77 Results Found

This paper investigates the reliability of free and open-source algorithms used in the geographical object-based image classification (GEOBIA) of very high resolution (VHR) imagery surveyed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV surveys were carried...

Monitoring vegetation is extremely relevant in the context of climate change, and digital repeat photography is a method that has gained momentum due to a low cost–benefit ratio. This work aims to demonstrate the possibility of using digital cameras...

Higher biodiversity leads to more productive ecosystems which, in turn, supports more biodiversity. Ongoing global changes affect ecosystem productivity and, therefore, are expected to affect productivity-biodiversity relationships. However, the magn...

Burn severity metrics and classification have yet to be tested for many eastern U.S. deciduous vegetation types, but, if suitable, would be valuable for documenting and monitoring landscape-scale restoration projects that employ prescribed fire treat...

Cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands hold significant ecological, cultural, and economic value in the Mediterranean basin, particularly due to cork production, one of the most valued non-wood forest products worldwide. However, cork oak ecosystems are...

Open woodlands dominated by shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) and oak are historically an important component of the landscape across the southeastern United States. These ecosystems support numerous wildlife species, many of which have declined...

This study had two primary objectives: (1) to determine relative differences in soil infiltration capacity between native grasslands and thicketized oak woodlands and (2) to compare the effectiveness of three infiltration measurement techniques&mdash...

The holm oak woodlands as ecotonic phytocoenoses occur under different ecological conditions, and frequently representing the climax of edaphoxerophilous series of crests and siliceous rocky areas. In this paper we study the floristic, ecological, an...

Stem diameter growth in living trees refers to the invariably increase in dimension over a given period. However, reversible stem diameter decrease could occur, related to water movement in the vessels within the wood (on a daily basis) and to tree w...

Oak open woodlands (dehesas) have outstanding socioeconomic and ecological values, sustain traditional agro-silvo-pastoral uses, provide high-value ecosystem services, and constitute key biodiversity hotspots. Cerambyx cerdo and Cerambyx welensii are...

Pollarding, the practice of pruning tree branches at a specific height, has been crucial for managing open forests in Europe. This practice has supported the persistence of highly biodiverse open woodlands featuring ancient trees. Understanding histo...

Habitat fragmentation is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss and the alteration of the structure and function of habitat types. This study aimed to assess the conservation status of forest habitats by examining fragmentation and naturalness....

Using remotely sensed data to estimate the biophysical properties of vegetation in woodlands is a challenging task due to their heterogeneous nature. The objective of this study was to assess the biophysical parameters of different vegetation types (...

Wooded pastures serve as a traditional source of forage in Europe, where forest grazing is valued as an efficient tool for maintaining the diversity of semi-natural habitats. In a forest grazing setting with diverse diet composition, assessing the en...

The scientific debate over how to make visible the connections between the standard System of National Accounts (SNA) and its ongoing satellite Environmental Economic Ecosystem Accounting–Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA–EEA) is a...

The biotic province of the Sierra Madre del Sur presents a mosaic of woodlands at different successional stages due to frequent modifications in land use. In this study, we analyzed changes in woody flora across three successional stages of pine-oak...

There is growing consensus regarding the implementation of a new statistical framework for environmental-economic accounting to improve ecosystem related policies. As the standard System of National Accounts (SNA) fails to measure the economic contri...

North America’s midcontinent forest–prairie ecotone is currently exhibiting extensive eastern redcedar (ERC) (Juniperus virginiana L.) encroachment. Rapid expansion of ERC has major impacts on the species composition and forest structure...

The distribution of Amblyomma americanum (L.) is changing and reports of tick-borne disease transmitted by A. americanum are increasing in the USA. We used flagging to collect ticks, surveyed vegetation and collected weather data in 2015 and 2016. A....

Evidence of unintended introductions of Phytophthora species into native habitats has become increasingly prevalent in California. If not managed adequately, Phytophthora species can become devastating agricultural and forest plant pathogens. Additio...

The standard System of National Accounts (SNA) does not estimate the margins of the products without market prices consumed because it assumes that the cost prices of the final products consumed correspond to the consumer marginal willingness to pay...

Research applications of three-dimensional, time-dependent, computational fluid dynamics fire behavior models, such as the Wildland Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS) [...]

Research Highlights: This research identified areas of the eastern United States forests that may be at particular risk from Sudden Oak Death (SOD) if it becomes established in the region. The highest suitability for SOD occurs where there are both s...

Partitioning evapotranspiration (ET) into its constituent fluxes (transpiration (T) and evaporation (E)) is important for understanding water use efficiency in forests and other ecosystems. Recent advancements in cavity ringdown spectrometers (CRDS)...

English wood pastures have become a target for ecological restoration, including the restoration of pollarded trees and grazing animals, although pigs have not been frequently incorporated into wood pasture restoration schemes. Because wood pastures...

The conversion of forests from complex natural ecosystems to simplified commercial woodlands is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss. To maintain biodiversity, we need to understand how current management practices influence forest ecosystems...

Understanding the ecology of populations located in the rear edge of their distribution is key to assessing the response of the species to changing environmental conditions. Here, we focus on rear-edge populations of Quercus pyrenaica in Sierra Nevad...

Key leaf functional traits, such as chlorophyll and carotenoids content (Cab and Cxc), equivalent water thickness (EWT), and leaf mass per area (LMA), are essential to the characterization and monitoring of ecosystem function. Spectroscopy provides a...

The southeastern United States was historically characterized by open forests featuring fire-adapted species before land-use change. We compared tree composition and densities of historical tree surveys (1802 to 1841) to contemporary tree surveys, wi...

The struggling Spanish holm oak woodland situation associated with Phytophthora root rot has been studied for a long time. Phytophthora cinnamomi is considered the main, but not the only species responsible for the decline scenario. This study verifi...

Retrieval of forest biophysical properties using airborne LiDAR is known to differ between leaf-on and leaf-off states of deciduous trees, but much less is understood about the within-season effects of leafing phenology. Here, we compare two LiDAR su...

Acute Oak Decline (AOD) is a new condition affecting both species of native oak, Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, in Great Britain. The decline is characterised by a distinctive set of externally visible stem symptoms; bark cracks that “weep” dark...

We followed the reproductive parameters of two species of tits, Great and Blue tits, over three decades (1993–2022), in three close habitats of the Mediterranean island of Sicily. We found that they regulated egg-laying dates in the same way, e...

Mediterranean ecosystems are threatened by climate change and shrub encroachment. An increase in shrub cover can intensify the competition for water, aggravating the impacts of drought on ecosystem functioning. The effects of shrubs can be positive o...

Cork oak (Quercus suber) is a declining woodland species across the island of Sardinia, despite its former economic importance for wine production and its significance for biodiversity. In particular, cork oak forests (COFs) on the island have seen a...

The decline of oak canopies in Iberian woodlands is strongly influenced by abiotic and biotic stress factors, such as the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi which has the capacity to infect a wide range of plant species. Understory plant diversity plays...

It is assumed that people practiced woodland management, i.e., coppicing and pollarding, in prehistory, but details are poorly known. This study aims for a better understanding of woodland exploitation through time in the wetland basin of the Ljublja...

Since the late 1800s, pinyon–juniper woodland across the western U.S. has increased in density and areal extent and encroached into former grassland areas. The San Carlos Apache Tribe wants to gain qualitative and quantitative information on the hist...

Due to a suite of environmental changes, Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Douglas ex Hook; called Gary oak in Canada) associated ecosystems at many North American sites are being encroached upon by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco...

The common oak (Quercus robur L.), though ecologically important and long-lived, has declined in Northern Europe due to historical land use and conifer-dominated forestry. In Latvia, where its distribution is limited, oaks support a rich biodiversity...

Mediterranean ecosystems face threats from both climate change and shrub invasion. As shrub cover increases, competition for water intensifies, exacerbating the negative effects of drought on ecosystem functioning. However, research into the combined...

The wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus is common in woodlands and open areas of the Western Palearctic. Despite extensive research, little is known about its population ecology in fields in the Mediterranean area, where the climate involves great seasona...

In recent years, severe decline and mortality events have been observed in holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) ecosystems in different Italian regions, including Puglia (southern Italy). Given the landscape and ecological relevance of holm oak forests in Apul...

A strip of 20th-century landscape woodland planted alongside a 17th to mid-18th century ancient and semi-natural woodland (ASNW) was investigated by applied aerial spectroscopy using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a multispectral image camera...

Portuguese cork oak (Quercus suber L.) extended mortality and lack of regeneration have been the drivers of important changes in the traditional cork oak woodlands (savanna-like) montado. The decrease in tree cover fosters the mixture with stone pine...

The paper develops a model through a contingent valuation approach to support public authorities in the exploration and assessment of ecosystem services (ESs) generated by forest and woodlands (FOWLs). This approach is employed to the cork oak forest...

Invasive woodland pests have substantial ecological, economic, and social impacts, harming biodiversity and ecosystem services. Mathematical modelling informed by Bayesian inference can deepen our understanding of the fundamental behaviours of invasi...

Although oak woodlands are a characteristic landscape component in the Swat Hindukush Mountain ranges, little is known about their current or historical stand population structure and regeneration dynamics related to environmental variables. Therefor...

Research Highlights: The regeneration of Quercus species is usually very difficult in many oak woodlands transformed by livestock farming. Some studies have reported that shrubs can facilitate regeneration. However, the strength of interaction may va...

Garvin Heights Park in southeastern Minnesota, USA, is a 12 ha mosaic of bluff prairie, oak savanna, and oak–hickory woodland co-owned by the City of Winona and Winona State University, with a 40+ year history of encroachment by non-native wood...