Fractional covers of photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic vegetation are key indicators for land degradation surveillance in the dryland of China. However, there are no available, well validated, and multispectral-based products. Aiming for this, we selected the Beijing and Tianjin Sandstorm Source Region as the study area, and utilized the linear spectral mixture model for generating the frac...

The presence and continued existence of tidal morphologies, and in particular of salt marshes, is intimately connected with biological activity, especially with the presence of halophytic vegetation. Here, we review recent contributions to tidal biogeomorphology and identify the presence of multiple competing stable states arising from a two-way feedback between biomass productivity and topogra...

We continue investigation of the effect of position in announcements of newly received articles, a single day artifact, with citations received over the course of ensuing years. Earlier work [1, 2] focused on the " visibility " effect for positions near the beginnings of announcements, and on the " self-promotion " effect associated to authors intentionally aiming for these positions, with both...

Grassland, as the primary vegetation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has been increasingly influenced by water availability due to climate change in last decades. Therefore, identifying the evolution of drought becomes crucial to the efficient management of grassland. However, it is not yet well understood as to the quantitative relationship between vegetation variations and drought at different ...

Increasing climate variability and extreme weather conditions along with declining trends in both rainfall and temperature represent major risk factors affecting agricultural production and food security in many regions of the world. The rangelands of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia in the East African Horn remain one of the world’s most food insecure regions, yet have substantially increasing hum...

Mining for resources extraction may lead to several geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequent...

Mining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequently, a r...

Land use/cover trends in the Keiskamma catchment were investigated using Multi-temporal Landsat satellite imagery from 1972 to 2006. Object-oriented post-classification comparison and fragmentation analyses were performed; and the Landscape-Function analysis was used to assess the current rangeland condition of proximal hillslopes and the riparian zone. Temporal land use/cover analyses revealed...

There is a great deal of debate on the extent, causes, and even the reality of land degradation in the Sahel. Investigations carried out before approximately 2000 using remote sensing data suggest widespread reductions in biological productivity, while studies extending beyond 2000 consistently reveal a net increase in vegetation production, strongly related to the recovery of rainfall followin...