While ecological succession shapes contemporary forest structure and dynamics, other factors like forest structure (dense vs. sparse canopies) and climate may alter structural trajectories. To assess potential sources of variation in structural trajectories, we examined proportional biomass change for a regionally dominant tree species, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), across...

the relationship between topography, soil factors, and distribution of ecological vegetation groups in the nodoushan arid rangelands of yazd province (iran) was investigated. the present species were recorded in each vegetation group using a randomized-systematic sampling method. plant cover and density were estimated quantitatively using the transect and quadrate methods, and the two-way indic...

Validating model simulations of vegetation-climate feedback needs information not only on changes in past vegetation types as reconstructed by palynologists, but also on other proxies such as vegetation cover. We present here a quantitative regional vegetation cover reconstruction for North China during the Holocene. The reconstruction was based on 15 high-quality lake sediment profiles selecte...

The effects of poaching on wildlife have been widely studied in conservation biology and can be heterogeneous, particularly on ungulates. These effects can be estimated through different methodologies whose use depends on several conditions such as Flight-initiation distance (FID). Our objectives were: 1- to evaluate whether poaching affects the FID and group structure of a guanaco (Lama guanic...

Ascertaining the relationships between sediment transport processes and vegetation cover is essential for watershed soil and water conservation. However, it is not easy to realize this target on a large scale. In this study, the location-weighted landscape contrast index (LCI) based on the “source-sink” theory of ecological processes was introduced to unravel the response of sediment yield to v...