The population of the medicinal plant, Malabar nut (Justicia adhatoda L.) is shrinking in Dun valley due to habitat fragmentation, invasion by Lantana camara, over-exploitation, and an ever-increasing human population – the most important being the increasing demand on land for agriculture, industries and the urbanization. Predicting potential geographic distribution of the species is important from species and habitat restoration point of view.

Urbanization in India is rapidly increasing. Dispersed development along highways or surrounding cities and in rural areas is resulting in serious loss of agricultural land, open space, waterbodies, and ecologically sensitive habitats. The management and monitoring of such resources require an understanding of change in land use and land cover. Vadodara City in Gujarat, India, has been chosen as the study area because it is a rapidly developing city with increasing urbanization and industrialization.

We summarized all known historical and contemporary data on the geographic distribution of Etheostoma raneyi (Yazoo Darter), a range-restricted endemic in the Little Tallahatchie and Yocona rivers (upper Yazoo River basin), MS. We identified federal and state land ownership in relation to the darter's distribution and provided quantitative estimates of abundance of the species.

Urbanization effects on ecosystem functions are both important and complex, characterized by scale multiplicity, spatial heterogeneity, and intensive human disturbances. Integrating the hierarchical structure of urban landscape pattern with ecosystem processes through simulation modeling can facilitate our understanding of human–environment interactions in urban environment.

Urban areas are the most dynamic region on earth. Their size has been constantly increased during the past and this process will go on in the future. Since there is no standard policy and guidelines for construction of buildings and urban planning, cities tend to have irregular growth. Many cities in the world face the problem of urban sprawl in its suburbs. So issues of urban sprawl need to be settled with the help of technologies such as satellite remote sensing and automated change detection.

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is the phenomenon of increased surface temperatures in urban environments compared to their surroundings. It is linked to decreased vegetation cover, high proportions of artificial impervious surfaces, and high proportions of anthropogenic heat discharge. We evaluated the surface heat balance to clarify the contribution of anthropogenic heat discharges into the urban thermal environment.

Scholars have often puzzled over why ancient socio-ecological systems (SES) have collapsed or survived overtime. This paper examines the case of the 2,000-year old Ifugao SES in the northern Philippines and the contemporary challenges they now face. Five observations can be drawn. First, the Ifugao case does not fit some of the conventional theoretical explanations for the collapse or survival of SES.

Despite the growing awareness of the important ecological functions and values provided by coastal and estuarine wetlands, wetland degradation continues worldwide due to increasing anthropogenic disturbances. Chongming Dongtan wetlands, adjacent to Shanghai, the largest city and industrial and trading port in China in rapid urban expansion and socioeconomic development are currently threatened with biodiversity reduction, wetland loss, contamination, and invasion of exotic plant.

Land use change is one of the main stress factors on ecosystems near urban areas. We analysed land use dynamics within Xochimilco, a World Heritage Site area in Mexico City. We used satellite images and GIS to quantify changes in land use/land cover (LULC) from 1989 to 2006 in this area, and a Markov projection model to simulate the impact of different management scenarios through to 2057. The results show an alarming rate of urbanisation in 17 years. LULC change runs in one direction from all other land use categories towards urban land use.

Ulaanbaatar's (UB) population has swollen from half a million in 2001 to approximately 1.2 million in 2011, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's population. This trend is likely to continue as economic growth is increasingly concentrated in UB. With its growing population and concerns in rising inequality, the city is facing increasing pressure to maintain and expand service provision (especially infrastructure). The local tax on wages is expected to continue to provide substantial revenues to the UB government, which will assist the growing demand for services.

This paper presents and analyses land use changes in the periurban areas of Meknes, Morocco, focusing on disappearing fertile and productive farmland. Although identified by the Moroccan public policies, the concern for periurban farmland protection is not the government's first priority. It remains behind economic development and housing of low-incomes. In Meknes, where land tenure remains very complex, urban growth is impacting high-quality-soil farmland while the land market is characterised by increasing farmland values and weak public policy regulation.

Durante las últimas décadas en América del Sur se dieron grandes revoluciones  agrarias en varios países, inmensas movilizaciones y revueltas sociales de campesinos e indígenas por la consolidación de sus territorios, avances legales nacionales y regionales importantes. También está clara una tendencia a la urbanización como expresión de “modernidad” y como la búsqueda de acceso a recursos y servicios que no llegan a las comunidades más lejanas. No cabe duda que los avances son mérito de las organizaciones sociales y la institucionalidad que la acompaña.