in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, shrubs may act as fertility islands but theireffect may vary depending on their morphology and ecological impacts. this research wasaimed to study effect of three shrubs scariola orientalis, astragalus heratensis, and rosapersica on soil properties and on the microclimate conditions (temperature, luminance, andsoil moisture) of their understory in the steppe ra...

This paper provides an empirical investigation of the factors that influence the appearance and success of voter referenda to raise public funds for open-space conservation. We take advantage of a data set that includes detailed information on all such referenda that occurred in the United States between 1998 and 2003. Combining these data with information from the U.S. Census and state-specifi...

This paper examines the effect of public acquisitions of open space on 1 changes in house prices and the municipal tax base using municipal-level data from 2 New Jersey. We find that open-space expenditures yield a stream of benefits in the 3 future but that any effect of open-space acquisitions on the tax base is immediate. 4 Finally, we find that while higher tax rates are associated with a l...

Urban parks, forests and open space systems provide many amenities for city dwellers. Yet perceptions of public value may not incorporate all of the scientifically confirmed public goods and services of urban green space. Theory and methods of economic valuation have been used to derive green space values – including direct use, environmental services, hedonic pricing and human health estimatio...

Urbanisation is still one of the social themes in developing countries. In China, the rapid process of urbanisation and economic growth bring to people not only more opportunities for creating new life and pursuing happiness, but also the challenge to face various and complex social, economical and environmental problems. Among them some are outstanding, like the shrinking plowland devoured by ...

Background It is obvious that most of informal learnings of social skills and constructive plays occur in school yards and play-fields where children spend much of their non-official time of teaching. This study aimed to investigate the impact of schools' open space on learning and educational achievement of elementary students in Ahvaz, Southwest of Iran. Materials and Methods At a cross-secti...

Open PHACTS is a public-private partnership between academia, publishers, small and medium sized enterprises and pharmaceutical companies. The goal of the project is to deliver and sustain an 'open pharmacological space' using and enhancing state-of-the-art semantic web standards and technologies. It is focused on practical and robust applications to solve specific questions in drug discovery r...