As the use of camera traps in wildlife management in Australia rapidly increases, government agencies, private enterprises, universities and individuals are investing considerable amounts ofmoney in camera trap technology for research, monitoring and recreation. Often camera traps need to be placed along vehicle tracks or in obvious locations to detect animal activity. Consequently, units are f...

geographic information system (gis) and analytical hierarchy process (ahp) were applied to ecological zoning of current agricultural lands in gorgan for sunflower cultivation. for this purpose, agro-ecological requirements of sunflower firstly, identified according to scientific resources. rating and thematic requirement maps were then provided. studied environmental-components were: average, m...

When large carnivores occupy peripheral human lands conflict with humans becomes inevitable, and the reduction of human-carnivore interactions must be the first consideration for those concerned with conflict mitigation. Studies designed to identify areas of high human-bear interaction are crucial for prioritizing management actions. Due to a surge in conflicts, against a background of social i...

Wind erosion not only affects agricultural productivity but also soil, air, and water quality. Dust and specifically particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM-10) has adverse effects on respiratory health and also reduces visibility along roadways, resulting in auto accidents. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) was developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service to simulate wind erosion and prov...

Climate change will affect the composition of plant and animal communities in many habitats and geographic settings. This presents a dilemma for conservation programs--will the portfolio of protected lands we now have achieve a goal of conserving biodiversity in the future when the ecological communities occurring within them change? Climate change will significantly alter many plant communitie...

in recent years, multifunctional agriculture as a new paradigm of agriculture and rural development was introduced to the world. multifunctional indicates that the inclusion of agricultural production functions (food, fiber) and unproductive functions (field of employment and income, strengthening social capital, conservation of biodiversity and genetic enhancement of rural industries, represen...

Nutrient balance is a strong determinant of animal fitness and demography. It is therefore important to understand how the compositions of available foods relate to required balance of nutrients and habitat suitability for animals in the wild. These relationships are, however, complex, particularly for omnivores that often need to compose balanced diets by combining their intake from diverse nu...

By necessity, grizzly bear demographic models have largely ignored spatial considerations (McLellan 1989, Eberhardt et al. 1994, Eberhardt 1995, Hovey and McLellan 1996). However, ignoring spatial heterogeneity is equivalent to assuming that individuals live in a homogeneous environment and that all members of the population experience the same environmental conditions at any point in time (Pul...

Motivations for owning rural land are shifting from an agricultural-production orientation to a preference for natural and cultural amenities. Resultant changes in land management have significant implications for the type and distribution of landscape-level disturbances that affect the delivery of ecosystem services. We examined the relationship between motivations for owning land and the impl...