Though rapid increase in energy consumption has become a global problem, most of the solutions developed to address it for residential consumers are based on qualitative studies conducted with small numbers of users, typically in the developed world. Recent work has begun to explore consumption practices, and motivations, barriers and other factors affecting energy consumption in urban India. H...

Urban expansion significantly alters fringe environments often with undesirable impacts on biodiversity. Consequently, there is a need to define clear conservation objectives for areas subject to urban encroachment. Urban fringe development is a highly dynamic process, both spatially and temporally, but few studies are equipped to examine its temporal effects on biota. We aimed to explore the i...

Green belt is defined as a narrow green area surrounding an urban area. Shiraz green belt has been developed through 9 projects with a variety of purposes since 2005. The development of green belt is being considered in a number of Iranian cities, and therefore, investigation of Shiraz green belt’s purposes and challenges could contribute to an appropriate planning by decision makers. The main ...

Green belt is defined as a narrow green area surrounding an urban area. Shiraz green belt has been developed through 9 projects with a variety of purposes since 2005. The development of green belt is being considered in a number of Iranian cities, and therefore, investigation of Shiraz green belt’s purposes and challenges could contribute to an appropriate planning by decision makers. The main ...

Regularly managed electric power line corridors may provide habitats for both early-successional grassland plant species and disturbance-dependent alien plant species. These habitats are especially important in urban areas, where they can help conserve native grassland species and communities in urban greenspace. However, they can also provide further footholds for potentially invasive alien sp...

Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favorite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of heronry birds in the urban environment of the Nort...

Understanding the influence of landscape change on animal populations is critical to inform biodiversity conservation efforts. A particularly important goal is to understand how urban density affects the persistence of animal populations through time, and how these impacts can be mediated by habitat provision; but data on this question are limited for some taxa. Here, we use data from a citizen...