The most sustainable and best quality fresh water sources in the world originate in forest ecosystems. The biological, chemical, and physical characteristics of forest soils are particularly well suited to delivering high quality water to streams, moderating stream hydrology, and providing diverse aquatic habitat. Forest soils feature litter layers and high organic contents, both of which contr...

Land use changes strongly impact soil functions, particularly microbial biomass diversity and activity. We hypothesized that the catabolic respiration response of the microbial biomass would differ depending on land use and that these differences would be consistent at the landscape scale. In the present study, we analyzed the catabolic response profile of the soil microbial biomass through sub...

Brazil has the largest commercial beef cattle herd in the world (over 190 million head in 2006) [1], with cultivated pastures occupying about 150 million hectares of its territory [2]. On a biome basis, the most extensive pasture occupation is found in the Cerrado (~ 546,251 km, amounting to about 26.8% of the total biome area and 36.8% of the total pasture area in Brazil), the Brazilian savann...

With 57,4 % of the national territory covered by forests[7], Slovenia is one of the most forested countries of the European Union. Forests represent the most important CO2 sink for Slovenia in the framework of the Kyoto protocol to the United Nations convention on climate change, predominantly due to accumulation of forest biomass. Only one quarter of the annually accumulated aboveground biomas...

Abstract While harboring the bulk of planet's biodiversity, tropical ecosystems have experienced intense land conversion for agriculture. Studies examining impacts land‐use change on biodiversity primarily focused forest cover loss but overlooked ecological potential habitats surrounding fragments to modulate loss. We examined whether small‐mammal communities changed with fragments, and how fun...

Environment and seedling community under isolated trees in pastures are different from those in the open pasture. The effect of the pasture trees on the soil nutrients and on the seedling growth were investigated. Seven isolated trees and eight plots were selected in two pastures of 12-yr and 32-yr old derived from a lowland rain forest with nutrient-rich soil at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. The soil c...

Groves are of ecological importance, but can reduce the productivity of pastures. They may be used by cattle for nutrition as well as for comfort and shelter. To describe the importance and to estimate the influence of cattle on groves, the behavior of cattle around trees and shrubs was observed on six semi-open pastures in the mountain range of Thuringia and the Southern Black Forest (Germany)...

We examined spatial genetic structure (SGS) in Enterolobium cyclocarpum (the Guanacaste tree), a dominant tree of Central American dry forests in 4 sites in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica. In disturbed dry forest sites (e.g., pastures), E. cyclocarpum is primarily dispersed by cattle and horses, whose movements are restricted by pasture boundaries. The study sites varied in tree densities and ...

Riparian forests were frequently cleared and converted to agricultural pastures, but in recent times these pastures are often revegetated an effort return riparian forest structure function. We tested if there is a change the soil bacterial taxonomy function areas of for pasture then revegetated, related vegetation physicochemical properties. The study was conducted six south-eastern Australia,...

the climatic, geographic and topographic characteristics, ecological conditions, forest and pastures, strong water resources, high vegetation, wild life and various hunting areas of kurdistan province are strong tourist centers. in this research using gis potential of suitable zones for claiming, rocking, ranging, visiting the nature, thermal spring, ski and winter sport, water sports and fishi...