Landscapes have long been viewed as complex, synthetic entities reflecting the human imprint upon the land. [...]

With the purpose to study a solution based on Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) to reduce and treat stormwater runoff in urban areas, a bioretention pond (BP) was realized in the Agripolis campus of the University of Padova, Italy. The BP collected overflow water volumes of the rainwater drainage system of a 2270 m2 drainage area consisting almost entirely of impervious surfaces. Sixty-six Tech-IA® floating elements, supporting four plants each, were laid on the water surface. Eleven species of herbaceous perennial helophyte plants, with ornamental features, were used and tested.

Rigorous peer-review is the corner-stone of high-quality academic publishing [...]

The natural salt meadows of Tilopozo in the hyperarid, Atacama Desert of northern Chile, which are located at approximately 2800 m above sea level, are under pressure from industrial activity, and cultivation and grazing by local communities. In this research, the land surface covered by salt meadow vegetation was estimated from normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data from 1985 to 2016.

Empirical studies of farm outcomes that rely on survey data often find important roles for education and gender. However, relatively few studies consider either field of study or gender of the decision maker (as opposed to gender of the survey respondent). This paper evaluates how the field of education and gender of decision makers correlate with profitability, farm management, future intentions, risk and norms, and adoption of novel technologies in New Zealand, explicitly accounting for the fact that many farming households make decisions jointly.

Despite global recognition of the social, economic and ecological impacts of deforestation, the world is losing forests at an alarming rate. Global and regional efforts by policymakers and donors to reduce deforestation need science-driven information on where forest loss is happening, and where it may happen in the future.

The aim of this contribution is to introduce the topic of this volume and briefly measure the evolution and applicability of central place theory in previous and contemporary archaeological practice and thought [...]

Protected areas are considered the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, but face multiple problems in delivering this core objective. The growing trend of framing biodiversity and protected area values in terms of ecosystem services and human well-being may not always lead to biodiversity conservation. Although globalization is often spoken about in terms of its adverse effects to the environment and biodiversity, it also heralds unprecedented and previously inaccessible opportunities linked to ecosystem services.

Participatory research methods are increasingly used to collectively understand complex social-environmental problems and to design solutions through diverse and inclusive stakeholder engagement. But participatory research rarely engages stakeholders to co-develop and co-interpret models that conceptualize and quantify system dynamics for comparing scenarios of alternate action. Even fewer participatory projects have engaged people using geospatial simulations of dynamic landscape processes and spatially explicit planning scenarios.

Investigations of global warming potential (GWP) of semiarid cropping systems are needed to ascertain agriculture’s contributions to climate regulation services. This study sought to determine net GWP for three semiarid cropping systems under no-tillage management in the northern Great Plains of North America: spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)—fallow (SW-F), continuous spring wheat (CSW) and spring wheat—safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)—rye (Secale cereale L.) (SW-S-R).

Ticks are responsible for the largest number of transmissions of vector-borne diseases in the northern hemisphere, which makes the risk from tick bites a serious public health problem. Biological scientific research and prevention studies are important, but they have not focused on the population’s perception of tick bite risk, especially at a spatial level.

Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is one of the pioneering cities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that have recently prepared urban sustainability agendas for their cities. Nonetheless, the recently developed urban neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi mostly rely on Land Use planning and their urban forms are still missing essential sustainability qualities.