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Critical areas of the E45 highway (Troncal Amazónica), Morona Santiago Province, Ecuador, have an alarming history of slope instability, which have blocked the road and negatively impacted the most vulnerable population due to unsafe conditions. In the present investigation, the stability of access slopes to the bridge over the Copueno River, Morona Santiago, Ecuador Province, is evaluated. The geological-geotechnical characterization, the processes that influence the detachment of materials, evaluation and analysis of the limit states of failure of the instability sites are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We here report the results of a study in which the diversity of terricolous lichens colonizing the slopes of forest roads and soils in Montes de Toledo is analyzed. In total, 103 species have been identified, 14 are recorded for the first time in Castilla-La Mancha and another 32 are new records from Montes de Toledo. Slopes inside Quercus pyrenica forests or located near riverbeds harbor the highest species richness. In the most humid slopes, we highlight the presence of some species which are more frequent in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula (Cladonia ciliata, C. gracilis, C. scabriuscula, C. uncialis, Inoderma epigaeum, Lepraria rigidula, Peltigera venosa, Psoroma hypnorum, Trapeliopsis pseudogranulosa). Whereas in the most exposed areas, we underline the presence of very rare Mediterranean species (Cladonia dimorpha, Leptogium terrenum, Toninia toepfferi, Trapeliopsis gymnidiata, T. wallrothii). In conclusion, under Mediterranean climate conditions, the slopes of forest roads constitute important habitats for terricolous lichen species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide occurrence is associated with some conditioning factors and triggering landslide processes. This research contributes to quantify the influence of geomorphology as a conditioning factor in slope stability, via analysis based on a finite element method with an elastoplastic constitutive model. The analysis performs through a numerical simulation with nine three-dimensional slope models. The spatial variation of the stress tensor and its components were obtained by the invariants that reflect the influence of the geoform and flow regime in slope stability. Finally, the authors calculated an index potential failure that quantifies, in a unified manner, the influence of the confinement pressure and shear stress in the slope to determine a susceptibilty failure area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has as main objective to establish a classification of the different types of movements of masses in slopes developed in the territory of Moa. The typology classification is based on the documentation of the movements found in the area, as well as characterization of all the geometric, structural elements and compositional of the material in which it has been developed; besides keeping in mind the classifications more accepted at international level. As a results a proposal is made of classification and description of the movements of masses containing the mechanisms of the slips in three main groups: mechanisms related with fall free of the rock, mechanisms of slips through a defined failure surface and mechanism of movements of masses in a disorganized way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]