West Nile Virus (WNV) was first detected in the Texas equine population during June 2002. Infection has since spread rapidly across the state and become endemic in the equine population. Environmental risk factors associated with equine WNV attack rates in Texas counties during the period 2002 to 2004 were investigated. Equine WNV attack rates were smoothed using an empirical Bayesian model, because of the variability among county equine populations (range 46-9,517).

Frequent alteration in land cover often leads to decreased stability of ecosystems which can also increase the vulnerability of rural communities to externalities of environmental change. This study carried out in parts of the coast of southwestern Nigeria utilized topographic base maps and two-time Landsat TM imageries to assess the trend in land cover changes and ecosystems degradation for the three time periods 1965, 1986 and 2001. Remote sensing, geographic information systems and landscape pattern analysis were employed for data processing and analysis.

The valuation of ecosystem services can play an important role in conservation planning and ecosystem‐based management. Unfortunately, gathering primary, site‐specific data is costly. As a result, a popular alternate method is to conduct a “benefit transfer” (applying economic value estimates from one location to a similar site in another location). Among the potential pitfalls of such an approach, the correspondence (or lack thereof) between the locations is probably the most important for evaluating the probable validity of the benefit transfer.

Using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS), the detection of land cover/landuse (LC/LU) spaceies and monitoring changes in particular periods are made easily and economically. CORINE classification was developed in 1985 by countries of the Europeon Union to establish a good harmony especialy with LC/LU classification. This system contains three levels of classification. So far, LC/LU classification has not been fullfilled using large scale CORINE classification in Turkey,.

Land cover of the Earth is changing dramatically because of human activities. Information about changes is useful for management of natural resources. Rapid land cover changes have taken place in many coastal areas of Turkey over the last two decades due to urbanization and land degradation. In this paper, land cover change dynamics were investigated by the combined use of satellite remote sensing and geographical information systems. The main objective of the study was to determine land-cover transition rates among land cover types in coastal areas of Turkey.

We investigated whether accounting for land cover could improve bioclimatic models for eight species of anurans and three species of turtles at a regional scale. We then tested whether accounting for spatial autocorrelation could significantly improve bioclimatic models after statistically controlling for the effects of land cover. Nova Scotia, eastern Canada. Species distribution data were taken from a recent (1999-2003) herpetofaunal atlas. Generalized linear models were used to relate the presence or absence of each species to climate and land-cover variables at a 10-km resolution.

While the decrease in flow is obvious in the Kikuletwa River, the mechanism leading to the decrease is unclear. We assessed the influence of vegetation cover change on dry season flow in the Kikuletwa River. The combined cover of closed and open forests decreased by 68% while closed and open forests decreased by 56% and 64% respectively. Land under agroforestry decreased by 25%, while that under annual crops increased by 41%. Grasslands increased by 116% and riverine vegetation decreased by 53%.

Forest harvesting is a major cause of habitat alteration negatively affecting forest-dwelling caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in the boreal forest. In order to identify female caribou habitat requirements, we conducted a fine-scale habitat selection analysis in a managed forest of eastern Canada. Five land-cover types used by 8 female caribou during 2 periods (winter and snow-free) were considered to characterize structural attributes, ground cover, and lichen abundance at 320 GPS locations and at 200 random points within home ranges.

In a multidisciplinary study, highly significant interactional effects were found among land use, livestock component, soil properties and rainfall. On an average, 16.2 to 82.2 tonnes of sediment yield km−2 and more than 90% of rainwater was retained in-situ in new land use systems as against 3621.3 tonnes of sediment and 66.3% rainwater retention in shifting cultivation, because of poor land cover. Good vegetation cover reduced the runoff load, resulting in significant reduction in the soil and nutrient erosion.

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.

The wintering Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor was censused in Poland more than two decades ago (during the winters of 1988/89 and 1989/90). Single censuses were made during each winter on sample plots varying from 4.1 to 35.1 km² (mean: 16.4 km²). Altogether, data from 404 plots, covering in total more than 6.6 thousands km² were used for the analysis. Based on this data and environmental information gathered in GIS databases (Corine land cover ““CLC1990”” database, digital elevation model ““GTOPO30”” dataset) we modelled habitat- and spatial-related variation in shrike distribution.

The objective of this paper was the development of a methodology for the classification of digital aerial images, which, with the aid of object-based classification and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), can quantify agricultural areas, by using algorithms of expert classification, with the aim of improving the final results of thematic classifications.