Available land use/cover maps differ in their spatial extent and in their thematic, spatial, and temporal resolutions. Due to the costs of producing such maps, there is usually a trade-off between spatial extent and resolution. The only European-wide, consistent, and multi-temporal land use/cover dataset available is the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) map. Despite the value and usefulness of CLC, its minimum mapping unit (MMU) of 25 hectares considerably limits its applications at large scales of analysis.

(1) Land‐use intensification in agricultural landscapes has led to changes in the way habitats and resources are distributed in space. Pests and their natural enemies are influenced by these changes, and by the farming intensity of crop fields. However, it is unknown whether the composition of landscapes (amount and diversity of land cover types) or their configuration (spatial arrangement of cover types) are more important for natural enemy diversity, and how they impact crop damage and yields. In addition, effects of interactions between local farming practices (organic vs.

Grassland is a land cover in the area of conflict between agriculture and conservation, where intensification of land use is a major threat to grassland biodiversity. Grassland use intensity is a key factor for the conservation value of grassland, and detailed spatial data on grassland use intensity is needed to improve strategies for biodiversity conservation. A new remote sensing-based approach using multi-temporal high resolution RapidEye satellite data was developed in the present study that makes a large-scale assessment of grassland use intensity possible.

For many of the world’s lakes, particularly those in remote regions, an assessment of the basin’s sensitivity to climate change is limited by the availability of appropriate hydrologic data. A regional steady-state lake water balance model was developed that uses simple, yet easily estimated or obtained, data to generate an aridity index (potential evapotranspiration to precipitation ratio) to predict changes in lake basin area to lake surface area ratio, a non-dimensional lake-basin property that can be easily obtained from digital maps.

Mortality from road-kills may figure among the important causes of decline in amphibian populations and species extinctions worldwide. Evaluation of the magnitude, composition, and temporal and spatial distributions of amphibian road-kills is a key step for mitigation planning, especially in peri-urban reserves. Once a month for 16 months, we surveyed, on foot, a 4.4 km section of state road ERS-389 bordering the Itapeva reserve in the southern Atlantic Forest. We recorded 1433 anuran road-kills and estimated a mortality rate of 9002 road-kills/km/year.

SPreAD-GIS is a tool for modeling spatial patterns of anthropogenic noise propagation in natural ecosystems. SPreAD-GIS incorporates commonly available datasets on land cover, topography, and weather conditions to calculate noise propagation patterns and excess noise above ambient conditions for one-third octave frequency bands around one or multiple sound sources.

The availability of land cover data at local scales is an important component in forest management and monitoring efforts. Regional land cover data seldom provide detailed information needed to support local management needs. Here we present a transferable framework to model forest cover by major plant functional type using aerial photos, multi-date Système Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) imagery, and topographic variables.

A need exists to increase both knowledge and recognition of the values associated with ecosystem services and amenities. This article explores the use of hedonic pricing as a tool for eliciting these values. We take a case study approach, valuing several services provided by ecosystems, namely aesthetic quality (views), access to outdoor recreation, and the benefits provided by tree cover in Dakota County, Minnesota, USA. Our results indicate that these services are valued by local residents and that hedonic pricing can be used to elicit at least a portion of this value.

This study analysed long-term land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) in a highland watershed covering an area of about 154 km² in the Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. Two sets of panchromatic aerial photographs (1957 and 1982) and a Landsat TM image (2001) were the main input data from which three land-use and land-cover maps were produced by employing geographical information systems/remote sensing techniques. These data were complemented by some socio-economic data that were generated by using household survey, key-informant interview and group discussion methods.

We have produced the first 30 m resolution global land-cover maps using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data. We have classified over 6600 scenes of Landsat TM data after 2006, and over 2300 scenes of Landsat TM and ETM+ data before 2006, all selected from the green season. These images cover most of the world's land surface except Antarctica and Greenland. Most of these images came from the United States Geological Survey in level L1T (orthorectified).

Sediment profiles from the floodplain of Morava River in the Czech Republic have been collected from exposed river banks (4–6m long sections) and cores (2–4m deep) and investigated using a set of geochemical proxies validated by granulometry and conventional geochemical analysis, outlined in our previous paper. The work was conducted to evaluate the increase in sedimentation rate during Medieval and modern time periods.

With the growth of the biofuel complex, the concept of ‘marginal land’ has emerged as a term commonly associated with the promotion of agrofuels. Remote sensing and other data are used to globally characterize land as marginal based on predominantly biophysical features that render it ‘non-competitive’ for the purpose of commercial food agriculture.