Recent Scientific Papers
Ecological Indicators
Integrating Sciences for Monitoring, Assessment and Management
| ScienceDirect Publication: Ecological Indicators | ||
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| Understanding treescape changes as the basis of urban forest planning in fringe areas | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Lixin Chen, Liqun Wang, Ge Li, Fengwei Ma, Zhiqiang ZhangAbstractWe selected the Mapo-Niulanshan township located in the urban fringe of the Beijing metropolis as a case study with the goals of understanding urban forest change dynamics and locating potential spaces for conserving and developing urban forests, in the context of land use change associated with rapid urbanization. The results revealed an increase in canopy cover and forestland with the urbanization process. There was a significant... | ||
| An integrated approach to project environmental sustainability under future climate variability: An application to U.S. Rio Grande Basin | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Jianhong E. Mu, Jadwiga R. ZiolkowskaAbstractExtreme weather events have been affecting local environmental sustainability. Previous literature in this field evaluates environmental sustainability based mainly on past and current resource consumption and availability, however, knowledge about the status and potential changes of environmental sustainability under future climate extremes is missing. This paper proposes an integrated approach (combining the Ecological Footprint Analysis with econometric... | ||
| Detection of forest canopy gaps from very high resolution aerial images | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Beryl B. Nyamgeroh, Thomas A. Groen, Michael J.C. Weir, Petar Dimov, Tzvetan ZlatanovAbstractIn Europe, assessment of the ecological function of forests is increasingly important as evidenced by Natura 2000, which has seen the establishment of protected sites that are of ecological importance. The presence of canopy gaps has proved to be a useful indicator of the forest structure and biodiversity in these areas.Two methods – Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and Image Texture Based Analysis (ITBA... | ||
| Decoupling of CO2 emissions and GDP: A time-varying cointegration approach | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Jeyhun I. Mikayilov, Fakhri J. Hasanov, Marzio GaleottiAbstractThe relationship between CO2 emissions, the main gas responsible for global warming, and economic growth is among the most studied themes of environmental economics. Reducing overall emissions while keeping a high pace of economic development is at the heart of the sustainable development concept. When emissions grow less rapidly than GDP environmental economists speak of relative decoupling; if emissions even decrease relative to the pace... | ||
| Test of the efficiency of environmental surrogates for the conservation prioritization of ponds based on macrophytes | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Marek Svitok, Milan Novikmec, Ladislav Hamerlík, Judita Kochjarová, Helena Oťaheľová, Peter Paľove-Balang, Dušan Senko, Zuzana Matúšová, Kateřina Bubíková, Richard HrivnákAbstractPonds are recognized as habitats of high biodiversity hosting many threatened freshwater species. They comprise a major part of the continental waters in Europe. Conservation strategies for abundant habitats like ponds inevitably call for the prioritization of the sites with the highest conservation value. In... | ||
| Integration of historical map and aerial imagery to characterize long-term land-use change and landscape dynamics: An object-based analysis via Random Forests | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Dan Liu, Elizabeth Toman, Zane Fuller, Gang Chen, Alexis Londo, Xuesong Zhang, Kaiguang ZhaoAbstractTracking Earth’s past helps us to move from hindsight to foresight in seeking landscape sustainability, a pursuit aided by modern mapping capabilities but hindered by a dearth of historical landscape information. To fill the data gap and exemplify the use of old maps for land-use change sciences, we combined an old paper-based US civil war map and modern aerial photos to derive land-use history and... | ||
| Assessing atmospheric pollution in a petrochemical industrial district using a lichen-air quality index (LiAQI) | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Chaiwat Boonpeng, Chutima Sriviboon, Wetchasart Polyiam, Duangkamon Sangiamdee, Santi Watthana, Kansri BoonpragobAbstractPhysiological processes within the thalli of lichens respond differently to accumulated pollutants. The chemical and physiological responses of lichens to atmospheric pollution from a petrochemical industrial complex were used to develop a lichen-air quality index (LiAQI). Thalli of the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum collected from an unpolluted area were transplanted to eight... | ||
| Morphology-based functional groups as the best tool to characterize shallow lake-dwelling phytoplankton on an Amazonian floodplain | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Maria Tereza Morais Pereira Souza Lobo, Ina de Souza Nogueira, Luciano Fabris Sgarbi, Cleber Nunes Kraus, Eudes de Oliveira Bomfim, Jérémie Garnier, David da Motta Marques, Marie-Paule BonnetAbstractRiver floodplains are subject to different inundation scenarios, mainly related to the flood pulse. Moreover, the ecology of floodplain lakes is modulated by exchanges of water with the main stream. On Amazonian floodplains, the water level fluctuates seasonally, with four distinct stages during the year... | ||
| Defining a reference system for biological indicators of agricultural soil quality in Wallonia, Belgium | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Inken Krüger, Caroline Chartin, Bas van Wesemael, Monique CarnolAbstractTools that will enable the assessment of agricultural soil quality and include measurements of biological indicators, such as soil respiration or nitrogen mineralisation, are increasingly in demand. Such tools require the establishment of reference systems to provide comparative ‘baseline’ or ‘normal’ values. In this study, we measured the spatial and seasonal variability of eight biological indicators (including two... | ||
| Ecosystem recovery indicators as decision criteria on potential reduction of fallow periods in swidden systems of Northern Thailand | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): K. Tongkoom, C. Marohn, H.P. Piepho, G. CadischAbstractCrop rotations in today’s swidden systems of Northern Thailand typically include five to ten years of fallow. Regarding ecosystem functions, these systems are relatively close to secondary forests when compared to modern agricultural systems; but they are under pressure for intensification, i.e. shortened fallow periods. In general, criteria are needed to decide whether fallow duration can be reduced, safeguarding ecosystem restoration and... | ||
| An ecosystem service-disservice ratio: Using composite indicators to assess the net benefits of urban trees | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Andrew Speak, Francisco J. Escobedo, Alessio Russo, Stefan ZerbeAbstractConsidering ecosystem disservices (EDS) of urban forests alongside the services (ES) can lead to better-informed decisions about tree species selection and placement in cities. Finding a common assessment framework, that does not rely on a financial model, can be tricky, and many studies consider, but do not include, EDS in their tree appraisals. Compound indicators represent a means to neatly combine disparate ecosystem data into... | ||
| Assessment of vegetation degradation in mountainous pastures of the Western Tien-Shan, Kyrgyzstan, using eMODIS NDVI | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Munavar Zhumanova, Carsten Mönnig, Christian Hergarten, Dietrich Darr, Nicole Wrage-MönnigAbstractThe detection and assessment of vegetation degradation of mountain pastures is of high interest given the increasing number of reports on degradation as well as the importance of pastures as a source of livelihood for many mountain communities globally. Due to its synoptic perspective, remote sensing is an attractive instrument to rapidly assess and diagnose degradation prevalence and status. While it... | ||
| Spatial and temporal shifts in functional and taxonomic diversity of dung beetles in a human-modified tropical forest landscape | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Wallace Beiroz, Emma Sayer, Eleanor M. Slade, Lívia Audino, Rodrigo Fagundes Braga, Julio Louzada, Jos BarlowAbstractFunctional diversity is commonly used to assess the conservation value of ecosystems, but we have not yet established whether functional and taxonomic approaches are interchangeable or complementary to evaluate community dynamics over time and in response to disturbances. We used a five-year dataset of dung beetles from undisturbed forest, primary forest corridors, and Eucalyptus... | ||
| Robustness of macroscopic-systemic network indices after disturbances on diet-community matrices | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Marco OrtizAbstractThe macroscopic ecosystem properties of thirteen trophic networks based on Ulanowicźs Ascendency and Odum’s indices were re-estimated for (1) previously published data (“Baseline”), (2) after simulated modifications in the percentage of assimilated food (“AssimScenario”) and (3) after simulated reductions of the number of links of consumers (“DietScenario”). The community matrices of “Baseline” models were constructed using the classic stomach content analysis... | ||
| Performance of rapid floristic quality assessment indices for increasing cost-effectiveness of wetland condition evaluation | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Kristie GianopulosAbstractThis project tested whether rapid floristic quality indices can be used in North Carolina’s diverse wetland types, given the many cost-saving benefits that can be realized from using such indices. Vegetation plot data from 2030 North Carolina wetland plots were analyzed to test how well two floristic quality assessment indices, based on cover-dominant species and based on non-graminoid species, were correlated with full index values based on a comprehensive species... | ||
| Linking fish-based biological indicators with hydrological dynamics in a Mediterranean river: Relevance for environmental flow regimes | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): O. Belmar, N. Vila-Martínez, C. Ibáñez, N. CaiolaAbstractThe relationship between flow dynamics and biological communities becomes especially relevant in Mediterranean rivers. Given their natural variability and growing anthropogenic pressures, their low sections are subjected to multiple impacts. The definition of ecohydrological relationships in Mediterranean rivers may constitute a useful management tool. Historically, fishes were the first group used to assess community-level ecological quality... | ||
| Complex food webs of tropical intertidal rocky shores (SE Brazil) – An isotopic perspective | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Catarina Vinagre, Vanessa Mendonça, Augusto A.V. Flores, Alexandra Baeta, João Carlos MarquesAbstractKnowledge on food web structure, trophic links and energy pathways is essential for the understanding of complex and highly biodiverse tropical ecosystems. Emerging issues related to global change and species invasions call for an urgent advance on this topic. Isotopic analyses were applied to the tropical intertidal rocky shores of Southeastern Brazil, with the aim of 1) describing the general food... | ||
| Quantifying the spatial patterns of urban carbon metabolism: A case study of Hangzhou, China | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Chuyu Xia, Yan Li, Tingbao Xu, Yanmei Ye, Zhou Shi, Yuan Peng, Jingming LiuAbstractWith rapid urbanization in China, there is an urgent need to better understand spatial patterns of cities’ carbon transitions in urban metabolism processes and to explore ways to achieve low carbon cities through sustainable urban planning. In this study, we took Hangzhou City as an example, and firstly analyzed changes in carbon emission and sequestration based on land use types, using data with 5 years interval... | ||
| Alcaligenaceae and Chromatiaceae as reliable bioindicators present in palm oil mill effluent final discharge treated by different biotreatment processes | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Diana Mohd-Nor, Norhayati Ramli, Siti Suhailah Sharuddin, Mohd Ali Hassan, Nurul Asyifah Mustapha, Afzufira Amran, Kenji Sakai, Yoshihito Shirai, Toshinari MaedaAbstractThis study was undertaken to confirm the reliability of the proposed potential bioindicators, Alcaligenaceae and Chromatiaceae to specifically indicate contamination in river water by palm oil mill effluent (POME) final discharge. The use of bioindicators could assist in determining the specific cause of contamination in water bodies... | ||
| Exploring the driving forces of farmland loss under rapidurbanization using binary logistic regression and spatial regression: A case study of Shanghai and Hangzhou Bay | ||
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| Publication date: December 2018Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 95, Part 1Author(s): Rui Xiao, Yue Liu, Xin Huang, Ruixing Shi, Weixuan Yu, Tao ZhangAbstractThe unprecedented accelerating urbanization in China has led to a sharp decline in cultivated land. In this paper, the dynamics of farmland patterns during three periods (1994–2003, 2003–2009, 2009–2015) in the Shanghai and Hangzhou Bay (SHB) area are exhibited by dynamic change models and standard deviation ellipse analysis. Additionally, further detection of the determinants of farmland loss is carried out, through a... | ||
