To prevent potentially unsuitable activities during vegetation restoration, it is important to examine the impact of historical restoration activities on the target ecological system to inform future restoration policies. Taking the Loess Plateau of China as an example, a regionalization method and corresponding scheme were proposed to select suitable vegetation types (forested lands, woody gra...

Variability in satellite measurements of terrestrial greenness in drylands is widely observed in land surface processes and global change studies. Yet the underlying causes differ and are not fully understood. Here, we used the GeogDetector model, a new spatial statistical approach, to examine the individual and combined influences of physiographic factors on dryland vegetation greenness change...

The principal aim of this study was to establish biogeographical patterns in the legume flora of southern Africa so as to facilitate the selection of species with agricultural potential. Plant collection data from the National Herbarium, South Africa, were analysed to establish the diversity and areas covered by legumes (Leguminosae/Fabaceae) indigenous to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. A...

The vegetation space-time variability during 1999-2010 in the North of the Apulian region (Southern Italy) was analysed using SPOT VEGETATION (VGT) sensor data. Three bands of VEGETATION (RED, NIR and SWIR) were used to implement the vegetation index named reduced simple ratio (RSR) to derive leaf area index (LAI). The monthly average LAI is an indicator of biomass and canopy cover, while the d...

BACKGROUND Although natural resources play a central role in rural livelihoods across the globe, little research has explored the relationship between migration and natural capital use, particularly in combination with other livelihood capitals (i.e., human, social, financial and physical). OBJECTIVE Grounded in the rural livelihood framework, this paper explores the association between the l...

Land degradation in drylands is the process in which undesirable conditions emerge due to human and natural causes. Despite the particularly deleterious effects of degradation, and it’s potentially irreversible nature, regional assessments have provided conflicting extents, rates, and severities of degradation, both globally and regionally. Current monitoring of degradation relies upon the dete...

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) contains the largest permafrost area in a high-altitude region in the world, and the unique hydrothermal environments of the active layers in this region have an important impact on vegetation growth. Geographical locations present different climatic conditions, and in combination with the permafrost environments, these conditions comprehensively affect the loc...

We present a method for a supervised classification of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series that identifies vegetation type and vegetation coverage, absolute in %coverage or relative to a reference NDVI cycle. The shape of the NDVI cycle, which is diagnostic for certain vegetation types, is our primary classifier. A Discrete Fourier Filter is applied to time series data in ...

Broad-scale animal diversity patterns have been traditionally explained by hypotheses focused on climate-energy and habitat heterogeneity, without considering the direct influence of vegetation structure and composition. However, integrating these factors when considering plant-animal correlates still poses a major challenge because plant communities are controlled by abiotic factors that may, ...