Agri-environmental measures have not been able to halt the decline of biodiversity in agricultural systems. Agricultural practices aimed at preserving diversity on a field scale appear to be deficient. This study models the interactions between grazing/mowing practices and the ecological dynamics of two grassland bird species (Northern Lapwing and Common Redshank) at three nested spatial scales (field, farm and landscape). On a field scale, grazing periods and intensity determine the balance between production and conservation.

Geomorphologic and hydrologic research heavily depends on digital elevation models (DEM) which are currently being prepared from digital contours. The present study examines the use and applicability of freely available global elevation data source (3 arc seconds finished Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)) in landform characterisation, geomorphometry, river basin studies and other allied scientific applications in comparison with contour elevation data derived from the surveyed topographical sheets.

Climate change is affecting biodiversity worldwide inducing species to either “move, adapt or die”. In this paper we propose a conceptual framework for analysing range shifts, namely a catalogue of the possible patterns of change in the distribution of a species along elevational or other environmental gradients and an improved quantitative methodology to identify and objectively describe these patterns.

It is becoming increasingly important to improve spatial resolutions of soil maps as a fundamental information layer for studying ecological processes and to tackle land degradation. There is growing interest in the use of remote sensing technologies to assist the identification and delineation of spatial variation in soils. This paper investigates whether selected properties of extensively weathered, low fertility soils can be predicted using high-resolution reflectance spectra over the range 400–2500nm.

The goal of this paper is to introduce a statistical concept to derive ecological classifications of terrestrial and marine environments. Such ecological regionalisations reflect spatial combinations of biotic and abiotic characteristics and therefore may serve for environmental planning and monitoring issues. Referring to two case studies the paper presents how to calculate and map ecological defined regions from geodata by use of decision tree models and GIS-techniques. The first study deals with marine environments, exemplified by benthic habitats in the North Sea.

In the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia gully occurrence is linked to poverty-driven unsustainable use of the land in a vulnerable semi-arid and mountainous environment, where intensive rainfall challenges the physical integrity of the landscape. Trends in gully and river channel erosion, and their relation to triggering environmental changes can proffer valuable insights into sustainable development in Northern Ethiopia.

Intensive overgrazing, practiced for the last decades in Inner Mongolia, has led to serious grassland degradation and deterioration of soil structure. As a consequence, the soil gas and water fluxes and therefore soil functions were affected by grazing. We investigated two steppe ecosystems characterized by two plant communities: Stipa grandis (SG) and Leymus chinensis (LCh) and different grazing intensities: ungrazed since 1979 (UG79), continuously grazed (CG, at the SG site) and winter grazed (WG, at the LCh site).

Changing environmental and socio-economic conditions make land degradation, a major concern in Central and East Asia. Globally satellite imagery, particularly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, has proved an effective tool for monitoring land cover change. This study examines 33 grassland water points using vegetation field studies and remote sensing techniques to track desertification on the Mongolian plateau.

To investigate the influence of human activities on limnological characteristics of Lake Victoria, we analyzed inorganic nutrient concentrations, phytoplankton diversity and biomass at three locations with different land use patterns: Mwanza (urban/industrial), Magu (agricultural) and Kayenze (sparsely populated). Mwanza had significantly higher ammonia concentration compared to Kayenze and Magu. At the shoreline stations, significantly higher nitrate concentration was observed at Mwanza compared to Kayenze and Magu.

Post-fire land degradation is often attributed to fire-induced soil water repellency, despite the fact that soil water repellency is a natural phenomenon in many soils and is therefore not necessarily caused by fire. To improve our understanding of the role of soil water repellency in causing fire-induced land degradation, a long-term monitoring study was performed in which the temporal variation of topsoil water repellency (0–2.5-cm depth) was captured in a Portuguese shrubland before and after fire between November 2007 and March 2010.

Environmental regulatory compliance costs are often cited as a factor in dairy location decisions,but few studies estimate the impacts of regulation in this sector. This article uses California dairyregulations to examine the pollution haven hypothesis in agriculture.

El experimento se realizó en la costa de Granada (SE España). Se estudiaron la descomposición de
la hojarasca y el reciclado del nitrógeno en cuatro tipos de hojas de frutales de origen subtropical
y tropical: mango (Mangifera indica L.), chirimoyo (Annona cherimola Mill.), níspero (Eriobotrya
japonica Lindl.) y aguacate (Persea americana Mill.), empleando la técnica de las bolsas. El
chirimoyo tuvo las mayores tasas de descomposición de hojarasca, mientras que la de mango