A 3- to 5-year cycle of vole abundances is a characteristic phenomenon in the ecology of northern regions, and their explanation stands as a central theoretical challenge in population ecology. Although many species of voles usually coexist and are in severe competition for food and breeding space, the role of interspecific competition in vole cycles has never been evaluated statistically. Afte...

/ Large areas of the southern California desert ecosystem have been negatively affected by off-highway vehicle use, overgrazing by domestic livestock, agriculture, urbanization, construction of roads and utility corridors, air pollution, military training exercises, and other activities. Secondary contributions to degradation include the proliferation of exotic plant species and a higher freque...

In past decades, ecological services and functions of alpine grassland in the Three-River Headwater Region (TRHR), Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, have been severely degraded due to overgrazing and overuse of yak dung as a fuel. Therefore, the eco-migration project has been implemented by the national government for improving eco-environmental quality in this region. This paper examines the carbon cyc...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Genetic diversity in Castilleja grisea, an endangered, perennial herb endemic to San Clemente Island, California was investigated. Subsequent to the elimination of goats from the island in 1992, many populations of C. grisea have reappeared and have been increasing in size. METHODS Nineteen populations were surveyed for their genotype at 19 allozyme loci. KEY RESULTS At ...

Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors are converging on coastal ecosystems worldwide. Understanding how these stressors interact to affect ecosystem structure and function has immediate implications for coastal planning, however few studies quantify stressor interactions. We examined past and potential future interactions between two leading stressors on New England salt marshes: sea...

Human population growth and development have heavily degraded coastal ecosystems with cascading impacts across multiple trophic levels. Understanding both the direct and indirect trophic effects of human activities is important for coastal conservation. In New England, recreational overfishing has triggered a regional trophic cascade. Predator depletion releases the herbivorous purple marsh cra...

Grassland degradation has become one of the most important ecological and environmental problems in world, affecting balance grassland welfare residents. To reveal impact mechanism herders’ livelihood constraints on degradation, to explore comprehensive management methods ensure livelihoods restoration, this paper constructed an evolutionary game model considering local governments herders. It ...

This paper studies the pressure experienced by livestock systems in a mountain municipality south-east Albania accessing pasture, due to recent process of State decentralization and municipal pasture management. Pastures are major resource for development farming activities this area. The main hypothesis discussed article is that lack transitional institutions capable properly applying new gove...

Alpine meadows are robust nitrous oxide (N 2 O) sources that continually experience overgrazing on the Tibetan Plateau. However, mechanisms underlying N O fluxes poorly understood. The effects of grazing activity grassland emission rates, soil and plant characteristics were investigated using a meta-analysis approach. This study revealed effect size was 0.31 ± 0.08 rates ( p < 0.0001), i...