Multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) has been widely applied for estimating fractional land covers from remote sensing imagery. MESMA has proven effective in addressing inter-class and intra-class endmember variability by allowing pixel-specific endmember combinations. This method, however, assumes that each land cover type has an equal probability of being included in the model...

Climate is the most important factor of plants distribution in global and regional scale. Understanding the current distribution of vegetation cover and its interaction with climate regularity is important for predicting its future. In order to determine the effective climate factors in plant life-form in Polour rangelands in the Damavand summit (2400 to 4100 m above sea level), Iran, a study w...

As pinyon–juniper (specifically, Pinus monophylla and Juniperus osteosperma) woodlands in the western United States increase in distribution and density, understory growth declines and the occurrence of crown fires increases, leaving mountainsides open to both soil erosion and invasion by exotic species. We examined if the loss in understory cover that occurred with increasing tree cover was re...

We tested the hypothesis of a negative relationship between vegetation characteristics and ant species richness in a Brazilian open vegetation habitat, called candeial. We set up arboreal pitfalls to sample arboreal ants and measured the following environmental variables, which were used as surrogate of environmental heterogeneity: tree richness, tree density, tree height, circumference at the ...

Experimental trampling trials using a standardized methodology were undertaken in 10 replicate blocks in three vegetation types in an urban reserve in the subtropics of Australia. In each block different intensities of trampling (controls, 10, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 400 and 500 passes) were applied, and vegetation parameters were measured pre-trampling, immediately after trampling and...

Stem density, basal area, vegetation cover and vegetation surface area were compared as measures of the proportions of plant species present in North Okarito Forest, South Westland, for use in determining bird preferences for plant species. In general, stem density estimates of the proportions of canopy species were about 10 times lower than basal area estimates. The converse was true for estim...

The Montebello archipelago consists of 218 islands; 80 km from the north-west coast of Western Australia. Before 1912 the islands had a diverse terrestrial fauna. By 1952 several species were locally extinct. Between 1996 and 2011 rodents and cats were eradicated, and 5 mammal and 2 bird species were translocated to the islands. Monitoring of the broader terrestrial ecosystem over time has been...

Original scientific paper Evaluating the deterioration of ecological environment and vegetation of coalfields caused by China’s large-scale coal mining activities is important because of the fragile ecological environment and low temperature in cold and arid areas. This study takes the open coal pits of Haizhou, Gulianhe, and Huolinhe as examples and proposes a method for evaluating their ecolo...

As landmass of the world is covered by vegetation, taking into account phenology when performing land cover classification may yield more accurate maps. The availability of no-cost Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) NDVI dataset that provides high-quality continuous time series data is representing a potentially significant source of land cover information especially for detection...