Microclimatic design requires knowledge of the climate conditions, understanding of the ways that landscape elements affect microclimate and methods of applying this knowledge through landscape design to create microclimates that are comfortable for people and minimize the energy use of buildings. In this article it will be introduced the most important components and characteristics of microcl...

other natural resources for aesthetic, recreational, and economic significance, so over the past several decades they have become increasingly concerned about the loss of wildlife habitat and greenspace. Urban and suburban development is one of the leading causes of this loss: A recent study indicated that every day in Kentucky more than 100 acres of rural land is being converted to urban devel...

Urbanization is the most drastic form of land use change affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services far beyond the limits of cities. To understand the process of urbanization itself as well as its ecological consequences, it is important to quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of urbanization. Based on historical land use data, we characterize the temporal patterns of Phoenix...

Rapid urbanization has accelerated land use and land cover changes, and generated the urban heat island effect (UHI). Previous studies have reported positive effects of neighborhood landscapes on mitigating urban surface temperatures. However, the influence of neighborhood landscape spatial patterns on enhancing cooling effects has not yet been fully investigated. The main objective of this stu...

Urban landscapes are often located in biologically diverse, productive regions. As such, urbanization may have dramatic consequences for this diversity, largely due to changes in the structure and function of urban communities. We examined the influence of landscape productivity (indexed by geology), housing density and vegetation clearing on the spatial distribution of nocturnal insect biomass...