Image segmentation is a basic and important procedure in object-based classification of remote-sensing data. This study presents an approach to multi-scale optimal segmentation (OS), given that single-scale segmentation may not be the most suitable approach to map a variety of land-cover types characterized by various spatial structures; it objectively measures the appropriate segmentation scale for each object at various scales and projects them onto a single layer. A 1.8 m spatial resolution Worldview-2 image was used to perform successive multi-scale segmentations.

The effect of longitudinal zonation patterns and macroinvertebrate responses to changes in habitat characteristics have been given a lot of attention. But studies of changes in macroinvertebrate assemblages along small upland undisturbed watercourses are still lacking.

The rating of biodiversity in arid and semiarid regions on the basis of ecological function and genetic traits of adaptation to severe environmental stresses produces significantly higher values, than that based solely on the commonly applied structural criteria of forms of life and levels of organization.

For amphibian species suspected of undergoing enigmatic declines, it is important to determine the effort required to confidently establish species absence. Desmognathus auriculatus (Southern Dusky Salamander) has purportedly gone from being quite common throughout the southeastern US Coastal Plain to now being enigmatically rare. We used repeated standardized surveys of 5 historically occupied streams and their adjacent riparian zones between 2007 and 2010 to estimate detection rate of Southern Dusky Salamanders. We detected Southern Dusky Salamanders at 3 of 5 historic sites.

Conservation planning and implementation require identifying pertinent habitats and locations where protection and management may improve viability of targeted species. The winter range of Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a threatened Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbird, is restricted to the Greater Antilles. We analyzed winter records from the mid-1970s to 2009 to quantitatively evaluate winter distribution and habitat selection.

The impact of climate change and anthropogenic deforestation on biodiversity is of growing concern worldwide. Disentangling how past anthropogenic and natural factors contributed to current biome distribution is thus a crucial issue to understand their complex interactions on wider time scales and to improve predictions and conservation strategies. This is particularly important in biodiversity hotspots, such as Madagascar, dominated by large open habitats whose origins are increasingly debated.

The interactions between precipitation, streamflow and groundwater are very complex. In cold temperate regions characterized by harsh winters, winter streamflow is mainly derived from aquifers that are recharged in the spring, during snowmelt, and in the fall, when evapotranspiration is subdued.

Agricultural development on floodplains contributes to hydrologic alteration and forest fragmentation, which may alter landscape-level processes. These changes may be related to shifts in the seed bank composition of floodplain wetlands. We examined the patterns of seed bank composition across a floodplain watershed by looking at the number of seeds germinating per m² by species in 60 farmed and intact forested wetlands along the Cache River watershed in Illinois.

The abandonment of farmland has become a widespread phenomenon in post-socialist countries that have seen revolutionary changes in their economic systems. The phenomenon is notable in vineyard areas, where abandonment leads to the loss of the unique character of vineyard landscapes. This paper assesses the extent of vineyard abandonment in Slovakia and analyses the driving forces behind it. We used statistical and Corine Land Cover data to map the change in vineyard areas in Slovakia and analyse the pressure of underlying driving forces.

The SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied for simulating the hydrologic pattern of Paraopeba river basin, in Minas Gerais state, under different land use and occupation scenarios, looking to support basin management actions. The model parameters were calibrated and validated, with respect to the data observed from 1983 to 2005. The basin was assessed at the ‘Porto do Mesquita’ gauging station and change in land use and occupation was based on the annual growth scenarios proposed in the partial report of Paraopeba basin’s master plan.

In the past few decades there has been an increasing pressure of population all over the world, especially in India, resulting in the utilization of every available patch of available land from woodlands to badlands. The study area represents a basin which is economically growing fast by converting the fallow lands, badlands and woodlands to agricultural land for the past few decades.