Recent Scientific Papers
Ecological Indicators
Integrating Sciences for Monitoring, Assessment and Management
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| Does economic growth influence forestry trends? An environmental Kuznets curve approach based on a composite Forest Recovery Index | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Zsófia Benedek, Imre FertőAbstractCompared to the solid understanding of the role of deforestation drivers, related knowledge about transitions in global forests is less developed, although numerous nations and sub-national regions are experiencing ongoing forest recovery. In this paper, the focus is on countries in which forest cover increased between 1990 and 2015. We analyze whether a level of initial economic development can be identified that might explain this positive trend. By combining qualitative and... | ||
| Assessing tree species diversity and structure of mixed dipterocarp forest remnants in a fragmented landscape of north-western Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Elias Ganivet, Joanes Unggang, Vilma Bodos, Malcom Demies, Chea Yiing Ling, Julia Sang, Mark BloombergAbstractAs forest fragmentation continues in many parts of the tropics, the conservation value of forest remnants remains controversial. Our study aimed to assess the structure and tree species diversity of mixed dipterocarp forest remnants from the Planted Forest Zone (PFZ) located in the Bintulu Division, Sarawak, compared with a forest considered relatively undisturbed (i.e. that has experienced no recent... | ||
| The Dredge Disposal Sediment Index (D2SI): A new specific multicriteria index to assess the impact of harbour sediment dumping | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): N. Baux, B. Chouquet, M. Martinez, J.P. Pezy, A. Raoux, P. Balay, C. Dancie, A. Baffreau, J.C. DauvinAbstractAt present, there are few operational indexes to assess the impact of a given human pressure taken alone. Nevertheless, the current challenge in the management of coastal marine environments in the framework of cumulative impacts and climatic change is to identify the relative contribution of each activity on ecosystem functioning. The objective of the present study is to propose an integrative approach to... | ||
| Assessing the sustainability of land use management of northern Ethiopian drylands by various indicators for soil health | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Chukwuebuka C. Okolo, Michaela A. Dippold, Girmay Gebresamuel, Amanuel Zenebe, Mitiku Haile, Ezekiel BoreAbstractLand use change and agricultural intensification in developing countries affect terrestrial carbon (C) stocks, CO2 efflux, microbial communities and overall soil health. This study assesses the effects of four land use types typical for northern Ethiopia (forests, exclosures, grazing lands and intensively cultivated croplands) on various soil health indicators. We quantified and compared microbial... | ||
| Measuring the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation net primary productivity in Inner Mongolia using spatial autocorrelation | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Hongrui Ren, Yingjie Shang, Shuai ZhangAbstractMonitoring variations in vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) contributes greatly to the evaluation of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function. Current research has focused on the trend changes of vegetation productivity but has largely ignored spatial correlation. This study selected MOD17A3 NPP data in Inner Mongolia to explore the spatiotemporal variations of NPP using spatial autocorrelation indices (Global Moran’s I, Getis-Ord General G, Getis-Ord Gi... | ||
| Integrating climate, water chemistry and propagule pressure indicators into aquatic species distribution models | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Belinda Gallardo, Pilar Castro-Díez, Asunción Saldaña-López, Álvaro AlonsoAbstractSpecies distribution models are frequently used to anticipate the expansion of invasive species under the assumption that climate affects habitat conditions. Here, we investigated the influence of two additional factors that determine the spread, establishment, and impact of aquatic organisms: propagule pressure and water chemistry.Our case study species is the New Zealand Mud Snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Tateidae, Mollusca... | ||
| Evaluating the effects of urban expansion on natural habitat quality by coupling localized shared socioeconomic pathways and the land use scenario dynamics-urban model | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Shixiong Song, Zhifeng Liu, Chunyang He, Wenlu LuAbstractEffectively evaluating the effects of future urban expansion on natural habitat quality (NHQ) is critical for improving the sustainability of regional and even global cities. However, because of the difficulties in simulating spatiotemporal distribution of future urban expansion and the uncertainties in future socioeconomic development, effectively evaluating the effects of future urban expansion on NHQ is still challenging. Using the... | ||
| Ecological quality status of the Turkish coastal waters by using marine macrophytes (macroalgae and angiosperms) | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Ergün Taşkın, İbrahim Tan, Ersin Minareci, Orkide Minareci, Murat Çakır, Çolpan Polat-BekenAbstractMarine macrophytes (macroalgae and angiosperms) were defined as one of the biological quality elements to assess the ecological quality status of transitional and coastal waters by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC). In the present study, the Ecological Evaluation Index (EEI-c) was tested to assess the anthropogenic impact by using marine benthic macrophytes (macroalgae and angiosperms... | ||
| Linking environmental regulation and economic growth through technological innovation and resource consumption: Analysis of spatial interaction patterns of urban agglomerations | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Yu Cao, Ningna Wan, Haiyong Zhang, Xiaoling Zhang, Qian ZhouAbstractThe Yangtze River Delta region is a representative region for the development of China's urban agglomerations. This study explores the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta region during 2002–2010 using the spatial panel data model. After the introduction of instrumental variables, the U-shaped curve is still robust, which is the theoretical value of this paper. The... | ||
| Connecting people to biodiversity in cities of tomorrow: Is urban foraging a powerful tool? | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Leonie K. Fischer, Ingo KowarikAbstractAs global population becomes increasingly urban, opportunities for people to experience nature have decreased. Counteracting this trend is a key challenge for future urban development as interactions of urban people with biodiversity support human health and wellbeing, and may also result in positive attitudes towards biodiversity conservation. Collecting edible plants in urban surroundings, especially outside of gardens (“urban foraging”) is a traditional interaction... | ||
| What drives the vegetation dynamics in the Hengduan Mountain region, southwest China: Climate change or human activity? | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Le Yin, Erfu Dai, Du Zheng, Yahui Wang, Liang Ma, Miao TongAbstractQuantitatively identifying the relative contributions of climate change and human activity to net primary productivity (NPP) is critical for understanding vegetation dynamics and maintaining regional carbon balances. This study focuses on the driving mechanisms of NPP changes and proposes a research framework for evaluating the relative impacts of climate change and human activity. Based on the Thornthwaite Memorial and CASA models, this study... | ||
| Identification and optimization strategy of county ecological security pattern: A case study in the Loess Plateau, China | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Yangjun Fu, Xueyi Shi, Juan He, Ye Yuan, Lulu QuAbstractThe construction of an ecological security pattern (ESP) is an effective measure to improve the structure and function of ecosystems, maintain ecosystem services, and ensure ecological security. Our focus is the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau in China, a typical county area where the extensive use of land has put tremendous pressure on the ecosystem and caused a series of ecological problems. Therefore, considering different targets for decision... | ||
| Seasonal change in trace element concentrations of Paracentrotus lividus: Its use as a bioindicator | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): O. El Idrissi, M. Marengo, A. Aiello, S. Gobert, V. Pasqualini, S. TernengoAbstractAn assessment of classical and emerging trace element contamination was conducted on gonads of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1819), in Corsica (Western Mediterranean). The aim of this study was to evaluate the contamination levels at different sites by following the seasonal variation of 22 trace elements. The sea urchins analyzed were taken in 2017 from reference and more impacted sites in four Corsican areas. The... | ||
| Effects of time-since-fire on ant-plant interactions in southern Brazilian grasslands | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Carolina Veronese Corrêa da Silva, Camila da Silva Goldas, Wesley Dáttilo, William Dröse, Milton de Souza Mendonça, Luciana Regina PodgaiskiAbstractGrasslands and savannas are dynamic ecosystems, strongly regulated by environmental disturbances such as fire. Maintaining disturbance regimes in these ecosystems are of great conservation concern, and require studies with the use of ecological indicators. Biotic interactions are a major component of biodiversity that are particularly sensitive to environmental... | ||
| Prediction of habitat suitability of Morina persica L. species using artificial intelligence techniques | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Fateme Ghareghan, Gholamabbas Ghanbarian, Hamid Reza Pourghasemi, Roja SafaeianAbstractThe Morina genus has 13 species in the world, out of which only M. persica L. is found to be growing wild in Iran. The aim of this research is to predict the spatial distribution and model the habitat suitability for M. persica species using four data mining models: maximum entropy (MaxEnt), support vector machine (SVM), generalized linear model (GLM), and boosted regression trees (BRT). A total of 404 M. persica locations... | ||
| Is resilience capacity index of Chinese region performing well? Evidence from 26 provinces | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Yi Wu, Wei Que, Yun-guo Liu, Li Cao, Shao-bo Liu, Jing ZhangAbstractWith the aggravation of global climate change, the frequency of global natural disasters is increasing year by year. How to actively respond to natural disasters has become the key to ensure the sustainable development of the region. Since urbanization in developing countries is much lower than that in developed countries, most scholars in the past focused on the regional resilience of developed countries rather than developing countries. China... | ||
| Sanionia uncinata, Racomitrium lanuginosum and Salix herbacea as ecological indicators of metals in Iceland | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Maria Kolon, Marcin Kopeć, Bronisław Wojtuń, Aleksandra Samecka-Cymerman, Lucyna Mróz, Paweł Wąsowicz, Adam Rajsz, Alexander. J. KempersAbstractIceland is an area practically free from pollution but threatened by long-range transported anthropogenic contaminants from mid- and low-latitudes. Therefore the load of trace elements in the environment of this island should be controlled. Accordingly in this investigation we evaluated the level of metals in rocks and soil as well as in two moss species: Sanionia... | ||
| Comparison of the SWAT and InVEST models to determine hydrological ecosystem service spatial patterns, priorities and trade-offs in a complex basin | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Wencui Cong, Xiaoyin Sun, Hongwei Guo, Ruifeng ShanAbstractModels for the assessment of ecosystem services are important tools for policy-makers and researchers. However, the simulation results of different models vary greatly, and it is difficult for policy-maker to select a suitable model for specific areas. As a result, we compared the results of three hydrological ecosystem services (HESs) in a basin with diverse topography, Nansihu Lake basin, China, including the water supply, soil conservation and water... | ||
| An improved evaluation framework for industrial green development: Considering the underlying conditions | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Wei Li, Yongqin Xi, Shi Qiang Liu, Meijuan Li, Lei Chen, Xueping Wu, Songping Zhu, Mahmoud MasoudAbstractIndustrial green development (IGD) is fundamental for curbing serious pollution and over-consumption of natural resources caused by industrial growth, while quantification of the IGD level has become instrumental in guiding further progress. However, three existing research gaps prevent a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of the IGD level. These gaps include the ignorance of the underlying conditions, lack... | ||
| A critical review of studies related to construction and computation of Sustainable Development Indices | ||
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| Publication date: May 2020Source: Ecological Indicators, Volume 112Author(s): Swati Kwatra, Archna Kumar, Prateek SharmaAbstractSustainable development is a multi-dimensional concept, which emphasizes integration and striking a dynamic balance between economic, social and environmental aspects in a region, to ensure inter-generational and intra-generational equity. One of the major tools to address sustainability concerns is to have indices, which can measure the performance of a region on various dimensions of sustainable development. The review suggests there are various indices that are... | ||
