Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) has drawn much attention to hydromorphological alterations of surface waters. The Lake Habitat Survey (LHS) protocol provides a method for characterising and assessing the physical habitats of lakes and reservoirs. Two metrics were developed based on this method: the Lake Habitat Modification Score (LHMS) and the Lake Habitat Quality Assessment (LHQA), as measures of lake modification and habitat value, respectively. However, the use of these metrics to predict measures of ecological quality remains largely untested.

Wetland stopover use by migratory shorebirds is concurrently influenced by habitat characteristics within a stopover site and characteristics related to the broader context surrounding the stopover site. To conserve wetland habitats essential for shorebird migration through the interior of North America, we need to understand how these dual scales influence stopover use.

With recent technological advances in remote sensing sensors and systems, very high-dimensional hyperspectral data are available for a better discrimination among different complex land-cover classes. However, the large number of spectral bands, but limited availability of training samples creates the problem of Hughes phenomenon or ‘curse of dimensionality’ in hyperspectral data sets. Moreover, these high numbers of bands are usually highly correlated.

A key challenge for land change science in general and research on swidden agriculture in particular, is linking land cover information to human-environment interactions over larger spatial areas. In Lao PDR, a country facing rapid and multi-level land change processes, this hinders informed policy- and decision-making. Crucial information on land use types and people involved is still lacking. This article proposes an alternative approach for the description of landscape mosaics.

Golf courses represent a common type of anthropogenically modified habitat in suburban environments. Golf courses may provide suitable habitat for semi-aquatic animals in suburban areas, yet studies comparing animal abundances in golf course ponds with other pond types in suburban environments are somewhat limited. In this study, we compared turtle abundances in golf course ponds with ponds found in residential areas and ponds found in rural (farm) areas and examined the relationship between turtle abundance and residential land-cover within individual golf courses.

Changes in landscape composition and structure may impact the conservation and management of protected areas. Species that depend on specific habitats are at risk of extinction when these habitats are degraded or lost. Designing robust methods to evaluate landscape composition will assist decision- and policy-making in emerging landscapes. This paper describes a rapid assessment methodology aimed at evaluating land-cover quality for birds, plants, butterflies and bees around seven UK Natura 2000 sites.

This study gives an account of the implementation of a decision support system as a logical framework for assessing lake pollution hazard. The use of this system is demonstrated with an example from two lake watersheds, each one with different land-use, soil and topographic characteristics and also management regulations for natural resource protection. Lake pollution hazard is assessed as a function of two primary topics: hydrologic and soil conditions.

Rainfall-runoff modelling is widely used for runoff estimation at the catchment scale. However, its simulation capability is sometimes influenced because of rapid land cover changes occurring in catchments. This paper investigates whether modification of a rainfall-runoff model, Xinanjiang, by the incorporation of dynamic remote sensing data (MODIS leaf area index (LAI) and albedo) can improve runoff estimates for four south-east Australian catchments which experienced severe bushfire impacts.

Land surface topography is one of the most important terrain properties which impact hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological processes active on a landscape. In our previous efforts to develop a soil depth model based upon topographic and land cover variables, we derived a set of hydrological proximity measures (HPMs) from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) as potential explanatory variables for soil depth.

Traditionally, management of rangelands is based on the successional theory for vegetation developed by Clements. This approach, which came to be known as “the range succession model”, assumes a progressive change of vegetation towards the final (climax) stage and considers grazing as a primary driver of its dynamics. This model cannot be applied in Mediterranean rangelands, however, because they are largely modified plant communities and their final stage is usually a forest or dense woodland.

Land‐cover change and ecosystem degradation may lead to biotic homogenization, yet our understanding of this phenomenon over large spatial scales and different biotic groups remains weak. We used a multi‐taxa dataset from 335 sites and 36 heterogeneous landscapes in the Brazilian Amazon to examine the potential for landscape‐scale processes to modulate the cumulative effects of local disturbances.

This work addresses the estimation of net surface longwave radiation (NSLR) from net surface shortwave radiation (NSSR) by analysing the Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD) radiation data under cloudy conditions. A general model is developed to estimate NSLR from the NSSR for cloudy skies with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 23.16 W m⁻² compared with in situ data. The model is applied to AmeriFlux data. The results show that the mean error and RMSE are –2.31 W m⁻² and 29.25 W m⁻², respectively, compared with the measurement of AmeriFlux.