. Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd was given the responsibilities for waste collection, transportation, treatment, and final disposal of hazardous waste [41, 42].
\nThe integrated scheduled waste management system of Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd is a centralized integrated waste management center (WMC) developed to use a combination of multiple technologies in the treatment and final disposal of different types of scheduled wastes. The waste management center initially has four integrated treatment facilities comprising incineration plant, physio-chemical treatment plant, solidification plant, and secure landfill but currently includes another facility for clinical waste treatment as shown in Figure 2. The facility treats all the categories of scheduled wastes except radioactive waste, pathological waste, and explosive waste.
\nKualiti Alam end-to-end facilities of the waste management center.
Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd treats about 120,000 metric tons of Malaysia’s industrial wastes per year [43]. Industrial wastes are categorized following the organic carbon content where wastes that contain organic carbon level above 10% are disposed only by incineration. Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd incineration plant design incorporates a rotary kiln, secondary combustion chamber, and flue gas-cleaning system. The incinerator, as shown in Figure 3 operates at high temperature, thus volatilely destroys all the hazardous scheduled waste channeled to it including polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs contaminated wastes. The ash produced at Kualiti Alam incineration process is around 14,000 metric tons of bottom ash which are disposed to secured landfills lined with impermeable layers [43]. A full landfill will be covered to protect it from rainwater and to minimize seepage using low-density polyethylene liner, but this covering process is not 100% effective. A recent study investigated a sustainable method of managing the ash and found nearness of the ash composition to cement [43].
\nKualiti Alam incineration facility.
Hazardous waste solidification plant of Kualiti Alam stabilizes neutral inorganic waste and reduces hazardous substances mobility. The system traps contaminants within their host medium and bind them into solid matrix [44]. The facility has a capacity of 15,000 MT/year. Physical and chemical methods are often used in combination with solidification, to separate or transform hazardous substances to less harmful materials. Inorganic wastes are reduced to neutral pH values and other management method like stabilization will be employed.
\nThe secured landfill is the final destination of stabilized or reduced waste. Incineration by-products like slags, fly ash, and flue gas cleaning products with other residues do undergo solidification and finally deposited in the secure landfill. The landfill is constructed with some monitoring sensors as shown in Figure 4. The monitoring system is a specific requirement from the department of environment to prevent ground contaminations.
\nSecured landfill.
Inspections of waste management facilities are carried out by the Department of Environment, which is a part of the procedural standards for the licensing of waste management facilities or license renewal for operators. The inspections include inspection of schedule of compliance for written permission and pre-license inspection. A routine annual inspection for operating facility which requires license renewal is one of the major inspections. This routine inspection helps the Department of Environment to monitor and keep updated record of the various operating facilities. There is also an unscheduled inspection when there is sign or report of operator contravening the regulation of the EQA 1974 and other acts. Hazardous waste management facility inspections from pre-licensing period to operations depend on the type of facility the operator applied for.
\nScheduled hazardous wastes | \nRecovery | \nPCT | \nSolidification | \nIncineration | \nSecured landfill | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reactive agent, acidic substances and alkalis | \n\n | \n | \n | ||
Metallic solids/heavy metals | \n\n | \n | |||
Metallic solution/sludge of heavy metals | \n\n | \n | |||
Inorganic sludge | \n\n | \n | \n | ||
Inert inorganic waste | \n\n | \n | \n | \n | |
Organic solvents | \n\n | \n | \n | ||
Organic oil contaminates | \n\n | \n | \n | ||
Agro-pesticides/herbicides | \n\n | \n | \n | \n | |
Chlorinated hydrocarbons | \n\n | \n | \n | \n | |
Resins, organic sludge, and paints | \n\n | \n | \n |
Waste treatment options for some hazardous waste categories.
There are several treatment methods available for hazardous waste management. The waste management methods considered by government are waste reduction (most sustainable procedure), recover/reuse, physio-chemical treatment (PCT), thermal treatment/incineration, solidification, and biological methods. Some waste treatment options used in the management of scheduled wastes are analyzed in Table 4.
\n\nThe focus in this chapter has been the status of hazardous waste management in Malaysia. As highlighted, industrial waste is the major source of hazardous waste in Malaysia, and the nations’ approach to hazardous waste management is very well designed and in line with the nation’s development plan. The management process is designed such that only licensed operators can handle and treat hazardous waste. Close monitoring of the industries is enforced and sanctions swiftly imposed on erring operators to help keep everyone in line. There is still much to do in the management of agro-hazardous waste as most of the wastes are associated with fertilizer and pesticides usage. The oil/hydrocarbon industry was found to be more conscious following the growth in the waste generated between 2008 and 2011. Clinical waste, which is high-potent hazardous substance, is growing so much and the regulators should pay more attention to that sector and devise more stringent rules on its management. Zero waste generation (reduction) concept is the most sustainable option for Malaysia and can only be achieved if rules are set for waste generators to pay higher fees per kilogram of waste generated.
\nThe mountains are vital to life on Earth. Approximately 27% of the Earth’s surface (40 million km2) are covered by mountains [1], which possess at least one third of the species of the entire species diversity of terrestrial plants [2] and, at the same time, supply half of the human population with water [3, 4]. In the course of natural development, high mountains have become a refuge of many rare, endangered and endemic species and habitats [5]. Plant communities, differentiated both by height and species, very effectively capture water precipitation, snow, fog and ice. They regulate their runoff, allow uniform distribution of moisture throughout the soil horizon profile, and ensure a long-term balanced water regime [3]. For these reasons, plant communities in high altitudes have an irreplaceable role. These are mainly spring areas of watercourses, which are currently the last surface sources of clean water [4].
The alpine landscape in particular represents a unique biogeographical unit of the Earth. The territory covered by alpine vegetation is fragmented into several mountain regions [6, 7]. Alpine landscape can be found at all latitudes [8, 9]. It occupies 4 million km2, which represents almost 3% of the Earth’s land surface. Alpine vegetation hides a great variety of species around the world, including 8,000–10,000 species of vascular plants. Alpine ecosystems have a strong impact on humans. Around 10% of the world’s population lives in high-altitude regions, and more than 40% of them depend in some way on the resources of these ecosystems, in particular drinking and irrigation water from high altitude basins [9].
The alpine landscape of Slovakia is understood as mountains with developed upper forest boundaries and higher vegetation zones: subalpine, alpine and subnival [10]. The subalpine vegetation zone follows the montane vegetation zone and ends with an upper limit of the continuous occurrence of shrubland at an altitude of approximately 1850 m above sea level. [11]. The alpine zone follows the subalpine zone and extends to a height of about 2300 m above sea level. It consists of original, primary alpine meadows, which extend over the shrubland zone, the so-called alpine grasslands. The subnival zone is the highest vegetation zone of the Tatras at altitudes from 2300 m to the highest peaks. The vegetation is poor, more continuous vegetation cover does not exist, plants occupy rock cracks, walls and slits. In Slovakia, the alpine landscape occupies 320 km2, which represents 0.7% of the country’s territory [12]. The island character of the high mountains, their height and substratum ruggedness created suitable conditions for the creation of a varied mosaic of vegetation types with a number of naturally rare, relict and endemic plants. The Alpine landscape in Slovakia is found only in national parks, which mainly protect their ecosystems.
The unique alpine landscape with which humans have been connected since the past is represented by the smallest high mountains in the world, the Tatra Mountains. In the past, in the places where now exist the highest peaks, prehistoric seas were spreading, massive layers of sediments were deposited, mountain-forming processes were taking place and prehistoric animals were moving around the landscape. Today’s appearance of the Tatras has been completed by processes in the last two million years. Mountain massifs elevated by alpine folding with remains of layers of sedimentary rocks formed mountain glaciers during probably four ice ages. They pushed huge volumes of rubble out of them and gave them the character of high mountains. The alternation of hot and cold periods, dry and humid periods in the Holocene was the key to the development of today’s plant and animal kingdom. In the 11th century, they were surrounded by one large primary forest, and until the 14th century only isolated shepherds, treasure hunters and lumberjacks wandered into their valleys. Major changes occurred in the 14th − 17th centuries, when Wallachian colonization was directed to higher mountain areas. In the 18th – 19th centuries, most of the accessible forests were grubbed up for the needs of mining, metallurgy and construction. Following the shepherds and lumberjacks came researchers, tourists and climbers [13].
People perceived the rare beauty of the mountains and their uniqueness in the distant past. In order to preserve them, they declared the first protected areas. The aim was protection of their beauty, protection for religious and utilitarian reasons and protection of wildlife with original game for hunting. Later, biological, biogeographical and ecological aspects were pushed to the fore, such as protection of rare and endangered species and their habitats, protection of representative ecosystems, up to the systemically understood protection of natural ecosystems and original ecological processes [14].
However, a question has been hanging over national parks since the creation of the first ones – how to preserve the original nature from the emerging anthropic pressure and, at the same time, how to make the national park available for recreation and relaxation? This is a global issue applying to national parks around the world [14]. Protected areas are now considered as effective and promising instruments not only of a global strategy, but also of national strategies aimed at combating biodiversity loss [15, 16]. The mission of nature conservation areas is to preserve biodiversity and functioning natural ecosystems that serve as a refuge for many endangered plant and animal species and provide ecosystem services. However, they are often disturbed in most of the area of the intensively used landscape that surrounds them [14, 15, 16]. Despite great efforts to preserve the nature of the mountains, there are still significant changes in the environment. These changes are the result of climate change, deforestation or natural disasters, in many places in less developed countries in the world, also of mineral extraction, armed conflicts, poverty and hunger. In more advanced countries, as a result of modern times that have brought about the development of sports facilities, recreation and tourism, new roads, hotels and lifts have been built. This is a global trend. More than 50 million people visit mountains every year [17]. Many mountain towns around the world depend on the development of tourism. Catering and accommodation services for tourists who come to admire the mountains are developed in the villages.
The Tatras, despite their protection, they are threatened by an increasing number of tourists and increasing demands for the construction of infrastructure connected with services. In this chapter, we focus on the area located on the border of the High and Belianske Tatras, where the alpine landscape is characterized by various degrees of destruction, but, at the same time, almost undisturbed unique nature. We focus on the impacts of human activities on the high mountain landscape during the past and at present.
The area of interest represents the border area between the High Tatras and the Belianske Tatras (Figure 1), which are parts of the Tatra Mountains. We chose it because of its rarity and uniqueness, but also because of the damage caused by human activities during the past and at present.
Study area (Source: mapy.cz).
The Tatra Mountains belong to the Alpine and Himalayan system and are a part of the extensive range of the Carpathian Mountains, spreading over the territories of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia. The entire mountain range covers approximately 210,000 km2, the length of the Carpathian arch reaches 1,500 km, the width ranges from approximately 12 to 350 km [18]. The highest part of the Carpathians are the Tatras, namely the High Tatras and Gerlachovský Peak with an altitude of 2654 m, which is their highest peak. Within the Carpathians, the study area belongs to the extensive mountain province of the Western Carpathians, situated in the western part of the Carpathian Mountains. The arc of the Western Carpathians extends to the territories of the Czech Republic (namely Moravia and Silesia), Slovakia, Poland (smaller northern part), Hungary (south-eastern part) and Austria (south-western parts). The total area of the Western Carpathians is about 70,000 km2, the length of the mountains reaches 400 km. The course of the narrow Pieniny Klippen Belt divides the Western Carpathians into external and internal, which differ significantly in their geological history, geological composition and tectonic development [19].
The Tatras are considered to be a model of a high mountain range, because all typical alpine features can be found here in a relatively small area [20]. The environment which prevailed in the Tatras in the last Ice Age significantly marked the ductility of their surface. The relatively short warmer period of the Holocene (Ice Age, the younger Quarternary) was not enough to reshape these older forms of relief [21]. The High Tatras (Figure 2 and 3) are the highest mountain range of the Western Carpathians, formed by glacial activity. The Belianske Tatras (Figure 4) are considerably smaller than the High Tatras, it is the highest carbonate mountain range of the Western Carpathians, thanks to its Mesozoic sediments characterized by a characteristic gradation of mountain massifs [22].
The High Tatras – the tarn Veľké Biele pleso (1615 m MSL) (Piscová, 2021).
The High Tatras, the summit Belianska kopa (1835 m MSL) (Hreško, 2005).
The Belianske Tatras (Hreško, 2005).
Climatically, the Tatras fall into a cold area with a predominantly cold and cold mountain district. The area of the upper limit of the forest is characterized by an average annual air temperature of 2–4°C, an average July temperature of 10–12°C and an average annual rainfall of 900–1,200 mm. Above the border of the forest, the temperatures are even lower and precipitation is higher [23].
A general characteristic of the soils of the High Tatras is an acidic to very acidic soil reaction. In the Alpine landscape of the Tatras we can find the following soil types: lithosols, rankers, rendzinas, cambisols and podsols [24].
There are two national parks in the whole territory of the Tatras: in the territory of Slovakia the Tatra National Park (TANAP), declared in 1948 with effect from 1 January 1949, with an area of 1,045 km2 (of which the national park’s own territory has 738 km2, national park protection zone 307 km2), and in Poland Tatrzański Park Narodowy, declared in 1954 with effect from 1 January 1955, with an area of 212 km2. TANAP is the first and therefore the oldest national park in Slovakia. It was established by the Slovak National Council law No. 11/1948 Coll. on the Tatra National Park [25]. Its protection is currently provided for by Legislative Act No. 543/2002 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection [26], as amended.
Biosphere reserve Tatry (BR Tatras) entered into the world network of biosphere reserves on 15th February 1993 with an area of 113,251 ha. It is a bilateral biosphere reserve, which includes TANAP and its buffer zone (on the territory of the Slovak Republic) and Tatrzański Park Narodowy TPN (on the territory of Poland).
In addition to the protected areas at national level, the territory of the Tatras is also defined according to European legislation, in order to preserve the natural heritage important not only for the member state, but for the entire EU. These are the two directives: (1) Council Directive of the European Communities No. 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds (Birds Directive) [27] and (2) Council Directive No. 92/43/EEC on the conservation of habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive) [28]. The Natura 2000 network consists of two types of areas: areas of European importance and protected bird areas. The area of European importance for Slovakia is defined by the Decree of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 3/2004–5.1 of 14 July 2004 [29], which issues a national list of areas of European importance, and the protected bird area is established by the Decree of the Ministry of Environment No. 4/2011 Coll. [30], which declares the Protected Bird Area of the Tatras.
The studied area represents the boundary area of two geologically and geomorphologically distinct parts of the Tatras. The High Tatras, mainly due to its glacial relief, rock composition and specific climatic conditions, represent the most attractive area of year-round tourism. The Belianske Tatras represent one of the highest limestone mountains in Slovakia. With its habitats of rare communities and a number of endemics and glacial relics they are among the rarest and most endangered mountains in Slovakia. The studied area is located in the national nature reserve Belianske Tatras, which was declared to protect a territory with a great variety of species (even rare and endemic) and communities of fauna and flora, to protect the richness of glacial forms of relief on granites and mylonites as these geosystems are very unstable. In the past, especially due to the unbearably high number of visitors of this area, the rare ecosystems of the Belianske Tatras were damaged. In the study area, grazing, mining activities, general removal of shrubland and later unbearable hiking were taking place. The Belianske Tatras ridge trail has been closed to tourists since 1978. Since 1993, a part of the Monkova dolina valley has been accessible in one direction, since 2009 in two directions.
The Belianske Tatras represent one of the highest limestone mountains in Slovakia, with its habitats with rare communities and a number of endemics and glacial relics are among the rarest and most endangered mountains in Slovakia. The studied area is located in the Belianske Tatry National Natural Preserve (NNP), which was declared in 1991 by the Decree of the Slovak Commission for the Environment No. 166/1991 Coll. of 15.1.1991 on the State Nature Reserves and the Protected Sites in the TANAP [31]. The subject of NNP protection are habitats with rare communities and a number of endemics and glacial relics and the richness of glacial forms of relief on granites and mylonites, which are very unstable.
After the retreat of glaciers, deep glacial valleys, morenas, lakes, rocky ridges with many peaks, towers and needles interwoven with tight saddles were created in the Tatras. After the end of the Ice Age (plesitocene), i.e. approximately 12,000 years ago, the vegetation of the Tatras began to form. On the outskirts of the Tatras, the vegetation in the glacier neighborhood had a tundra character with species of bush-like growth, such as
In the preboreal (8300–6800 BC), the climate was colder on average by about 5°C than today and in the Tatras there was a dramatic change in the representation of tree and non-tree vegetation. Its ratio changed from 1:1 to 10:1. The upper limit of the forest was at a height of about 90–1000 m MSL, in addition to spruce it consisted of smaller areas of shrubs and stunted birch. Areas above 2000 m MSL were still covered by permanent snow and ice. In the boreal (6800–5500 BC), the average temperature increased by about 2°C more than at present. The upper limit of the forest was pushed to a height of 1700 m. In the forests predominated spruce, pine, fir, and towards the end of the period larches and broadleaves (lime, oak, birch). The Atlantic (5500–2500 BC) was a period with a relatively humid and warm climate, the temperature was higher by 3°C than today, precipitation was 60–70% more abudndant. The upper limit of the forest in the Tatras consisted of continuous pine-spruce forests with representation of larch and fir. On the southern side of the Tatras it reached a height of 1800 m MSL and on the northern side up to 1700 m MSL. Above the spruce stage, a strip of shrubland extending up to 2200 m MSL was formed. The pine remained more continuous only in cliff habitats. In the Subboreal (2500–800 BC), the temperature was slightly higher than it is now, but the air was drier, especially towards the end of this period. In this period, we can assume the development of spruce forests, at lower altitudes beech and fir were also more abundantly represented. In mixed oak forests, oak prevailed over other plants, while elms almost disappeared completely. At the end of the Subboreal roughly the same zoning of vegetation with regard to the altitude that still exists today was formed. At the beginning of the Subatlantic (750 BC to the present day), the climate partially cooled down and was perhaps colder than it is today. The upper limit of the forest was lowered and vegetation elevational zones were stabilised as we know them today [21].
During the development of vegetation, the Tatras and their parts have become a specific territory for the occurrence of many endemics. Species such
Several different plant growth forms have adapted to grow and reproduce under harsh environmental conditions [9, 35, 36]. As the altitude increases, the temperature decreases, the length of the vegetation season decreases and precipitation and humidity increase, which also causes the composition of the flora to change. These rare cushion-forming plants are one of the most conspicuous plants found in the most exposed alpine habitats [7]. Due to their low stature and compact form, cushion plants can modify environmental conditions creating particular microclimates within their canopies [9, 37], cushions are maintaining higher temperatures than their surrounding environment [38], reduce the wind speed by up to 90% [39], create their own humus and the diversity in the cushions is higher by 30–50% [37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45], suggesting that cushions may influence the survival of other species [38]. Cushion plants also occur in the study area (Figures 7 and 8). The cushion plant form is not endemic to any single area or plant family. Cushion plants grow very slowly, with this inhibited growth there is increased longevity, with the largest cushions of some species reaching ages of up to 350–3000 years [46, 47].
Cushion plants on the Hlúpy vrch (2061 m MSL) (Piscová, 2011).
Cushion plants (Piscová, 2011).
The alpine plant communities on the limestone subsoil of the Belianske and parts of the High Tatras with tourist trails are floristically extremely rich [48]. Their nomenclature is given in accordance with the work [49]. The surroundings of the trail leading from Tatranská Javorina (1000 m MSL) to Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) are lined with communities
The trail leading from the Veľké Biele pleso (1615 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) is lined by communities
The hiking trail leading from the Široké sedlo (1825 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) passes through the communities
The closed trail leading from the Široké sedlo (1825 m MSL) to the Ždiarska vidla (2142 m MSL) is lined near the saddle by communities
The closed trail leading from Vyšné Kopské sedlo (1933 m MSL) through a part of the Belianske Tatras, Front Medďodoly is lined near the saddle by the community
Only in the ridge positions of the Belianske Tatras are there Central European relic communities of strongly blown ridges and edges of the alpine to subnival zone
The current state of animal distribution in the territory of the Tatra National Park is the result of long-term effects of natural and human factors. The Tatra fauna was particularly influenced by the cold periods (in the ice ages), from which the descendants of species inhabiting the northern taiga and tundra came [50]. The cold seasons were followed by warmer seasons with thermophilic species from eastern and south-eastern Europe. The Tatra fauna is therefore characterised by various geographical components, including mainly cosmopolitan, Palearctic, European (Euro-Siberian, Boreoalpine, Boreal, Samaric, Sudeten Carpathian) and endemic species.
A colourful metallic coloured
The mammals in the subalpine and alpine zones, include relict species of the
The Tatras were surrounded by one large primary forest until the 11th century. Until the 14th century, only isolated shepherds, treasure hunters and lumberjacks [13] had strayed into the valleys. Later, the territory was influenced by pastoralism, mining, hunting and poaching, hiking, mountaineering and tourism. Thus, the scale and structure of the original landscape of the mountain range have been disrupted by human activity for centuries.
Major changes occurred in the 14th−17th centuries, when Wallachian colonization was directed to higher mountain areas. The foothills of the Belianske Tatras were chronologically grazed as the first of the entire Tatras. Pastoralism used almost all vegetation cover, the average height of the upper limit of pastures reached up to 2000 m MSL and grazing took place even on very poorly accessible terrain [13]. Wooden huts of mountain sheep farming in the Belianske Tatras lay at an average height of almost 1500 m MSL. In the years 1891–1895 there was also a cheese factory north of the Belianska kopa. According to statistical data, the grazing culminated in the Belianske Tatras in 1803 [51]. At the time of the enactment of TANAP, landowners in the Belianske Tatras continued to have herds. The year 1955 was the last year of grazing in the Belianske Tatras [52].
The considerable consumption of wood at the salaše, but also the deliberate destruction of stands with the intention of expanding the grazing area contributed substantially to the disruption of the climatic upper limit of the forest (up to 200–300 m) and in many places the zone of shrubland almost completely disappeared. Meadow and pasture communities have become replacement communities after felled forests or burnt shrublands. The originally vast shrublands have been removed. On the secondary mountain grasslands (Figure 9) we may find
A territory grazed in the past (Piscová, 2013).
The burning of shrublands in order to spread grazing seriously disturbed the original ecosystem, which led to erosion of the soil cover and violation of the water regime with all associated negative consequences (e.g. deterioration of the absorption ratios [53].
After the end of grazing, there was a change in the herbaceous vegetation. Favourable results were apparent within two years of the end of grazing [54]. The number of synanthrope species decreased significantly, grass representation decreased and the number of vascular plants increased, secondary plant communities thus gradually disappeared, shrubland became naturally younger and succession progressed. However, on former pastures there are abandoned soils that are not able to produce and are difficult to regenerate, and there are, for example, old roads to sheepfolds left by shepherds, which are only slowly being overgrown. Negatives associated with the succession and overgrowth of former flowery mountainous grasslands with monotonous overgrowth of competitively very strong species of the genus
During the Turkish invasion of Central Europe in the 16th century, mining also began to develop here. The development of mining led to the appearance of coal miners who burned wood into charcoal for furnaces in which ore was melted. Copper ore was mined in Kopské sedlo, silver was mined in Belianská kopa and gold in Jatky. The mining sites were still visible at the end of the 19th century. Gold was sought on Belianska kopa and on the ridge between Kopské sedlo and the Jahňací štít. Mines on Belianska kopa are documented by the charter of the town of Spišská Belá from 1585 [52]. Despite the enactment of the Tatra National Park in 1949, mining activity in the territory was definitively prohibited only by the Act of the Slovak National Council No. 287/199 Coll. SNR on State Nature Conservation [56].
The most obvious traces of mining were destroyed stands with consequences in the form of bad drainage conditions and losses of forest land. Therefore, a very significant element was that it changed the character of the region mainly due to the emergence of bare slopes. Nevertheless, since then, deliberately by foresters, but also by natural processes, these changes have softened or even disappeared [13].
In the alpine landscape, oilmen sought sustenance by the acquisition of medicinal oils and herbs and in their trade with them. In addition to balm, conifer oil and medicinal herbal extracts were used to produce other essences that were used in the treatment of the sick and in religious ceremonies [57]. An important location for oilmen in the Belianske Tatras was the Predné Meďodoly, where the so-called terpene and shrub oil factory was established [58]. It was located near the Biele plesá tarns. In 1890, the idea arose to develop a large-scale production of shrub oils. In 1897, the city of Kežmarok concluded a contract with the right to extract any quantity of shrub in the valleys of the Biela voda, the Zelené pleso tarn and the Biele plesá tarns and to distill aromatic oils from them on the spot. A working-class dormitory and a factory of medicinal ‘oleum Pini pumilionis’ shrub oils were built near the Biele plesá tarns. Due to a violation of the forest law of 1879, the contract was cancelled and the buildings were demolished. Pinus cembra oil “balsamus carpathicus” from the pinus cembra needles, twigs and cones [59] also played an important role in Spiš medicine.
The oil industry had a degrading effect mainly on shrub and pinus cembra stands.
In the past, the owners of the Tatra mountainous territory, the kings and later the lower nobility, ordered their subjects to hunt in the area with the establishment of a mandatory game amount. The German prince, Prince Christian Kraft Hohenlohe, who bought a part of the Belianske Tatras in 1879, was one of the greatest hunters in the Tatras. He set up a game reserve here, in which people hunted until 1922 [60]. There were also poaching events in the Belianske Tatras, especially aimed at the marmot and chamois [57]. Poaching increased the most during the years 1919–1922. Due to extinction of the marmot in the Belianske Tatras, the restitution of marmots took place in 2009.
Hunting and poaching significantly affected the autochtonous fauna, which persisted even after the icing of past periods [61].
The period of World War I is associated with a decrease in the number of grazed sheep in the Belianske Tatras, the number halved compared to 1803 [59]. During World War II, the German army captured the territory of the Belianske Tatras. Under the Hlúpy vrch, soldiers established a high-mountain firing position. In the massif of the Hlúpy vrch, or between the Hlúpy vrch (2060 m MSL) and the Zadné Jatky (2019 m MSL) there are preserved bunkers of the German army and trenches for artillery fire positions carved in the rock. The transport of military equipment, ammunition, food and necessary material to the ridge of the Belianske Tatras was provided from Tatranská Javorina through the Zadné Meďodoly by Soviet prisoners guarded by German soldiers [62]. Bunkers − artificial underground spaces were built in a mining way with the help of explosives documented in 1993–1995 by speleologists [63]. The limestones of which the bunker is formed are heavily cracked due to the method of construction (blasting). The Germans’ stay on the ridge of the Belianske Tatras was reflected in the condition of the chamois. [51] states that the soldiers contributed to the strong decimation of the marmot population as well.
In the past, coal miners, treasure hunters, hunters, but also domestic nobility, stepped into the valleys and on the peaks. In the dense Tatra forests, robbers and deserters, smugglers or serfs found their refuge. Only in the 16th century can we consider the discovery of the Tatras associated with the first attempts at tourist walks [61]. The first tourist hike in the study area was made by Kežmarok castle’s lady Beata Laská in 1565 [59]. The mountains began to be visited by educators, students, and later especially by the public.
The construction of hiking trails in the study area dates from 1879. In 1898 the Veľké Biele Pleso tarn received a tourist connection from Tatranská Kotlina. The extension of this trail to Kopské sedlo was established in 1905. The hiking trail continues from Kopské sedlo through Zadné Medďodoly to Tatranská Javorina. In 1938, a new trail to Predné Meďodoly was built, because the original path was exposed to falling stones, landslides and snow avalanches [59, 64].
In 1922, the army, together with the Czechoslovak Tourist Club, built a cottage with two rooms near the Veľké Biele pleso tarn, which later became overnight accommodation for tourists. However, the Kežmarok hut burned down in 1974. The design of the new Kežmarok hut from 1985 was in the end rejected [65].
The Belianske Tatras in the past had the attribute of extremely popular mountains for tourists, they were easily accessible, undemanding and with a ridge without extreme height differences. Due to the natural environment and the view of the countryside, they were very actively used. The maximum traffic was also several thousand visitors per year [66]. The attack on this very sensitive territory in the form of an excessive number of tourists manifested itself quite strongly. Disturbed chamois migrated from the ridge to the forest, where they were threatened by beasts; golden eagles left their nests, the number of bears decreased, and the almost complete destruction of some botanical species such as
In the Tatras, natural destructive factors have operated, operate and will always operate, but nature has dealt with them in the course of evolution and they do not pose a critical threat. It can eliminate their consequences very quickly. Man, and his activities have become the biggest negative factor in the course of history. Nature can cope with anthropogenic interventions with much more difficulties and must spend more energy maintaining the equilibrium or regenerating damaged components.
Land cover until the enactment of the national park was most intensively shaped in the studied area by shepherding and later by aromatic plant-based oil industry. Belianske Tatras were liberated from grazing and devastation by the SNC Act No. 11/1948 Coll. on the Tatra National Park [28], when, with effect from 1 January 1949, Belianske and High Tatras were declared our first national park – the Tatra National Park (By order of the SSR Government No. 12/1987 Coll. of 6 February 1987 [70], Western Tatras were also declared a part of TANAP). However, grazing was definitively abolished throughout TANAP only in 1954 [53].
Several studies from the territory claim [71, 72] that the change in land use since the enactment of the national park led to the spontaneous afforestation of land abandoned after the restriction of grazing (in order to protect nature), at the same time tourism was actively developing and local people were changing their orientation from agriculture to tourism.
The studied area falls under three cadastral territories: Tatranská Javorina, Tatranská Lomnica and Ždiar. In the cadastral areas, the spatial structure of the land cover for the period 1955–2010 [73] was analyzed. In all areas, there was a decline in the loss of coniferous forest, along with an increase in damaged forests, especially on the southern slopes in 1955–1986 and 1986–2010. In the area of Tatranská Javorina, a significant change was found in the proportions of alpine meadows and shrubland (
The results of the analysis show a slight upward shift of vegetation from 1956 to 2012. The most pronounced shift concerned shrubland (
Plants are also sensitive to an increase in anthropogenic effects on the Earth’s climate system [77]. Between 1957 and 1966, the number of species on mountain peaks in Europe increased by an average of 1.1. Since then, this trend has accelerated, so since 2006 and 2007, an average of 5.5 new species have moved to the highest mountain peak locations in a decade [78].
The same trend was observed in our study area, where, despite the general decline in species richness with increasing altitude, there was a clear percentage increase in the number of species between time periods (Figure 10a, b).
a. Species richness in relation to altitude at different times; 10b. Percentages of species gain between the studied time periods (1880, 2014) in relation to altitude. Gain was calculated as: g/Stot where g is the number of species gained and Stot is the total number of unique species in both time periods.
Ellenberg indicator values for the central-European flora [79] are routinely used to rapidly estimate site conditions from species composition, when measured values of environmental variables are not available [80, 81]. These indicators are estimates of species ecological optima along several main ecological gradients. Subsequent analyzes of Ellenberg’s environmental indicators, using linear mixed modes (to pair design), showed significant differences between time periods in the light (F1,390 = 5.14; p = 0.024), and soil reaction (F1,392 = 6.17; p = 0.013) indicator. Despite its statistical significance, the simple effect sizes (lightmean_diff = −0.28; soil reactionmean_diff = −0.65) were not significant enough to lead to more convincing conclusions.
The current use of the studied area depends on the status of the national park. It can monitor and examine the dynamics of ecosystem development, its accessible part serves for the needs of education, interpretation, communication, tourism, recreation and the necessary infrastructure for the administration and guarding activities of the National Park Directorate.
However, the attractiveness of the Tatras, the smallest mountains in the world, is manifested by high tourist attendance in the long term. In the territory of TANAP there are about 600 km of marked trails that will lead tourists to the most interesting places. Hiking trails through the valleys allow ascents to the Tatra huts, some demanding and less demanding Tatra peaks, as well as passages through the Tatra saddles. The alpine landscape is thus under pressure from tourism and tourism-related activities.
According to European Statistical Office [82], people living in Slovakia visit mountains the most of all European countries. Hiking is deeply rooted in Slovakia, with tourist traffic increasing every year. This trend is also confirmed by the data on the annual number of overnight stays in the High Tatras (Figure 11a).
a. Number of overnight stays in High Tatras area [
We can see a similar short-term trend on one of the studied tourist routes Šalviový prameň (1213 m MSL) to Veľké Biele pleso (1615 m MSL) (Figure 11b), where we can see a steep increase, especially during the COVID pandemic restrictions (which also explains the rapid decline in the number of overnight stays in Figure 11a in 2020).
We believe that this increasing trend will continue, which may further affect the plant community composition and structure, even more.
A number of human activities in the alpine landscape began and ended over the years. However, one of them lasts almost 150 years and remains the only one to this day-hiking. The vulnerable territory of the studied area is affected not only by the bearable or unbearable number of tourists on the trails, but also by its location and the surface itself, which may constitute barriers for tourists.
Another serious fact is trampling of the vegetation cover. Trampling is known to drive changes in plant community composition and structure [84, 85, 86, 87]. Disturbance by trampling mainly affects vegetation directly by damaging plant tissues [88], and indirectly by modifications to soil structure [89], water regime [90], and nitrogen mineralization [91]. Other evidence indicates that the effects of trampling on soil compaction remain unclear [92, 93, 94], or at least are important only in areas of chronic disturbance (long-term effect) [95]. For single disturbance events, the direct effects of the damage to plant tissues are generally the most important [89]. Plants with similar ecological traits are estimated to respond to trampling in comparable ways [96]. Therefore, we have tried to find how the selected vegetation types resist trampling in three alpine communities:
We based the evaluation of the resistance of species monitored on permanent surfaces on relative coverability. We based the calculation of the relative coverability on the sum of coverages of all types, which we preferred over a simple estimate of the total coverability [84]. Figure 12 shows that there was a statistically significant interaction between trampling intensities and localities on the sum of the coverages (F1.35, 12.12 = 45.6, p < 0.0001). Therefore, the effect of the trampling intensities was analysed at each locality. P-values were adjusted using the Bonferroni multiple testing correction method. The effect of treatment was significant at all three localities (for Ks = F1.09, 9.79 = 48.5, p < 0.0001; PKs = F1.01, 9.06 = 70.3, p < 0.0001; VKs = F1.1, 9.9 = 44.2, p < 0.0001).
Differences of sum coverages of all species between different trampling intensities for every locality [
Our study [97] confirms earlier conclusions which stated that more resistant woody chamaephytes have less recovery abilities because of their woody habit. The statement that some communities are initially very prone to trampling due to the high amount of sensitive herbal species was also confirmed. These plant associations are characterized by low, middle and high resistance to trampling, but hiking trails passing through communities can still be made available to tourists at a given traffic.
Synanthropisation is manifested by ecesia of the habitat-foreign plants [98]. The most common way of spreading such plants is the transport of diasporas from lower-lying habitats to higher altitudes along the routes of hiking trails. The ecological plasticity of these plants is a limiting factor for their maximum altitude of occurrence. Another way of spreading for habitat-foreign plants is their transport from high mountain higher altitudes to lower altitudes. This applies to species native to the Tatras (original). They stick to ecotopes at a more advanced stage of destruction as a result of hiking. They are plants of apophytic or facultative synanthropic species. Facultative synanthropic species also include species spreading by succession from the forest environment to places deprived of vegetation (grassy) cover by trampling. In terms of the impact of synanthropization on changes in species richness depending on the distance from hiking trails, we found significant differences. The results of the analysis of variance showed a gradual increase in species richness with increasing distance from the trails (Figure 13a; F2,9 = 11.96; p = 0.003) by an average of 23% between distance categories. We also found differences in species richness between rest areas and their environs (Figure 13b; t4 = −5.15; p = 0.007) by 34%. There are 5 synanthropic species in the area (
a. Species richness differences in distances from hiking trails; 13b. Species richness differences in resting areas and their environs (whiskers represents 95% confidence intervals).
When the surface of the trail is poorly treated, wind, precipitation and frost begin to affect the trail very intensively. As a result of intense erosive processes, the trail becomes impassable for tourists and inappropriate also from the point of view of tourist safety, it constitutes an obstacle for tourists to be bypassed. This is how parallel replacement trails are created. In the studied area, the trails are accompanied by a number of parallel trails and shortcuts. The term parallel trail was originally used for a trail trodden by animals (e.g. chamois, cattle, etc.). Parallel trails were also created by trampling the vegetation cover when tourists walked off the trail. Parallel trails arise more often on small slopes, mainly in the grassland type of landscape, which allows tourists to deviate from the trail (Figure 14 [55]). A trail with shortcuts is created mainly in places where the trail leads from saddles into valleys and has sharp turns – serpentines. New shortcuts as secondary trails have been created by undisciplined tourists close to the place of the largest curvature (bend) of the hiking trail to shorten their journey. The shortcuts are connected perpendicularly to the trails. They go in the direction of the greatest slope, thus conditioning the formation of erosion (Figure 15) [55].
Parallel trails in the Predné Kopské sedlo – the High Tatras (Piscová, 2011).
Shortcut on the hiking trail under the Vyšné Kopské sedlo – the Belianske Tatras (Piscová, 2011).
The location of a hiking trail should be in accordance with, or in the least contradiction with, the natural conditions of the territory. Otherwise, there is devastation not only of the trail itself, but also of its surroundings and the process of their regeneration is slow (Figures 16 and 17).
Predné Meďodoly. Fading hiking trail, closed since 1978 (Piscová, 2010).
Trail to Ždiarska vidla (2142 m MSL), closed since 1978 (Piscová, 2010).
The subsoil in the studied area is susceptible to various forms of destruction by exogenous processes. Therefore, it is suitable only for a slightly concentrated, soft form of tourism.
Routes of hiking trails on the south-western and south-eastern slopes of the Belianske Tatras are threatened by many processes [99] associated with avalanches, nivation, surface runoff, coming off of soil and weathered cover, debris flows, rock rushing and landslides (Figure 18a, b). Processes that arise in the immediate vicinity of the trails and are bound to their course – processes of nivation (dominant processes), erosive processes, gravitational descent of the weathered cover, slope-gravitational processes of the type of shallow landslides, eolithic processes in saddle and ridge positions.
Massive snow deposits covered the hiking trail after the avalanche event in April 2009 under the Ždiarska vidla (Hreško, 2009).
Avalanches represent the process of movement of snow masses on mountain slopes, in avalanche troughs and in juvenile valleys. A special case of snow avalanches are “gliding avalanches”, in which the soil-vegetation cover and the subsoil (including the trail) are destroyed almost in the entire width of the snow mass movement (Figure 19). An avalanche with a massive snow mass with a thickness of more than 2 meters and torn off fragments of rock substrate destroys vegetation and grinds the soil and weathered cover, which is documented by parallel grooves in the direction of the avalanche movement.
The trail to Vyšné Kopské sedlo after a gliding avalanche (Hreško, 18 June 2009).
Another process endangering the trails associated with intense rainfall is debris flows. The limestone-dolomite subsoil of the exposed ridge of the Belianske Tatras provides a large amount of weathered, fragmentary material that forms the substantial mass of the flows. The most significant activation of debris streams occurred in 2016 (Figure 20a, b) at a precipitation intensity of more than 45 mm/h, which was confirmed by the analysis of the SHMI radar image.
Activated debris flows on the SW slope under the Hlúpy vrch after an intense downpour on 24 June 2016 (Hreško, 6 July 2009).
The erosive effects of running water and concentrated surface runoff are mainly associated with torrential rains, which are involved in the fluviation of alpine ecosystems. Trails are in some places intersected by erosive grooves, which are formed in the gutters and on the bottoms of the juvenile valleys. Most often, the erosive effect is also manifested on the trails that represent local erosive bases (Figure 21) for the flowing surface water. This leads to significant destruction of trails and their deepening into more or less stable rock subsoil (Figure 22).
Fresh erosive groove near the trail under the avalanche trough of the Ždiarska vidla (Hreško, 6 July 2009).
Intensive deep erosion of the hiking trail under Kopské sedlo after an intense downpour in June 2016 (Hreško, 14 September 2016).
Nivation is a specific process, which is related to the long-term effect of snow fields on the hydric regime of the concave parts of slopes, especially if they are interrupted by a notch of a hiking trail. In the conditions of the SW slopes of the Belianske Tatras, we confirmed the occurrence of expansion cracks on the surface of the trails which were covered with remnants of snowfields for a longer time (Figure 23a, b). The slow melting of the snow led to an increased retention of melt water, which reduced the stability of the soil-weathering layer and subsequently formed longitudinal expansion cracks. Such sections of trails have a high potential for slow coming off and descent. This is manifested by the sudden bends and dents of the trails, including their surroundings.
Expansion cracks on the hiking trail after melting of the snow field on the SW slope of the Belianske Tatras (Hreško, 2009).
Nivation-eolic effects are concentrated mainly in the sub-ridge, ridge, sub-peak and saddle positions. The eolic-deflationary effect is based on the turbulent, backward effect of the flowing wind, which causes blowing off and removal of finer amounts of soil cover or even the nivation of the exposed weathered cover in the upper parts of leeward slopes, especially on the edges of the ridges (Figures 24 and 25). The accumulation effect of both processes is destructive and does not allow a more successful process of vegetation succession. The eolic-nivation pads in the upper parts of the extremely steep slopes are often the source area of the initial debris flows, which, due to the smaller number of debris and fragments, may not reach the bottom of the slope, i.e. they remain “hanging” on the slope. The manifestations of wind erosion, more precisely the deflation of fine soil and weathering particles, focus mainly on the saddle and ridge positions of the Tatras. Another form conditioned by wind corrosion are eolic niches – pads with removed soil horizon of various shapes. Their edges are lined with overhangs, reinforced by root systems, which are intensively undermined by wind-blown particles. In cases of intense precipitation and snow melting, there is also a systematic washing out of niches and receding edges. Favourable conditions for the application of eolic deflation and corrosion are provided mainly by colourful shales and marls in the area of the Western and Belianske Tatras. The existing knowledge on the occurrence of eolic-deflationary forms is incomplete.
Exemplary locations of the effect of eolic deflation of soil-weathered cover in the vicinity of Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) (Hreško, 2009).
Vyšné Kopské sedlo, 1933 m MSL (Hreško, 2009).
The slope gravity processes were activated in the form of shallow landslides of the soil-weathered cover as a result of intense rainfall or melting of snowfields (Figure 26a, b). In 2009, we found a landslide of the soil-weathered cover together with the vegetation cover of shrubland on the trail route in a shallow concave depression. The lithological properties of the geological subsoil were also applied to the formation of the landslide. In the area ofinterest, poorly reinforced, Mesozoic, hydrothermal altered limestone, lime, marly limestone, marl and shale are particularly susceptible to the formation of landslides.
Retrospective development of the slope along the tourist trail (1660 m MSL) below Hlúpy vrch (2061 m MSL) (Hreško, 11 October 2005, 2 July 2016).
The bearing capacity of the territory for the given traffic was addressed by several authors [100, 101, 102, 103, 104]. We have chosen the following parameter to evaluate the abiotic properties of trails and rest areas: gradient of the hiking trail, gradient of relief of terrain, rock resistance, soil types, surface coverage of hiking trails and the possibility of leaving the trail, according to the methodology [105].
According to our research [106], the trail leading from the Veľké Biele pleso tarn (1615 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) was characterized by medium bearing capacity in the lower sections and high bearing capacity in the higher parts. Therefore, in the vicinity of the trail we recommend to observe the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the event of trail impassability to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of nature guards in order to more closely monitor the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourist-accessible places. The same applies to rest areas on the trail.
In terms of abiotic properties of the trail and its surroundings, we can evaluate the bearing capacity of the trail from Tatranská Javorina (1000 m MSL) to Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) in the lower sections as high, in the higher sections as medium and in the final part before entering the Kopské sedlo as low. While in the lower parts we recommend to monitor the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the case of impassability of the trail to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of the nature guards due to a closer monitoring of the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourists-accessible places. In the section before entering the saddle it would be necessary to reduce the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) by 50%, i.e., to leave the trail open only in one direction. Due to the entire length of the trail, it is possible to keep the current attendance.
The trail leading from the Široké sedlo (1825 m MSL) to the Kopské sedlo (1750 m MSL) is characteristic in terms of abiotic properties of the area through which it extends, medium and high bearing capacity (medium over high). Therefore, in the vicinity of the trail we recommend to observe the erosion of the trail itself, the emergence of turf overhangs, in the event of trail impassability to strengthen its surface, we also recommend to intensify the patrol of nature guards in order to more closely monitor the frequency of attendance of the trail (rest area) and the movement of tourists outside the tourist-accessible places.
The High Tatras mountains represent a unique alpine landscape with which humans have been connected since the past. The Belianske Tatras represent the limestone part of the mountain range. With rare communities and many endemics and glacial relicts, they are among the rarest and most endangered mountains of Slovakia. The High Tatras with glacial relief on crystalline basement and specific climatic conditions, represent the most attractive area of the Slovak high mountains. Tatras are the smallest mountains in the world. Like any other mountain range, the Tatras were first recognized by man, later he harvested wood, mineral richness, used grasslands as alpine pastures. Over time, however, one realized the uniqueness, rarity and value of the alpine landscape and began to protect it. At present, this area is protected as a national park, the Tatras Biosphere Reserve, the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. In the study area, all activities except recreation, sport, tourism, research, education and the construction of the necessary infrastructure are excluded.
With the enactment of the Tatra National Park in 1949, there were changes in the use of the territory of the Tatras. Since the Middle Ages, most villages in the Tatras had not been satisfied with the use of their mountain pastures and began to practise seasonal grazing on Tatra grasslands. After the end of this most intensive activity in the studied area, there has been a secondary succession towards greater stability. However, this process is not yet complete. In general, it can be stated from the results of the research that the former pastures gradually overgrow with forest cover and that the shrubland enters higher parts. The regeneration process is slow, as the recovery of this species in mountainous conditions is more difficult. Since the enactment of the national park (1949), the study area has gradually regenerated, but until now it has been mainly dealing with the surface grubbing-up of shrubland and grazing.
However, adverse changes in the studied area occurred even after the national park was enacted. They consist of visual disturbances, symptoms, as negative signs in the form of erosive manifestations that arose as a result of mass tourism on the ridge parts of the Belianske Tatras. The protection of the territory ensured the exclusion of those activities. Although there has been no development of tourism and infrastructure construction in the area, the Belianske Tatras ridge trail has been closed since 1978, one of the trails leading through the Monkova Valley has been open since 1993 in one way, and since 2008 again in two ways. The closed ridge trail regenerates here very slowly despite the long period of time. Most of the trails in the Belianske Tatras were inappropriately founded. In addition, the practice of guarding nature reveals numerous non-compliance with the entry ban. The most devastated parts of the trails here include places on long straight horizontal to diagonal traverses approximately in the middle parts of steep grass-herbal slopes, where disruption of the vegetation and soil-weathering layer created a local erosion base for water-gravity processes. All hiking trails in the area are endangered by many morphodynamic processes and the devastated parts of the trails form obstacles for tourists.
Tourist attendance has a number of direct and indirect impacts on the natural environment [107], so its monitoring is important. The situation in Slovakia is relatively non-specific in this case compared to other countries, as the systematic collection of tattendance data is missing. In most cases, the application of direct methods within Slovakia was associated only with the implementation of specific short-term projects [108] and so far there is no year-round continuous automatic monitoring of attendance, which cannot fully replace even several-day annual manual counting of visitors in the summer season in some areas of the Tatra Mountains [55].
From the point of view of sustainable development, it would make sense for the tourist closure of the ridge trail of the Belianske Tatras to continue with an appeal for preservation for future generations. Since uncontrolled tourism in a forbidden environment is more dangerous than a limited variant of ecotourism, the authors of the study [57] have reached the possibility of managing soft tourism in the territory, with supervision in the form of a guide. We recommend to monitor attendance and damaged habitats in the territory. A significant shortfall in mass tourism still remains minimal work with visitors to raise their environmental awareness as a means of reducing negative impacts on nature. What contributes to this is the lack of experience of municipalities, owners and administrators of protected areas in the regulation of tourism, as well as the lack of cooperation between the administrators of protected areas and tourism representatives.
This research was supported by Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, grants number VEGA 2/0018/19 Ecological Analyses of Landscape Acculturation in Slovakia since Early Prehistory until Today and VEGA 1/0546/21 Landscape Changes in the High Tatras Lake Basins, and with support from Project APVV-20-0108 Implementation of Agenda 2030 through biosphere reserves.
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\n\n\r\n\tThis book series will offer a comprehensive overview of recent research trends as well as clinical applications within different specialties of dentistry. Topics will include overviews of the health of the oral cavity, from prevention and care to different treatments for the rehabilitation of problems that may affect the organs and/or tissues present. The different areas of dentistry will be explored, with the aim of disseminating knowledge and providing readers with new tools for the comprehensive treatment of their patients with greater safety and with current techniques. Ongoing issues, recent advances, and future diagnostic approaches and therapeutic strategies will also be discussed. This series of books will focus on various aspects of the properties and results obtained by the various treatments available, whether preventive or curative.
",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series/covers/3.jpg",latestPublicationDate:"August 4th, 2022",hasOnlineFirst:!0,numberOfPublishedBooks:9,editor:{id:"419588",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Sergio",middleName:"Alexandre",surname:"Gehrke",slug:"sergio-gehrke",fullName:"Sergio Gehrke",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0033Y000038WgMKQA0/Profile_Picture_2022-06-02T11:44:20.jpg",biography:"Dr. Sergio Alexandre Gehrke is a doctorate holder in two fields. The first is a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Pontificia Catholic University, Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2010 and the other is an International Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche/Alicante, Spain, obtained in 2020. In 2018, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Materials Engineering in the NUCLEMAT of the Pontificia Catholic University, Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is currently the Director of the Postgraduate Program in Implantology of the Bioface/UCAM/PgO (Montevideo, Uruguay), Director of the Cathedra of Biotechnology of the Catholic University of Murcia (Murcia, Spain), an Extraordinary Full Professor of the Catholic University of Murcia (Murcia, Spain) as well as the Director of the private center of research Biotecnos – Technology and Science (Montevideo, Uruguay). Applied biomaterials, cellular and molecular biology, and dental implants are among his research interests. He has published several original papers in renowned journals. In addition, he is also a Collaborating Professor in several Postgraduate programs at different universities all over the world.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Spain"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null},subseries:{paginationCount:2,paginationItems:[{id:"1",title:"Oral Health",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/1.jpg",editor:{id:"173955",title:"Prof.",name:"Sandra",middleName:null,surname:"Marinho",slug:"sandra-marinho",fullName:"Sandra Marinho",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRGYMQA4/Profile_Picture_2022-06-01T13:22:41.png",biography:"Dr. Sandra A. Marinho is an Associate Professor and Brazilian researcher at the State University of Paraíba (Universidade Estadual da Paraíba- UEPB), Campus VIII, located in Araruna, state of Paraíba since 2011. She holds a degree in Dentistry from the Federal University of Alfenas (UNIFAL), while her specialization and professional improvement in Stomatology took place at Hospital Heliopolis (São Paulo, SP). Her qualifications are: a specialist in Dental Imaging and Radiology, Master in Dentistry (Periodontics) from the University of São Paulo (FORP-USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP), and Doctor (Ph.D.) in Dentistry (Stomatology Clinic) from Hospital São Lucas of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (HSL-PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS). She held a postdoctoral internship at the Federal University from Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM, Diamantina, MG). She is currently a member of the Brazilian Society for Dental Research (SBPqO) and the Brazilian Society of Stomatology and Pathology (SOBEP). Dr. Marinho's experience in Dentistry mainly covers the following subjects: oral diagnosis, oral radiology; oral medicine; lesions and oral infections; oral pathology, laser therapy and epidemiological studies.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"State University of Paraíba",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Brazil"}}},editorTwo:null,editorThree:null,editorialBoard:[{id:"267724",title:"Prof.",name:"Febronia",middleName:null,surname:"Kahabuka",slug:"febronia-kahabuka",fullName:"Febronia Kahabuka",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRZpJQAW/Profile_Picture_2022-06-27T12:00:42.JPG",institutionString:"Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania",institution:{name:"Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Tanzania"}}},{id:"70530",title:"Dr.",name:"Márcio",middleName:"Campos",surname:"Oliveira",slug:"marcio-oliveira",fullName:"Márcio Oliveira",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRm0AQAS/Profile_Picture_2022-08-01T12:34:46.jpg",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"State University of Feira de Santana",institutionURL:null,country:{name:"Brazil"}}}]},{id:"2",title:"Prosthodontics and Implant Dentistry",coverUrl:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/series_topics/covers/2.jpg",editor:{id:"179568",title:"Associate Prof.",name:"Wen Lin",middleName:null,surname:"Chai",slug:"wen-lin-chai",fullName:"Wen Lin Chai",profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRHGAQA4/Profile_Picture_2022-05-23T14:31:12.png",biography:"Professor Dr. Chai Wen Lin is currently a lecturer at the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Malaya. She obtained a Master of Dental Science in 2006 and a Ph.D. in 2011. Her Ph.D. research work on the soft tissue-implant interface at the University of Sheffield has yielded several important publications in the key implant journals. She was awarded an Excellent Exchange Award by the University of Sheffield which gave her the opportunity to work at the famous Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, under the tutelage of Prof. Peter Thomsen. In 2016, she was appointed as a visiting scholar at UCLA, USA, with attachment in Hospital Dentistry, and involvement in research work related to zirconia implant. In 2016, her contribution to dentistry was recognized by the Royal College of Surgeon of Edinburgh with her being awarded a Fellowship in Dental Surgery. She has authored numerous papers published both in local and international journals. She was the Editor of the Malaysian Dental Journal for several years. 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He also obtained an MSc in Molecular and Genetic Medicine, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Immunology and Human Genetics from the University of Sheffield, UK. He also completed a short-term fellowship in Pediatric Clinical Immunology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at Newcastle General Hospital, England. Dr. Rezaei is a Full Professor of Immunology and Vice Dean of International Affairs and Research, at the School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and the co-founder and head of the Research Center for Immunodeficiencies. He is also the founding president of the Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN). Dr. Rezaei has directed more than 100 research projects and has designed and participated in several international collaborative projects. He is an editor, editorial assistant, or editorial board member of more than forty international journals. He has edited more than 50 international books, presented more than 500 lectures/posters in congresses/meetings, and published more than 1,100 scientific papers in international journals.",institutionString:"Tehran University of Medical Sciences",institution:{name:"Tehran University of Medical Sciences",country:{name:"Iran"}}},{id:"180733",title:"Dr.",name:"Jean",middleName:null,surname:"Engohang-Ndong",slug:"jean-engohang-ndong",fullName:"Jean Engohang-Ndong",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/180733/images/system/180733.png",biography:"Dr. Jean Engohang-Ndong was born and raised in Gabon. After obtaining his Associate Degree of Science at the University of Science and Technology of Masuku, Gabon, he continued his education in France where he obtained his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI), Newark, NJ for four years before accepting a three-year faculty position at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. Dr. Engohang-Ndong is a tenured faculty member with the academic rank of Full Professor at Kent State University, Ohio, where he teaches a wide range of biological science courses and pursues his research in medical and environmental microbiology. Recently, he expanded his research interest to epidemiology and biostatistics of chronic diseases in Gabon.",institutionString:"Kent State University",institution:{name:"Kent State University",country:{name:"United States of America"}}},{id:"188773",title:"Prof.",name:"Emmanuel",middleName:null,surname:"Drouet",slug:"emmanuel-drouet",fullName:"Emmanuel Drouet",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/188773/images/system/188773.png",biography:"Emmanuel Drouet, PharmD, is a Professor of Virology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, the University Grenoble-Alpes, France. As a head scientist at the Institute of Structural Biology in Grenoble, Dr. Drouet’s research investigates persisting viruses in humans (RNA and DNA viruses) and the balance with our host immune system. He focuses on these viruses’ effects on humans (both their impact on pathology and their symbiotic relationships in humans). He has an excellent track record in the herpesvirus field, and his group is engaged in clinical research in the field of Epstein-Barr virus diseases. He is the editor of the online Encyclopedia of Environment and he coordinates the Universal Health Coverage education program for the BioHealth Computing Schools of the European Institute of Science.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Grenoble Alpes University",country:{name:"France"}}},{id:"131400",title:"Prof.",name:"Alfonso J.",middleName:null,surname:"Rodriguez-Morales",slug:"alfonso-j.-rodriguez-morales",fullName:"Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/131400/images/system/131400.png",biography:"Dr. Rodriguez-Morales is an expert in tropical and emerging diseases, particularly zoonotic and vector-borne diseases (especially arboviral diseases). He is the president of the Travel Medicine Committee of the Pan-American Infectious Diseases Association (API), as well as the president of the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases (ACIN). He is a member of the Committee on Tropical Medicine, Zoonoses, and Travel Medicine of ACIN. He is a vice-president of the Latin American Society for Travel Medicine (SLAMVI) and a Member of the Council of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). Since 2014, he has been recognized as a Senior Researcher, at the Ministry of Science of Colombia. He is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Fundacion Universitaria Autonoma de las Americas, in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. He is an External Professor, Master in Research on Tropical Medicine and International Health, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain. He is also a professor at the Master in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru. In 2021 he has been awarded the “Raul Isturiz Award” Medal of the API. Also, in 2021, he was awarded with the “Jose Felix Patiño” Asclepius Staff Medal of the Colombian Medical College, due to his scientific contributions to COVID-19 during the pandemic. He is currently the Editor in Chief of the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases. His Scopus H index is 47 (Google Scholar H index, 68).",institutionString:"Institución Universitaria Visión de las Américas, Colombia",institution:null},{id:"332819",title:"Dr.",name:"Chukwudi Michael",middleName:"Michael",surname:"Egbuche",slug:"chukwudi-michael-egbuche",fullName:"Chukwudi Michael Egbuche",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/332819/images/14624_n.jpg",biography:"I an Dr. Chukwudi Michael Egbuche. I am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Nnamdi Azikiwe University",country:{name:"Nigeria"}}},{id:"284232",title:"Mr.",name:"Nikunj",middleName:"U",surname:"Tandel",slug:"nikunj-tandel",fullName:"Nikunj Tandel",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/284232/images/8275_n.jpg",biography:'Mr. Nikunj Tandel has completed his Master\'s degree in Biotechnology from VIT University, India in the year of 2012. He is having 8 years of research experience especially in the field of malaria epidemiology, immunology, and nanoparticle-based drug delivery system against the infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders and cancer. He has worked for the NIH funded-International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research project "Center for the study of complex malaria in India (CSCMi)" in collaboration with New York University. The preliminary objectives of the study are to understand and develop the evidence-based tools and interventions for the control and prevention of malaria in different sites of the INDIA. Alongside, with the help of next-generation genomics study, the team has studied the antimalarial drug resistance in India. Further, he has extended his research in the development of Humanized mice for the study of liver-stage malaria and identification of molecular marker(s) for the Artemisinin resistance. At present, his research focuses on understanding the role of B cells in the activation of CD8+ T cells in malaria. Received the CSIR-SRF (Senior Research Fellow) award-2018, FIMSA (Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania) Travel Bursary award to attend the IUIS-IIS-FIMSA Immunology course-2019',institutionString:"Nirma University",institution:{name:"Nirma University",country:{name:"India"}}},{id:"334383",title:"Ph.D.",name:"Simone",middleName:"Ulrich",surname:"Ulrich Picoli",slug:"simone-ulrich-picoli",fullName:"Simone Ulrich Picoli",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/334383/images/15919_n.jpg",biography:"Graduated in Pharmacy from Universidade Luterana do Brasil (1999), Master in Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2002), Specialization in Clinical Microbiology from Universidade de São Paulo, USP (2007) and PhD in Sciences in Gastroenterology and Hepatology (2012). She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Feevale University in Medicine and Biomedicine courses and a permanent professor of the Academic Master\\'s Degree in Virology. She has experience in the field of Microbiology, with an emphasis on Bacteriology, working mainly on the following topics: bacteriophages, bacterial resistance, clinical microbiology and food microbiology.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Universidade Feevale",country:{name:"Brazil"}}},{id:"229220",title:"Dr.",name:"Amjad",middleName:"Islam",surname:"Aqib",slug:"amjad-aqib",fullName:"Amjad Aqib",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/229220/images/system/229220.png",biography:"Dr. Amjad Islam Aqib obtained a DVM and MSc (Hons) from University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Pakistan, and a PhD from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Pakistan. Dr. Aqib joined the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery at UAF for one year as an assistant professor where he developed a research laboratory designated for pathogenic bacteria. Since 2018, he has been Assistant Professor/Officer in-charge, Department of Medicine, Manager Research Operations and Development-ORIC, and President One Health Club at Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan. He has nearly 100 publications to his credit. His research interests include epidemiological patterns and molecular analysis of antimicrobial resistance and modulation and vaccine development against animal pathogens of public health concern.",institutionString:"Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences",institution:{name:"University of Agriculture Faisalabad",country:{name:"Pakistan"}}},{id:"333753",title:"Dr.",name:"Rais",middleName:null,surname:"Ahmed",slug:"rais-ahmed",fullName:"Rais Ahmed",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/333753/images/20168_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"University of Agriculture Faisalabad",country:{name:"Pakistan"}}},{id:"62900",title:"Prof.",name:"Fethi",middleName:null,surname:"Derbel",slug:"fethi-derbel",fullName:"Fethi Derbel",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/62900/images/system/62900.jpeg",biography:"Professor Fethi Derbel was born in 1960 in Tunisia. He received his medical degree from the Sousse Faculty of Medicine at Sousse, University of Sousse, Tunisia. He completed his surgical residency in General Surgery at the University Hospital Farhat Hached of Sousse and was a member of the Unit of Liver Transplantation in the University of Rennes, France. He then worked in the Department of Surgery at the Sahloul University Hospital in Sousse. Professor Derbel is presently working at the Clinique les Oliviers, Sousse, Tunisia. His hospital activities are mostly concerned with laparoscopic, colorectal, pancreatic, hepatobiliary, and gastric surgery. He is also very interested in hernia surgery and performs ventral hernia repairs and inguinal hernia repairs. He has been a member of the GREPA and Tunisian Hernia Society (THS). During his residency, he managed patients suffering from diabetic foot, and he was very interested in this pathology. For this reason, he decided to coordinate a book project dealing with the diabetic foot. Professor Derbel has published many articles in journals and collaborates intensively with IntechOpen Access Publisher as an editor.",institutionString:"Clinique les Oliviers",institution:null},{id:"300144",title:"Dr.",name:"Meriem",middleName:null,surname:"Braiki",slug:"meriem-braiki",fullName:"Meriem Braiki",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/300144/images/system/300144.jpg",biography:"Dr. Meriem Braiki is a specialist in pediatric surgeon from Tunisia. She was born in 1985. She received her medical degree from the University of Medicine at Sousse, Tunisia. She achieved her surgical residency training periods in Pediatric Surgery departments at University Hospitals in Monastir, Tunis and France.\r\nShe is currently working at the Pediatric surgery department, Sidi Bouzid Hospital, Tunisia. Her hospital activities are mostly concerned with laparoscopic, parietal, urological and digestive surgery. She has published several articles in diffrent journals.",institutionString:"Sidi Bouzid Regional Hospital",institution:null},{id:"229481",title:"Dr.",name:"Erika M.",middleName:"Martins",surname:"de Carvalho",slug:"erika-m.-de-carvalho",fullName:"Erika M. de Carvalho",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/229481/images/6397_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Oswaldo Cruz Foundation",country:{name:"Brazil"}}},{id:"186537",title:"Prof.",name:"Tonay",middleName:null,surname:"Inceboz",slug:"tonay-inceboz",fullName:"Tonay Inceboz",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/186537/images/system/186537.jfif",biography:"I was graduated from Ege University of Medical Faculty (Turkey) in 1988 and completed his Med. PhD degree in Medical Parasitology at the same university. I became an Associate Professor in 2008 and Professor in 2014. I am currently working as a Professor at the Department of Medical Parasitology at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.\n\nI have given many lectures, presentations in different academic meetings. I have more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 18 book chapters, 1 book editorship.\n\nMy research interests are Echinococcus granulosus, Echinococcus multilocularis (diagnosis, life cycle, in vitro and in vivo cultivation), and Trichomonas vaginalis (diagnosis, PCR, and in vitro cultivation).",institutionString:"Dokuz Eylül University",institution:{name:"Dokuz Eylül University",country:{name:"Turkey"}}},{id:"71812",title:"Prof.",name:"Hanem Fathy",middleName:"Fathy",surname:"Khater",slug:"hanem-fathy-khater",fullName:"Hanem Fathy Khater",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/71812/images/1167_n.jpg",biography:"Prof. Khater is a Professor of Parasitology at Benha University, Egypt. She studied for her doctoral degree, at the Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA. She has completed her Ph.D. degrees in Parasitology in Egypt, from where she got the award for “the best scientific Ph.D. dissertation”. She worked at the School of Biological Sciences, Bristol, England, the UK in controlling insects of medical and veterinary importance as a grant from Newton Mosharafa, the British Council. Her research is focused on searching of pesticides against mosquitoes, house flies, lice, green bottle fly, camel nasal botfly, soft and hard ticks, mites, and the diamondback moth as well as control of several parasites using safe and natural materials to avoid drug resistances and environmental contamination.",institutionString:null,institution:{name:"Banha University",country:{name:"Egypt"}}},{id:"99780",title:"Prof.",name:"Omolade",middleName:"Olayinka",surname:"Okwa",slug:"omolade-okwa",fullName:"Omolade Okwa",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/99780/images/system/99780.jpg",biography:"Omolade Olayinka Okwa is presently a Professor of Parasitology at Lagos State University, Nigeria. She has a PhD in Parasitology (1997), an MSc in Cellular Parasitology (1992), and a BSc (Hons) Zoology (1990) all from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She teaches parasitology at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She was a recipient of a Commonwealth fellowship supported by British Council tenable at the Centre for Entomology and Parasitology (CAEP), Keele University, United Kingdom between 2004 and 2005. She was awarded an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the same university from 2005 to 2007. \nShe has been an external examiner to the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Ibadan, MSc programme between 2010 and 2012. She is a member of the Nigerian Society of Experimental Biology (NISEB), Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria (PPSN), Science Association of Nigeria (SAN), Zoological Society of Nigeria (ZSN), and is Vice Chairperson of the Organisation of Women in Science (OWSG), LASU chapter. She served as Head of Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, Lagos State University from 2007 to 2010 and 2014 to 2016. She is a reviewer for several local and international journals such as Unilag Journal of Science, Libyan Journal of Medicine, Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, and Annual Research and Review in Science. \nShe has authored 45 scientific research publications in local and international journals, 8 scientific reviews, 4 books, and 3 book chapters, which includes the books “Malaria Parasites” and “Malaria” which are IntechOpen access publications.",institutionString:"Lagos State University",institution:{name:"Lagos State University",country:{name:"Nigeria"}}},{id:"273100",title:"Dr.",name:"Vijay",middleName:null,surname:"Gayam",slug:"vijay-gayam",fullName:"Vijay Gayam",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/273100/images/system/273100.jpeg",biography:"Dr. Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Gayam is currently practicing as an internist at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the SUNY Downstate University Hospital and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the American University of Antigua. He is a holder of an M.B.B.S. degree bestowed to him by Osmania Medical College and received his M.D. at Interfaith Medical Center. His career goals thus far have heavily focused on direct patient care, medical education, and clinical research. He currently serves in two leadership capacities; Assistant Program Director of Medicine at Interfaith Medical Center and as a Councilor for the American\r\nFederation for Medical Research. As a true academician and researcher, he has more than 50 papers indexed in international peer-reviewed journals. He has also presented numerous papers in multiple national and international scientific conferences. His areas of research interest include general internal medicine, gastroenterology and hepatology. He serves as an editor, editorial board member and reviewer for multiple international journals. His research on Hepatitis C has been very successful and has led to multiple research awards, including the 'Equity in Prevention and Treatment Award” from the New York Department of Health Viral Hepatitis Symposium (2018) and the 'Presidential Poster Award” awarded to him by the American College of Gastroenterology (2018). He was also awarded 'Outstanding Clinician in General Medicine” by Venus International Foundation for his extensive research expertise and services, perform over and above the standard expected in the advancement of healthcare, patient safety and quality of care.",institutionString:"Interfaith Medical Center",institution:{name:"Interfaith Medical Center",country:{name:"United States of America"}}},{id:"93517",title:"Dr.",name:"Clement",middleName:"Adebajo",surname:"Meseko",slug:"clement-meseko",fullName:"Clement Meseko",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/93517/images/system/93517.jpg",biography:"Dr. Clement Meseko obtained DVM and PhD degree in Veterinary Medicine and Virology respectively. He has worked for over 20 years in both private and public sectors including the academia, contributing to knowledge and control of infectious disease. Through the application of epidemiological skill, classical and molecular virological skills, he investigates viruses of economic and public health importance for the mitigation of the negative impact on people, animal and the environment in the context of Onehealth. \r\nDr. Meseko’s field experience on animal and zoonotic diseases and pathogen dynamics at the human-animal interface over the years shaped his carrier in research and scientific inquiries. He has been part of the investigation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza incursions in sub Saharan Africa and monitors swine Influenza (Pandemic influenza Virus) agro-ecology and potential for interspecies transmission. He has authored and reviewed a number of journal articles and book chapters.",institutionString:"National Veterinary Research Institute",institution:{name:"National Veterinary Research Institute",country:{name:"Nigeria"}}},{id:"158026",title:"Prof.",name:"Shailendra K.",middleName:null,surname:"Saxena",slug:"shailendra-k.-saxena",fullName:"Shailendra K. Saxena",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/intech-files/0030O00002bRET3QAO/Profile_Picture_2022-05-10T10:10:26.jpeg",biography:"Professor Dr. Shailendra K. Saxena is a vice dean and professor at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. His research interests involve understanding the molecular mechanisms of host defense during human viral infections and developing new predictive, preventive, and therapeutic strategies for them using Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), HIV, and emerging viruses as a model via stem cell and cell culture technologies. His research work has been published in various high-impact factor journals (Science, PNAS, Nature Medicine) with a high number of citations. He has received many awards and honors in India and abroad including various Young Scientist Awards, BBSRC India Partnering Award, and Dr. JC Bose National Award of Department of Biotechnology, Min. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Dr. Saxena is a fellow of various international societies/academies including the Royal College of Pathologists, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Medicine, London; Royal Society of Biology, United Kingdom; Royal Society of Chemistry, London; and Academy of Translational Medicine Professionals, Austria. He was named a Global Leader in Science by The Scientist. He is also an international opinion leader/expert in vaccination for Japanese encephalitis by IPIC (UK).",institutionString:"King George's Medical University",institution:{name:"King George's Medical University",country:{name:"India"}}},{id:"94928",title:"Dr.",name:"Takuo",middleName:null,surname:"Mizukami",slug:"takuo-mizukami",fullName:"Takuo Mizukami",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/94928/images/6402_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:{name:"National Institute of Infectious Diseases",country:{name:"Japan"}}},{id:"233433",title:"Dr.",name:"Yulia",middleName:null,surname:"Desheva",slug:"yulia-desheva",fullName:"Yulia Desheva",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/233433/images/system/233433.png",biography:"Dr. Yulia Desheva is a leading researcher at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg, Russia. She is a professor in the Stomatology Faculty, St. Petersburg State University. She has expertise in the development and evaluation of a wide range of live mucosal vaccines against influenza and bacterial complications. Her research interests include immunity against influenza and COVID-19 and the development of immunization schemes for high-risk individuals.",institutionString:'Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution "Institute of Experimental Medicine"',institution:null},{id:"238958",title:"Mr.",name:"Atamjit",middleName:null,surname:"Singh",slug:"atamjit-singh",fullName:"Atamjit Singh",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/238958/images/6575_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"252058",title:"M.Sc.",name:"Juan",middleName:null,surname:"Sulca",slug:"juan-sulca",fullName:"Juan Sulca",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/252058/images/12834_n.jpg",biography:null,institutionString:null,institution:null},{id:"191392",title:"Dr.",name:"Marimuthu",middleName:null,surname:"Govindarajan",slug:"marimuthu-govindarajan",fullName:"Marimuthu Govindarajan",position:null,profilePictureURL:"https://mts.intechopen.com/storage/users/191392/images/5828_n.jpg",biography:"Dr. M. Govindarajan completed his BSc degree in Zoology at Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam, and MSc, MPhil, and PhD degrees at Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India. He is serving as an assistant professor at the Department of Zoology, Annamalai University. His research interests include isolation, identification, and characterization of biologically active molecules from plants and microbes. He has identified more than 20 pure compounds with high mosquitocidal activity and also conducted high-quality research on photochemistry and nanosynthesis. He has published more than 150 studies in journals with impact factor and 2 books in Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany. 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