Land-use suitability analysis is of significance for the planning and management of cities. The main objective of this study was to develop a spatial model for land suitability assessment for peri-urban agricultural development with the use of geographic information systems (GIS) integrated with Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques. Physical attributes, land use, natural resources, accessibility

This paper describes integrating remote sensing and meteorological data for dynamic winter wheat yield prediction at fixed date intervals with an integral regression model. In most cases, both rainfall and irrigation supply the water needs of crops. We postulated that meteorological precipitation could not fully represent the actual amount of water available to crops, whereas the temperature vegetation

Iran's Hyrcanian forests cover a relatively narrow strip in the north part of Iran, which are among the most important and valuable ecosystems registered in UNESCO's World Heritage List. Although there are worries about the impact of climate change, the influences of this issue on tree species in the Hyrcanian forest less studied. The effect of climate change on species distribution usually results

Agriculture production in Pakistan is one of the main economic and social sector. It contributes about 20–25% to the country GDP and provides more than 60% employment opportunities for rural peoples, playing a backbone role in the country economy and food security. However, sustainable production of the agricultural system is very important to address a societal concern for environmental impacts and

Globally, increasing drought-induced tree mortality rates under climate change are projected to have far-reaching effects on forest ecosystems. Among these forest systems, the boreal forest is considered a ‘tipping element’ of the Earth's climate system. This forest biome plays a critical role in ecosystem services, structures and functions while being highly sensitive to drought stress. Although process-based

As an important ecological factor shaping terrestrial ecosystem states and destabilizing coastal forest ecosystems, typhoon events have become the focus of attention in recent years. However, there are limited studies on the change of carbon storage dynamics of subtropical forest ecosystems under typhoon disturbance. Here, we developed a theoretical ecosystem carbon cycle model combined with forest

Aims Soil resources distribute heterogeneously in natural ecosystems, which is known as soil heterogeneity. Responses of plant roots to soil heterogeneity are important for their adaptation to the changes of environments. However, few observations of root systems in soil are recorded, and there is a lack of comprehensive theory for roots responses to soil heterogeneity. Methods Soil heterogeneity including

Increasing demand for Artemia sp. as a nutritive food for shrimp and fish drives hatcheries to culture the species in fulfilling market requirements. The goal is to optimize food concentration for Artemia sp. by performing laboratory experiments. Six different amounts viz. 1 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, 25 mg, and 45 mg of Chaetoceros sp. are used as food to the experiment. The variation in food concentrations

Rural communities in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan are dependant on natural capital for their livelihoods. Climate change impacts on ecosystem could have serious consequences for these communities but little research has been done to explore these potential impacts. In this study, we used Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) models to model current and potential future distribution of major timber species

Sensitivity analysis (SA) is a fundamental practice for analyzing model behavior under different conditions of application. A number of SA techniques were proposed, ranging from simple screening methods to computationally expensive variance-based ones. In this study, we compared the Morris and E-FAST methods by applying them to three widely used generic crop models largely differing for complexity

Bayesian inference has become an important framework for calibrating complex ecological and environmental models. Markov-Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms are the methodological backbone of this framework, but they are not easily parallelizable and can thus not make optimal use of modern computer architectures. A possible solution is the use of Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms. Currently,

Ocean biomass distribution has a growing importance in the world economy as a global strategic reserve, due to environmental and industrial applications and its variability related to climate change. Satellite imagery allows multi-resolution methodologies to obtain estimation, and hopefully classification, of biomass content over sea surface. This information is largely used in numerical simulations

In this study, a grid-based network environ analysis (FEM-NEA) framework was developed to identify the ecological risks of the internal components within a landscape scale mining ecosystem with multiple land types. In this framework, an information-based network analysis is applied for addressing ecological risk assessments (ERA) based on control allocation (CA) and energy flow matrix, which can quantificationally

Extinction rates are increasing globally, and direct exploitation is an important driver. Many pathways have been proposed to explain how exploitation can lead to extinction. One of these proposed but understudied multispecies pathways is opportunistic exploitation, which occurs when a highly valuable but rare species is encountered and targeted during exploitation of a less valuable, but more common

This study aims to analyze the factors affecting algal growth due to hydrologic and hydrodynamic changes resulting from eight weir constructions along a length of 207 km on the Nakdong River. Nutrients for algal growth, light intensity, water temperature, and hydrodynamic conditions were examined to study their relationships with algal blooms. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model

Complex biological models such as mechanistic research models often need to extend their current use to a broader audience. Simplification and faster simulations would increase their use. Here, a step-by-step methodology was developed and applied to partially metamodel, hence accelerate, the mechanistic model FlorSys. This is a process-based, multiannual and multispecies model ("virtual field") which

The dynamic character of forest soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is demonstrated in the simulation model TransparC2U. The model has up to 10 layers, each with two pools with first order kinetics running for 40 years. The model is aimed at teaching soil science to a broad audience in academia, extension services, secondary schools and public life. The learning objective of the model is to bring about

Multi-species size spectrum models (MSSMs) have been widely used to investigate and understand the dynamics of marine communities impacted by fishing and environmental changes to support ecosystem-based fisheries management. The continuous nature of the modelled processes makes it challenging to incorporate periodic biological processes and discontinuous life-history traits into MSSMs; therefore, a

Freshwater systems are some of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Factors contributing to their degradation can be associated with the expansion and intensification of agriculture in the 20th century, which has led to habitat degradation and water pollution. To mitigate the impacts of agricultural activities and improve stream ecosystem quality, government-funded conservation programs have

Managed grasslands play an important role in European landscapes. They are often characterized by a high productivity and a low variability of traits between species. Though the relationship between traits and productivity has been investigated by various field studies, insight is still lacking in understanding the role of species trait variability. This study combines species-specific traits with

Accurate predictions for sea lice abundance can have a great impact on effective management of the parasite. Sea lice data are often from multiple production cycles coming from different aquaculture sites and exhibit strong process and observation variations, presenting challenges in developing effective prediction tools. Reliable predictions of sea lice abundance on aquaculture sites can save money

The objective in this paper is to determine analytically the maximally sustainable pro-rata density-dependent harvest rate of a hypothetical biological species on the spatial boundary of its habitat, which is otherwise a protected zone (i.e. no harvesting of the species is allowed in the interior of its habitat). This is achieved by analysing an abstract mathematical model for the spatio-temporal evolution

There is a vital need to understand wildlife movement and space-use patterns to inform conservation efforts given current rates of anthropogenic environmental change. Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), among other large predators, are especially vulnerable to landscape change given their need to travel across large areas in search of seasonally available foods. Understanding how grizzly bears make movement

The stability and maintenance of species biodiversity in the multiple interactions type systems have attracted much attention. Regardless of their nature, several forms of interactions are discovered to exhibit oscillatory behaviour. This large-amplitude oscillation also de-stabilizes populations of multiple species and raises species’ chances of extinction. A central question in ecology is how do

The small pelagic fishery in the southern Philippines is one of the largest contributors to fisheries production in the country, and is dominated by the Bali sardine Sardinella lemuru. This species is a year-round spawner that has its peak spawning period during the northeast monsoon (NEM) months of November to February. However, there is still limited information on the conditions that affect this

Climate strongly influences ecological patterns and processes at scales ranging from local to global. Studies of ecological responses to climate usually rely on data derived from weather stations, where temperature and humidity may differ substantially from that in the microenvironments in which organisms reside. To help remedy this, we present a model that leverages first principles physics to predict

The emergy accounting method has been widely applied to terrestrial and marine ecosystems although there is a lack of emergy studies focusing on phytoplankton primary production. Phytoplankton production is a pivotal process since it is intimately coupled with oceanic food webs, energy fluxes, carbon cycle, and Earth's climate. In this study, we proposed a new methodology to perform a biophysical assessment

Agro-ecosystems have large potentials for supporting human well-being and local development, also by providing large amounts of organic matter for bioenergy generation. The use of agricultural residues was proposed as a possible solution to support energy transition, while avoiding conflicts for the use of agricultural land destined to food production. The present work uses an Ecosystem Services (ES)

Haliotis discus hannai Ino is one of the important mariculture species in China. Presently, H. discus hannai is extensively cultured in two coastal provinces in China, Shandong in the north and Fujian in the south, and is usually cultured in the “North-South Relay” mode. In order to simulate the growth of abalone in the north and south, an individual dynamic energy budget (DEB) model was constructed

Soil organic carbon (SOC) turnover simulation models have been widely used to predict SOC changes with changing climatic and management conditions. Rothamsted carbon model, RothC 26.3 is one of the most widely used C turnover simulation model, however, this model has not been extensively tested under the Indian conditions. Model prediction accuracy depends upon correct initialization procedure as wrong

Late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans is a serious, worldwide disease on potato (Solanum tuberosum). Phytophthora infestans normally reproduces in a clonal manner, but in some areas, as the Nordic Countries, sexual reproduction has become the major determinant of the population structure. To improve the late blight forecasting in Norway, the process-based Nærstad model was developed. The model

Sampling bias and autocorrelation can lead to erroneous estimates of habitat selection, model overfitting and elevated omission rates. We developed a multi-scale habitat suitability model of the flammulated owl (Psiloscops flammeolus) in the Northern Rocky Mountains based on extensive but spatially clustered survey data, and then used simulations to evaluate the effects of spatially non-representative

Animal-attached accelerometers have been widely used to monitor species that are difficult to observe, alongside the use of machine learning to identify behaviours from the obtained sequences. Artificial neural networks are powerful supervised learning algorithms that are based on deep learning and have been poorly exploited in movement ecology. Recently, the availability of sophisticated algorithmic

There are many different types of species distribution models (SDMs) that are widely used in the field of ecology. In this research, we explored a new advanced mechanism for predicting the distribution of species based on fuzzy membership function, principle of maximum entropy, fuzzy mathematics comprehensive evaluation, and the framework of Bayesian networks. We use fuzzy mathematics and Bayesian

As a raw material for ethanol, the production of sugarcane in Brazil is a very important and profitable agribusiness sector. In the last decades, with the prohibition of burning cane fields and the expansion of plantations, there has been a significant increase in the population of pests, the most important of which is a sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis). It affects the stalks of plants, causing

Urban tree cover contributes to human well-being through a variety of ecosystem services. In this study, we focus on the role that trees can play in reducing temperature during warm seasons and associated impacts on human health and well-being. We introduce a method for quantifying and valuing changes in premature mortality from extreme heat due to the changes in urban tree cover and apply this method

Reliable estimation of forest carbon fluxes in space and time is a major challenge. Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) has been found closely linked to vegetation photosynthetic activity. But the application of SIF for direct estimation of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) is not well investigated. In this study, we demonstrate the estimation of GPP for tropical deciduous forests located in

Renewal of old communities is an inevitable process in urban development. Old community renewal brings multiple benefits to communities and their residents. However, existing studies on the benefits of old community renewal usually focuses on single aspects, such as energy savings or property value increase. An integrated framework that provides a holistic assessment of community renewal benefits is

Territoriality is widespread in the animal kingdom, but its evolutionary origins are less understood than the movement patterns that generate it. Previous studies attempted to understand the evolution of these movement patterns by assuming that certain movement patterns comprised competing strategies and using evolutionary game theory to find which strategies would provide greater fitness and give

Young savanna trees can quickly grow back from belowground storage structures after topkill. This capacity is a tolerance trait that confers persistence at the plant individual level, enabling them to survive diverse disturbance regimes. We simulated the growth of a single resprouting stem (without and with fire) of a deciduous tree species that allocates its photo-assimilates during the vegetation

The harsh environmental conditions and poor management of agricultural fields in many parts of the tropics lead to rapid soil degradation and low crop yields, once native lands are converted to agriculture. The assessment and management of degraded fields is constrained by the low resource availability to support field data collection. Crop simulation models offer tools for assessing the degradation

Land Use and Land Cover Changes (LULCC) are recognized among the main drivers affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services. Especially in areas with high biophysical and socioeconomic heterogeneity, the need to find optimal planning solutions to combine human and natural systems still remains an open issue. This study aims to investigate how different planning strategies affecting the spatial arrangement

Reconciliation between water uses and sustaining aquatic species populations requires an effort to identify and quantify essential habitat characteristics for ecosystem health and valuation methods to predict ecosystem response to restoration actions. This process is particularly challenging for anadromous fish species such as California's Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, due to their limited

Although the environmental status of the Moroccan Atlantic coastal waters has been researched in previous studies, there is still a lack of knowledge about its biogeochemical functioning. Especially for the Agadir coast where measurements are quite scarce, realistic ecological models can help identifying the key mechanisms driving fluctuations in such coastal areas. Here we implemented a three-dimensional

Population projection matrices are a common means for predicting short- and long-term population persistence for rare, threatened and endangered species. Data from such species can suffer from small sample sizes and consequently miss rare demographic events resulting in incomplete or biologically unrealistic life cycle trajectories. Matrices with missing values (zeros; e.g., no observation of seeds

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are well-studied and inhabit diverse landscapes that are being transformed by both humans and natural forces. Most tools currently in use are limited in their ability to predict how elephants will respond to novel changes in the environment. Individual-, or agent-based modeling (ABM), may extend current methods in addressing and predicting spatial responses to