With the development of ecological science, the demand to integrate ecosystem services into ecological management is increasing. Stakeholders are interested in comparing stocks and ability to supply ecosystem services in different regions. However, different areas may have different primary ecosystem services and knowledge of the aggregated value of ecosystem services may be lacking, making comparisons difficult. Relevant indicators that can integrate a group of ecosystem services for comparison are therefore needed.

This study examined analyst variation associated with land cover (LC) image classification using 30 × 30 m Landsat ETM+ data for the assessment of coarse spatial resolution regional/global LC products. The study was designed to test the effect of varying training site selections (location and number) among six analysts performing a supervised classification on a Landsat ETM + image. Design constraints maintained other aspects of the classification process constant (i.e., type of classifier, choice of band combinations, etc.).

This paper aimed to analyze short-term changes in landscape pattern that primarily results from building development in the east coast of Mersin Province (Turkey). Three sites were selected. Ikonos (2003) and Quickbird (2009) images for these sites were classified, and land cover transformations were quantitatively analyzed using cross-tabulation of classification results. Changes in landscape structure were assessed by comparing the calculated values of area/edge and shape metrics for the earlier and later dates.

This article retrieved the vegetation water content equivalent water thickness (EWT) information and the relevant parameters for the land surface from full-band TM remote sensing data. The effects of surface water heat flux and surface covering on the EWT were analyzed via studies of the regional land cover status and the combined EWT with land surface parameters. This article also analyzed the roles and limitations of EWT in drought monitoring combined with classification of the regional drought and regional water stress index (RWSI).

Fringe mangroves are recognised as a highly valuable resource due to their provision of multiple ecosystem services. However, accelerating human-pressures on mangrove forests are resulting in the loss of key mangrove ecosystem services. In this paper, we assessed spatial–temporal changes in the extent and width of fringe mangroves, and changes in adjacent land use. The study focused on the Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, for the period 1989–2009.

CONTEXT: Land use changes and intensification have been amongst the major causes of the on-going biodiversity decline in Europe. A better understanding and description of how different levels of land use intensity affect biodiversity can support the planning and evaluation of policy measures. OBJECTIVES: Our study investigates how land use-related landscape characteristics affect bird diversity, considering different spatial scales and species groups with characteristic habitat use.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a practice of growing importance in the United Kingdom, particularly in the southeast of England where the water availability per person is even less than in many Mediterranean countries. Although there is a huge amount of rainfall in the north and west of England and Wales, water resources in the southeast and east of England are under pressure due to the growing population and the changing climate. Therefore, RWH becomes particularly important to reduce the dependence on the mains water supply.

Land use and land cover changes have complex linkages to climate variability and change, biophysical resources, and socioeconomic driving forces. To assess these land change dynamics and their causes in the Great Plains, we compare and contrast contemporary changes across 16 ecoregions using Landsat satellite data and statistical analysis. Large-area change analysis of agricultural regions is often hampered by change detection error and the tendency for land conversions to occur at the local-scale.

In the framework of the established long-term monitoring of the Carpathian forest ecosystems, the assessment of changes in the plant species richness, type of plant communities and biometric characteristics and health status of forest trees, for getting relevant insights regarding the effects of the type of management, pollution and climate changes upon forest biodiversity and health, is one of the major objectives.

In human-impacted rivers, nutrient pollution has the potential to disrupt biodiversity organisation and ecosystem functioning, prompting calls for effective monitoring and management. Pollutants, together with natural variations, can modify the isotopic signature of aquatic organisms. Accordingly, we explored the potential of isotopic variations as an indicator of drainage basin influences on river food webs. We assessed stable N and C isotopes within six food webs along a river affected by multiple pollution sources.

Many mechanisms have been proposed to explain broad scale spatial patterns in species richness. In this paper, we evaluate five explanations for geographic gradients in species richness, using South American owls as a model. We compared the explanatory power of contemporary climate, landcover diversity, spatial climatic heterogeneity, evolutionary history, and area. An important aspect of our analyses is that very different hypotheses, such as history and area, can be quantified at the same observation scale and, consequently can be incorporated into a single analytical framework.

Landscape fragmentation and habitat loss are one of the important factors resulting in biodiversity decrease and species extinction. A large amount of Eucalyptus have been introduced into Yunnan Province in China since 2003, replaced the native forest, farmland, wasteland and other ecosystems, leading to natural habitat loss and landscape fragmentation.