Assessing the species diversity of an urban forest is important for understanding its structure and functions, but the result can be affected by sampling methods, times, and delimitations of the study area. In this study, we examined the influence of different ways to delimit boundaries of urban areas on the assessment of species diversity of urban forests through a case study conducted in Haik...

The formation of fertility islands by shrubs increases soil resources heterogeneity in thicketization-grasslands. Clonal plants, especially rhizomatous or stoloniferous clonal plants, can form large clonal networks and use heterogeneously distributed resources effectively. In addition, shrubs, especially spiny shrubs, may also provide herbaceous plants with protection from herbivores, acting as...

—The expansion of western juniper ( Juniperus occidentalis spp. occidentalis Hook.) in the northern Great Basin has resulted in the wide-scale conversion of sagebrush-steppe communities to juniper woodlands. Prescribed fire and mechanical cutting are the 2 main methods used to remove juniper and restore sagebrush steppe. Mechanical treatments commonly leave cut juniper on site. Disadvantages of...

1049-9644/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Inc. A doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2011.06.014 ⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 517 353 5598. E-mail address: werlingb@msu.edu (B.P. Werling). Cultivation of biofuel crops could change agricultural landscapes, affecting natural enemies at multiple scales. We sampled five natural enemy families with sticky cards in three model biofuel habitats (corn, switch...

Barbary macaques live in extreme temperate environments characterized by strongly seasonal resource availability. They are mainly terrestrial while foraging, harvesting food from the herbaceous layer. These monkeys are threatened mainly because of anthropogenic habitat degradation. We studied the adaptive capacities of wild groups of Barbary macaques that lived in different cedar forests underg...

BACKGROUND Incidence of Lyme disease in the US continues to grow. Low-density development is also increasing in endemic regions, raising questions about the relationship between development pattern and disease. This study sought to model Lyme disease incidence rate using quantitative, practical metrics of regional landscape pattern. The objective was to progress towards the development of desig...

Oxyfluorfen is a selective pre and post emergent herbicide used to control certain annual broadleaf and grassy weeds in vegetables, fruits, cotton, ornamentals and on non-crop areas. It is a contact herbicide and light is required for it to affect target plants (USDA 1990). Oxyfluorfen has a strong tendency to adsorb to soil particles. It is therefore, unlikely to leach downward or to, contamin...

In recent years, consumer interest in local specialty crops (fruits, vegetables and ornamentals) has increased sharply. Consumers want to know how and where food is produced and are seeking a closer relationship with farmers. Although sales of locally grown food still account for only a small share of total domestic food sales, this is believed to be one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. ...

Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu is one of the most botanised areas of southern India. In spite of it a number of wild plants had been missed by previous collectors. In addition a number of exotics and ornamentals having importance in alternative systems of medicine like Homoeopathy and Unani have not been collected and preserved as herbarium records. The present paper lists 36 species of wild plan...

Presented by Bruce Bunting, Vice President of the Center for Conservation Finance of the World Wildlife Fund at the Marine Ornamentals Conference, November 26 December 1, 2001, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Coral reefs are among the biologically richest ecosystems on earth. They are a source of biodiversity, food, environmental protection, recreation, and potential medicinal products. Throughout m...