A remote sensing and geographic information system-based study has been carried out to map areas susceptible to landslides using three statistical models, frequency ratio (FR), logistic regression (LR), and fuzzy logic at the central Zab basin in the mountainsides in the southwest West Azerbaijan province in Iran. Ten factors such as slope, aspect, elevation, lithology, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land cover, precipitation, distance to fault, distance to drainage, and distance to road were considered. Landsat ETM⁺images were used for NDVI and land cover maps.

Land conversion is one of the major global changes that threaten population viability. As with many industrial activities, quarrying highly modifies land cover, destroying previous habitats but also creating new conditions potentially supporting functioning and connectivity of pioneer species. Using a multi-landscape and -temporal approach, we assessed the impact of quarrying on the genetic diversity of two amphibians with contrasted ecological constraints: the common toad (Bufo bufo) and the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita), favouring vegetated and pioneer environments, respectively.

In New York State, the golden-winged warbler (GWW), a state species of special concern, has recently been found to nest in swamp forest habitat in Sterling Forest State Park in the Hudson Highlands ecoregion. These swamp forest breeding territories are often embedded in a mosaic of wetland cover types. An accurate map of wetlands in the Hudson Highlands would be a useful input to a GWW habitat suitability model and could help conservation managers better allocate limited resources towards GWW monitoring and habitat management.

In the subsistence-based, nutrient-poor soils, and fertilizer-limited agriculture of northern Ghana, 45–65 % of land cover is annually burned for purposes of hunting and agricultural land preparation. The effects of burn-season, fractional nutrient losses, combusted plant parts and vegetation type on the fire-mediated nutrient cycling are unclear.

This paper reports on the performance of the red-listed Primula scandinavica, endemic to Scandinavia. The study took place in Jotunheimen, Norway. We evaluated occurrence, density and sexual reproduction variables (number of fertile individuals and number of seed capsules). Habitats were registered as land-cover categories (historical and current; broad habitat types) and habitat patch classes (semi-natural and natural; fine-grained habitat types).

Vector borne diseases are a threat to human health. Little attention has been paid to the prevention of these diseases. We attempted to identify the significant wetland characteristics associated with the spread of chikungunya, dengue fever and malaria in Kerala, a tropical region of South West India using multivariate analyses (hierarchical cluster analysis, factor analysis and multiple regression).

Spatially distributed hydrological models require information on the land cover pattern, as it directly influences the generation of run‐off. However, it is not clear which detail of land cover information is suitable for simulating the catchment hydrology. A better understanding of the relationship between the land cover detail and the hydrological processes is therefore required as it would enhance a successful application of the hydrological model.

Livestock that is extensively managed can have higher diversity and abundance of insects in comparison to intensively managed livestock, although data are more equivocal within a gradient of extensively managed pastures. Additionally, biodiversity on farms is vulnerable to degradation of the surrounding landscape and changing patterns of land use. We monitored Coleoptera and Hemiptera on grass-fed cattle farms in North Carolina to determine effects of cattle and land use patterns on biodiversity.

Outside of agroforestry disciplines, “orchards” and “forests” are usually studied through different fields of knowledge or are mired in conflicting views. Our study aimed to provide preliminary information on regeneration in cashew orchards by studying the effect of previous land cover, the surrounding landscape, and orchards’ age on the density of species and number of plants. We followed linear transects in orchards planted in areas previously covered by savannah and forest.

In Mediterranean Europe, wood-pasture landscapes with oak woodlands as emblematic ecosystems are undergoing rapid land-use change, which may threaten their legacy as hotspots of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and cultural heritage. The objective of this study was to quantify land cover changes and transitions as well as the dynamics of oak woodland patterns and densities over 50 years in two municipalities at the center and edges of Quercus macrolepis distribution in Northern Lesvos (Greece).

Recent advances in fire management led landscape managers to adopt an integrated fire fighting strategy in which fire suppression is supported by prevention actions and by knowledge of local fire history and ecology. In this framework, an accurate evaluation of fire ignition risk and its environmental drivers constitutes a basic step toward the optimization of fire management measures.

Climate change will cause major changes in ecosystems. Therefore, it is crucial that climate change policy consider the value of all services that are provided by watershed ecosystems. For this purpose, geospatial data and economic analysis are combined to determine a monetary value for wetland ecosystem goods and services (EGSs) in the watersheds of the Yamaska and Bécancour Rivers (Quebec, Canada). From published studies of wetland economic evaluations, we selected 51 relevant studies from 21 countries and performed a benefit transfer using meta-analysis.