Long-term field studies in the scope of a multidisciplinary project in southern Ecuador revealed extraordinary high species
numbers of many organismic groups. This article discusses reasons for the outstanding vascular plant diversity using a
hierarchical scale-oriented top-down approach (Grüninger 2005), from the global scale to the local microscale. The global
scale explains general (paleo-) ecological factors valid for most parts of the humid tropics, addressing various hypotheses

Long-term erosion forecast can completely misinterpret in extreme events in plain regions. Flow paths are well
represented in the plain using digital elevation models in the 1-m grid (DEM1). The scale of the erosion process
models and the elevation models is comparable. With it instruments are available to improve the erosion simulation.
Simulations, based on (R)USLE family and bigger grid width, are relevant for regional overviews, to the clarification
of small scale relevant linear erosion forms, however, unsuitably.

Leadership style plays essential role on the success of organizations. The proposed study of this paper compares the efficiency of leadership study based on EFQM and Bass models in national land and housing organization of Iran. The proposed study of this paper designs a questionnaire and distributes it among all managers on this organization. The study covers all different levels of management including middle and top-level management. The results of the survey indicate that the average efficiency of EFQM model is located in 2.7276

The alterations caused by the realization of large scale, linear infra-structure have repercussions that similarly disrupt the land market. The market is still not perfect and has all the inherent problems connected to estimation of the compensation due for expropriation. In general, the latter doesn’t compensate the expropriated party sufficiently for the impact that the construction of a new infra-structure can have on the land in question.

Recently, droughts have become widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, including in Mongolia. The ground surface condition, particularly vegetation coverage, affects the occurrence of dust storms. The main sources of dust storms in the Asian region are the Taklimakan and Mongolian Gobi desert regions. In these regions, precipitation is one of the most important factors for growth of plants especially in arid and semi-arid land. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between precipitation and vegetation cover dynamics over 29 years in the Gobi region.

Railway trespassing is a very risky but common behaviour, resulting in about 200 casualties annually in the Czech Republic. This study describes the formation of 27 selected risk localities with frequent occurrence of trespassing in the regions of southern, central and northern Moravia. To be able to describe the process, an evaluation of the development of land use was conducted within a wide spatial context of each spot. The evaluation was focused on functional use of built-up areas (collective and individual housing, industrial areas, shopping and services, recreational areas, etc.).

Landscape character assessment (LCA) has a significant contribution to make as a spatial framework for the emerging concept of ‘multi-functional landscapes’, a landscape providing a range of functions, services, and human-derived benefits. The paper reviews the development of LCA in Northwest Europe with a brief description of more recent LCA projects in a Mediterranean context. This is followed by a comparative description of the Living Landscapes approach developed in the UK as applied to Cyprus.

Resource-use decisions affect the ecological and human components of the coupled human and natural system (CHANS), but a critique of some frameworks is that they do not address the complexity and tradeoffs within and between the two systems. Land system architecture (LA) was suggested to account for these tradeoffs at multiple levels/scales. LA and landscape ecology (LE) focus on landscape structure (i.e., composition and configuration of land-use and land-cover change [LULCC]) and the processes (social-ecological) resulting from and shaping LULCC.

Land use/land cover maps derived from remotely sensed imagery are often insufficient in quality for some quantitative application purposes due to a variety of reasons such as spectral confusion. Although object-based classification has some advantages over pixel-based classification in identifying relatively homogeneous land use/cover areas from medium resolution remotely sensed images, the classification accuracy is usually still relatively low.

Quantitative reconstructions of past land use facilitate comparisons between livelihoods in space and time. However, comparison between different types of land use strategies is challenging as land use has a multitude of expressions and intensities. The quantitative method presented here facilitates the exploration and synthetization of uneven archaeological and textual evidence from past societies.

In arid regions, oases ecosystems are fragile and sensitive to climate change, and water is the major limiting factor for environmental and socio-economic developments. Understanding the drivers of land use/cover change (LUCC) in arid regions is important for the development of management strategies to improve or prevent environmental deterioration and loss of natural resources.

Organized transhumant pastoralism has contributed to shaping the cultural landscape of many countries. It has affected areas designated for grazing, temporary and permanent shelters, and towns. Through the analysis of historical maps and recent information, in a temporal range from 1652 to 2014, this study focused on changes in land cover and conservation status of one of the main Italian transhumance paths, namely the Tratturo Castel di Sangro-Lucera. Although there are some areas where this drove road is still recognizable, it is mostly identifiable only through a few tangible signs.