The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) does not distinguish between natural and human drivers, and between active and inherited desertification. Partly as a result of these ambiguities the UNCCD has attracted a low level of international attention.
The Zagros region of western Iran has been affected by the recent changes both in amount and in structure of forest cover. We evaluated the influence of several driving forces on forest cover and structure, including socioeconomic (urban and rural population and rural income) and climatic (mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature) variables.
The Land Transformation Model (LTM) is hierarchically coupled with meso-scale drivers to project urban growth across the conterminous USA. Quantity of urban growth at county and place (i.e., city) scales is simulated using population, urban density and nearest neighbor dependent attributes. We compared three meso-scale LTMs to three null models that lack meso-scale drivers.
Urbanization is increasingly becoming a widespread phenomenon at all scales of development around the globe. Be it developing or developed nations, all are witnessing urbanization at very high pace. In order to study its impacts, various methodologies and techniques are being implemented to measure growth of urban extents over spatial and temporal domains.
Conservation easements (or conservation covenants) are commonly conceptualized as acquisitions of sticks in a âbundle of rightsâ and are increasingly implemented for wildlife conservation on private lands. This research asks: (1) What are the possibilities and limitations of the conservation easement approach to wildlife conservation in contrasting rural and periurban regions?
Human conversion of land cover alters biotic communities and sets the stage for ongoing change as species interact within new environments. We studied the response of a native forest specialist, the Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus), to immediate and ongoing environmental changes facilitated by urbanization.
Detailed urban land-cover maps are essential information for sustainable planning. Land-cover maps assist planners in designing strategies for the optimisation of urban ecosystem services and climate change adaptation. In this study, the statistical software R was applied to land cover analysis for the Catania metropolitan area in Sicily, Italy.
This longitudinal case study of residential development pressure in a village in Glasgow's urban fringe provides detailed insight into the different perspectives of key public, private and community interest groups, and exemplifies the conflict resolution process in this environment in the context of the new post-2006 planning system in Scotland. The paper is organised into six main parts.
Cities are characterized by dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical forces. Currently more than half of the global population reside in cities which influence the global biogeochemical cycles and climate change, substantially exacerbating pressures on urban pollution, water quality and food security, as well as operating costs for infrastructure development.
Evaluation of recent land degradation affecting Basra Province, Iraq, resulted in the identification of five prominent environmental degradation processes: desertification, secondary salinization, urbanization, vegetation degradation, and loss of wetlands.
Population growth, urbanisation and climate change represent significant pressures on urban water resources, requiring water managers to consider a wider array of management options that account for economic, social and environmental factors.
The planning and management of urban forest has become increasingly important as a focus of urban environmental management. The objectives of this study were to analyze the landuse/land cover and to map functional zones of the urban forest in the upper catchment area of Addis Ababa.