Desertification in Spain is a largely society-driven process, which can be effectively managed only through an understanding of ecological, socio-cultural and economic driving forces. This calls for a more active role of decision makers and other stakeholders. We present a promising approach, involving stakeholders in the scenario development process and linking these narrative storylines with ...

background: algeria is among the most affected mediterranean countries by leishmaniasis due to its large geo­graphic extent and climatic diversity. the current study aimed to determine the ecological status (composition and diversity) of phlebotomine sandfly populations in the region of oum el bouaghi (northeast algeria). methods: an entomological survey was conducted during the period may–octo...

In this study, the capability of geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) in the reconstruction of the recent fire history of a typical Mediterranean area was investigated. More specifically, a semi-automated GEOBIA procedure was developed and tested on archived and newly acquired Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), and Operational Land Imager (OLI) images in order...

The objectives were to develop a Mediterranean oriented semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and evaluate its validity in measuring energy and nutrient intakes. For FFQ development, the main challenge was to merge food items and practices reflecting cultural Mediterranean preferences with other food choices ensuing from diet transition to more westernized dietary patterns. FFQ v...

The Mediterranean area is one of the most significantly altered hotspots on Earth, since it has been intensively affected by human activity for millennia. As a result, only 4.7% of its primary vegetation remained unaltered and the landscape has been repeatedly transformed. In this paper, we aimed at detecting both the direction and the rate of landscape change focusing on the effects of human a...

medics are native to semi-arid areas around the mediterranean sea and have long been used in degraded pastures in the region. annual medics are now widely distributed throughout the world, largely in areas with mild, rainy winters and alkaline soils. this study was conducted at a site located in the north east of golestan province (55° 57´ e, 37° 48´ n), on a silty clay loam soil in 2002 and 20...

Background and Objectives—Coexisting tree shrub species will have to withstand more arid conditions as temperatures keep rising in the Mediterranean Basin. However, we still lack reliable assessments on how climate drought affect radial growth of at intra- interannual time scales under semi-arid conditions. Materials Methods—We investigated responses four co-occurring gymnosperms inhabiting sit...

The Indian Ocean (Figure 1) comprises 20% of the World’s surface water, has an austral to tropical temperature gradient, is bounded to the east by the African continent, to the north by the Asian land mass (which includes semi-enclosed seas the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Thailand and Bay of Bengal), and to the West by SE Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor L’Este and Australia). The ...