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.

Over the last 30 years, ecological networks have been deployed to reduce global biodiversity loss by enhancing landscape connectivity. Bird species dwelling in woodland habitats that are embedded in agriculture-dominated landscapes are expected to be particularly sensitive to the loss of connectivity. This study aimed to determine the role of landscape connectivity in woodland bird species richness, abundance, and community similarity in north-east Brittany (north-west France).

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011 led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The Japanese government subsequently outlined an evacuation zone around the power plant, and all residents were evacuated. In the absence of cropland or urban vegetation management, land cover was expected to change. The changes in vegetation cover following the nuclear disaster are presented using long-term time series data obtained from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors.

Local and regional governments have developed climate action plans with significant implications for forests and wildlife. The effectiveness of climate mitigation through forest carbon sequestration depends on understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of land-cover and land-use change (LCLUC). Few studies project future LCLUC effects on forest carbon sequestration, and even fewer examine the resulting consequences for forest connectivity and wildlife habitat.

CONTEXT: The Mongolian Plateau, comprising Inner Mongolia, China (IM) and Mongolia (MG) is undergoing consistent warming and accelerated land cover/land use change. Extensive modifications of water-limited regions can alter ecosystem function and processes; hence, it is important to differentiate the impacts of human activities and precipitation dynamics on vegetation productivity. OBJECTIVES: This study distinguished between human-induced and precipitation-driven changes in vegetation cover on the plateau across biome, vegetation type and administrative divisions.

Much of the world's rangelands are dominated by woody species. Competing land uses and continued encroachment of woody species into non-woody dominated rangelands have reduced grasslands in many parts of the world. Land use conversions to fuel and feed global populations, especially for increasing numbers of middle class people seeking broader, meat-based diets, will certainly continue. Halting and/or reversing further encroachment of woody species into grasslands is slow, expensive, and in some cases, not possible.

Accurate atmospheric correction is an important preprocessing step for studies of multi-temporal land-cover mapping using optical satellite data. Model-based surface reflectance predictions (e.g. 6S – Second Simulation of Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum) are highly dependent on the adjustment of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) data.

Employing the histogram matching approach, the sediment regime alteration of the upper Yangtze River was assessed and its possible causes and environmental influences were discussed. Daily sediment load and flow data from 1950 to 2008 were collected from Yichang hydrometric station. The annual sediment load series was segmented by heuristic segmentation algorithm in 1986 and 2003, and the multi-year mean values of the three phases were 5.28� ×� 10⁸, 3.89� ×� 10⁸ and 0.57� ×� 10⁸� t, respectively.

The effect of land cover change, from natural to anthropogenic, on physical geography conditions has been studied in Kayisdagi Mountain. Land degradation is the most important environmental issue involved in this study. Most forms of land degradation are natural processes accelerated by human activity. Land degradation is a human induced or natural process that negatively affects the ability of land to function effectively within an ecosystem.

Land use/land cover changes (LULCCs) represent the result of the complex interaction between biophysical factors and human activity, acting over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. The aim of this work is to quantify the role of biophysical factors in constraining the trajectories of land abandonment and urbanization in the last 50 years.

The land cover change from cultivated land to construction land is a world issue since the urbanization process is extensively studied around the world. Chengdu, China, is a representative urbanization area, where cloud cover is very high most of the time, restricting the use of visible and near-infrared satellite data.