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Nest site availability plays an important role in the ecology of the birds inhabiting intensive agricultural landscapes. The removal of trees and snags due to logging is one of the main threats and the cause of the observed decline in many birds living in an agricultural landscape. When nests are lost, nesting passerines typically rebuild them for a new clutch. Additionally, relocating nests after a brood loss is a prevalent strategy used to avoid predators and brood parasites. Such a strategy is common to the Red-backed Shrike, which builds successive nests for each brood. Interestingly, clutch replacement may occur in unusual forms. This study describe three cases of Song Thrush nests reused by Red-backed Shrikes during one breeding season. The time and energy-saving behaviour or possible deterrence of nest parasitism could explain why the nests have been reused. However, due to the limited observations as compared to the total number of nests, further research is necessary to clarify this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of bioclimatic dynamics and land use in the region of Tlemcen (north-west of Algeria). GIS (geographic information system) and satellite images (LandSat) were used to conduct a diachronic study based on a series of satellite images from the years 2000 and 2019 to demonstrate changes in the study area while highlighting the importance of environmental conditions, including climate and anthropogenic impact on dynamic vegetation cover. Bioclimatic synthesis has shown an improvement in the rainfall regime and an evolution towards higher bioclimatic atmospheres between the two periods (1985–1999) and (2004–2018). Land use in the study area is under the influence of strong anthropogenic pressures and is experiencing a decline in forest areas from 28.74 to 17.49% but also in agricultural land and lawns from 38.61% to 27.67% in favour of built-up areas which increased from 0.81% to 1.09% but mainly to the benefit of bare soil: an ultimate stage of degradation whose surface area increased from 31.59% in 2000 to 53.46% in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of willow forest decline in the Jarama River has been assessed through the study of morphological river conditions in three periods (1956, 1998 and 2018) together with active channel mobility ratios and changes in channel planform and vegetation coverage. Species composition of current riparian corridors at river segment scale and monitored natural recruitment of pioneer species at local scale have been studied. Jarama River has changed from wide active wandering towards narrower meandering channels with dense and continuous riparian over-greening corridors, in which willow formations are threatened, and drought-tolerant species have colonised it. Landform evolution shows an intensive 'maturation' associated with 'anthropisation' processes during the first period, while stability dominates nowadays. Results show a generalised aging and progressive mortality of shrub willows and the expansion of forests dominated by Fraxinus angustifolia, likely associated to the progressive reduction of channel mobility and the lack of bare gravel bars for pioneer recruitment. The dominant willow species is Salix salviifolia, a drought tolerant willow that has been able to withstand the processes of 'maturation' and channel narrowing being widely distributed throughout the riparian section. On the other hand, other strict pioneer willows such as Salix eleagnos and Salix purpurea are very rare and are found in the few gravel banks that remain on the shore. Results predict a gradual disappearance of willows in the Jarama River as there is no significant recruitment, and they would last as long if those old specimens may survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiocarbon ages for samples of organic material within and overlying the highest Holocene floodplain and fan terraces in Glen Feshie and Glen Tromie imply sediment aggradation after ∼4.3 cal ka and probably incision after ∼3.7 cal ka, and in the Edendon Valley aggradation after ∼2.8 cal ka, with incision after ∼2.7 cal ka. The timing of sediment aggradation at all three sites postdates the onset of pine forest decline (∼4.8 cal ka) at nearby high-level sites, and coincides with wet periods characterised by high water tables. This coincidence in timing suggests that forest decline may have caused upstream extension of the tributary network, headwater incision and flashier flood responses, and that increased rainfall enhanced sediment discharge from headwater tributaries, with consequent sediment accumulation downstream on low-gradient fans and floodplains. More speculatively, exhaustion of readily entrained sediment from headwater areas may have stimulated subsequent floodplain and fan incision. Our results show that the highest Holocene terrace (the Main Holocene Terrace) is a diachronous feature, even in valleys emanating from the same upland source area, and support the conclusions of simulation models that predict marked increases in sediment discharge when deforestation is succeeded by an episode of increased rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting forest decline is crucial for effective forest management in arid and semi-arid regions. Remote sensing using satellite image time series is useful for identifying reduced photosynthetic activity caused by defoliation. However, current studies face limitations in detecting forest decline in sparse semi-arid forests. In this study, three Landsat time-series-based approaches were used to distinguish non-declining and declining forest patches in the Zagros forests. The random forest was the most accurate approach, followed by anomaly detection and the Sen's slope approach, with an overall accuracy of 0.75 (kappa = 0.50), 0.65 (kappa = 0.30), and 0.64 (kappa = 0.30), respectively. The classification results were unaffected by the Landsat acquisition times, indicating that rather, environmental variables may have contributed to the separation of declining and non-declining areas and not the remotely sensed spectral signal of the trees. We conclude that identifying declining forest patches in semi-arid regions using Landsat data is challenging. This difficulty arises from weak vegetation signals caused by limited canopy cover before a bright soil background, which makes it challenging to detect modest degradation signals. Additional environmental variables may be necessary to compensate for these limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, increasing tree diebacks and mortality in some forests, particularly in forest parks, created a need amongst forest managers to find effective methods to gather information about the rate of dieback and mortality and their reasons. High-quality air and space-born remote sensing data has established as an alternative to field surveys for certain inventory tasks. This study used high-quality UltraCam-Xp and UAV drone images from 2016 and 2021 to map tree dieback and mortality in Daland Forest Park, Golestan Province, Iran. High-quality ortho mosaics and Digital Surface Models (DSMs) were generated from UltraCam (2016) and UAV (2021) images. The images were then classified through object-based classification by Nearest Neighbor (NN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Bayes algorithms using various input data sets including spectral bands, Canopy Height Model (CHM), vegetation indices, and texture analysis features. Our results indicate that the Bayes algorithm is more precise in mapping tree dieback for the two time steps compared to other algorithms. The best tree dieback map on UltraCam images was obtained using the spectral bands with CHM, texture analysis features, and vegetation indices. This combination resulted in an overall accuracy of 91.20% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.88. It was also found that combining the UAV main bands with CHM and texture features did produce a high-accuracy map with an overall accuracy of 88.46% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.84. Change detection analysis of tree dieback showed that between 2016 and 2021, the number of healthy trees decreased, and the number of gaps and open areas increased in the study area. We conclude that UltraCam and UAV photographs can serve to identify and map tree dieback and dead trees with good accuracies and can hence support forest health monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, satellite imagery is classified into four categories using the fuzzy c-means algorithm of the Indian Sundarbans due to its forest density changes. The categories are dense forest, sparse forest, water bodies, and wetlands. The study reveals that net forest areas declined by 3.75% from 932 km2 in 1975 to 847 km2 in 2018 and the rate of deforestation was 1.96 km2 year−1. The correlation statistic shows that the deforested areas were converted to wetland and water bodies. The results of the forest canopy density (FCD) model show that areas, with canopy density of 60–100% gradually declined from 42% (939 km2) in 1975 to 36% (814 km2) in 2018. Moreover, we also observed that maximum canopy density was >80% in 1990 and 60–80% in 1975. The results of the forest fragmentation model show that forest patch and edge areas progressively increased by 253% and 28%, respectively, while perforated forest areas slowly decreased with 11%. We find that most forest fragmentation happened in patch, edge, perforated, and core forest with an area >4 km2. Therefore, this study may be helpful in monitoring land cover changes of the Indian Sundarbans for sustainable mangrove forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated historical land-cover states in order to identify potential land-use transition regimes leading to land degradation. Landsat satellite datasets were used to characterize land-cover states for 1986–2017 period. The multinomial probability distribution was used to establish sample size for training and accuracy assessment. Using a hybrid image classification approach, individual satellite images were initially clustered using the ISODATA technique, and spectral classes later transformed posteriori into respective thematic classes. Maximum Likelihood Function was subsequently used to assign pixels into classes with highest probability. Approximately 12% of mixed forest declined, while cropland increased by 30% between 1995–2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the trends, patterns and determinants of biodiversity conservation in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), India. Temporal remote sensing data from 1990 to 2020 shows a loss of 27.69 km2. The results show that the total forest area has seen a significant decline from 1990 to 2020, whereas non-forest and degraded forest areas have been on the rise. The decline of forest area is observed more in fringe and lower altitude areas where accessibility is easy for humans to extract forest resources. The secondary data shows a decline in the wildlife population including the flagship species, the Bengal tiger. The decline in natural resources due to human activities in the BTR is likely to continue unless a participatory biodiversity conservation programme is established. The establishment of the Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC), a formal local institution where local communities and forest departments (FDs) jointly share the rights and responsibility towards the use and management of the forest, seems to be effective in reducing negative forest activities. The sustainability of the BTR is possible if the local people abandon the 'tragedy of the commons' activities and work together, with government guidance for the promotion of livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest decline is a widespread phenomenon on coasts throughout the Mediterranean basin. Pathogenic fungi are amongst the main causes of forest tree diseases. Diplodia species, having a cosmopolitan distribution, are well-known as pathogens of woody plant hosts including Pinus spp. In recent years, symptoms of shoot dieback, necrosis, twig blight, canopy transparency and trunk cankers have been observed on Pinus pinea trees in Tunisian forests. Nevertheless, this has been less well-studied in North Africa and especially in Tunisia. The purpose of this study is to report the occurrence of Diplodia species causing dieback on P. pinea in two forests in northeastern and the northern Tunisia. A collection of fifty-eight isolates were obtained from symptomatic branches of P. pinea trees. Three Diplodia species were identified: D. africana, D. pseudoseriata and D. scrobiculata by means of morphological characteristics, and phylogenetic analysis. Their incidence on P. pinea trees appeared to be significantly correlated to the dendrometric parameters and ecological factors. A pathogenicity test was conducted on 3-years-old P. pinea seedlings, confirmed the virulence of three Diplodia species. Based on the length of vascular necrosis in the wood of the P. pinea inoculated stem, D. scrobiculata was the most virulent species. Data from the present study provide the first report of the species of Diplodia associated with P. pinea dieback in Tunisia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-wildlife conflict has increased over the decades and is now considered one of the most severe challenges to the survival of threatened species and the livelihood of communities worldwide. In Sri Lanka, population growth, fragmentation of land, and conversion of natural wildlife habitats into settlement and agricultural areas are the leading causes of human-wildlife conflict. This study seeks to characterise the conflict pattern in the Mullaitivu District by identifying land use/cover changes and assessing the vulnerability of land use/cover. Primary data were collected through a field survey using a structured questionnaire and direct observation methods, and secondary data on land use/cover changes were obtained from remote sensing images. These data were analysed statistically and on the Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. The study reveals land use/cover vulnerability status over the twenty-six years. Dense forests are on the decline, and wild animals migrate into human settlements and agricultural sites, resulting in different types of human-wildlife conflict such as crop damage, livestock depredation, and loss of life and/or injuries to both people and wildlife in the Mullaitivu district. People employ various wildlife mitigation strategies. However, they cannot safeguard their crops or livestock from these animals. By implementing appropriate management measures to avoid wildlife infiltration into human settlements, the human-wildlife conflict in the Mullaitivu district can be minimised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest cover change analyses have an essential role in forest management. Thus, this study adopted Landsat satellite imagery to assess the decadal spatiotemporal forest cover changes that occurred between 1989 and 2019 and predicted the 2029 land cover distribution of the Nkandla forest reserve, facing encroachment threats. The support vector machine algorithm and Land Change Modeling were utilized to classify and detect changes that occurred between 1989–1999, 1999–2009, 2009–2019. The Markov Chain Model and Multi-Layer Perceptron were adopted for the future land cover prediction. Consistent changes through inter-transitioning between the land cover types (closed canopy forest, open canopy forest, grassland, and bare sites) were detected. The closed canopy forest increased from 883.46 ha to 1059.23 ha, whereas the open canopy forest declined from 1091.89 ha to 910.60 ha between 1989 and 2019. Generally, the observed changes were caused by ecological processes and human disturbances. The future cover prediction indicated that the closed canopy forest will decline between 2019 and 2029, whereas the open canopy forest, grassland, and bare sites will increase. The information provided through this study will support the management of the Nkandla forest to ensure its continual supply of ecosystem services of national and global importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of agriculture and human settlements has simplified natural ecosystems and harmed the earth's biodiversity. The current study was conducted in south-central Ethiopia to identify LULC change dynamics, and analysis of their driving force using geospatial technology. A supervised maximum likelihood image classification method was employed in combination with the visual interpretation of satellite images to categorise and map LULC classes of the study landscape. Semi-structured interviews, field observations, key informants, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were employed to identify major driving forces, periodic LULC changes and impacts. The classification result showed a considerable decline in forestland from (43.1%) in 1973 to (13.1%) in 2000. Similarly, grasslands declined from (45.5%) in 1973 to (6.3%) in 2018. On the other hand, cropland has increased from (9.24%) in 1973 to (32.04%) in 1986 likewise between 2000 and 2018 its coverage was augmented from 45.4% to 51.1%, respectively.. Local communities perceived population growth, settlement, urbanisation, expansion of farmlands, and fuel wood collection as dominant drivers of LULC changes in the study area in thewatershed. The respondents also observed that the decline in forest LULC triggered the loss of biodiversity, soil fertility, and water availability. Hence, local and national regimes must take adequate measures to minimise the rapid shift in land use and to balance the protection of the human livelihood with the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest loss and fragmentation are critical issues that confront urban landscapes. The urban forests in the hills of the Guwahati Metropolitan Area (GMA) in India have experienced significant transformations. This study assesses the temporal changes of forests in protected and non-protected hills of the GMA. Landsat imageries between 1976 and 2018 were used to understand changes in forest composition and fragmentation using landscape metrics namely, percentage of landscape, number of patches, mean patch size, patch density and largest patch index. The results revealed that the forests of GMA were experiencing intense losses and fragmentation due to increasing non-forest anthropogenic developments. The dense and moderately dense forests declined by 44 and 43%, respectively, as non-forest area increased by 1475 ha between 1976 and 2018. Dense forest demonstrated increasing fragmentation due to the rising number of small patches from 568 to 780. Today, dense forest patches are limited to only three of the eight reserved forests within GMA. The non-protected hills reported a significant 1309% increase of non-forest landuse. Thus, both protected and non-protected forests sustained substantial losses and fragmentation. The analysis could enable policymakers to prioritize urban forest conservation efforts in the GMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experience of displacement from the perspective of women who have been or are about to be moved from their homes and sources of livelihood, to make way for the expansion of a wildlife reserve in India. We conducted this in the Nayi Basti (Nb) and Umravan (U) areas of the tribal belt around the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh state of India. Availability of common property resources significantly contributed to a better position for women in tribal society, despite their lack of access to modern health care and education. Displacement to plains and non-forest areas with no access to familiar means of livelihood, however, makes such communities vulnerable to psychosocial trauma and decline in social status. We conducted in-depth interviews with women respondents and key informants for this study to assess the levels of distress of women after they were displaced and obtained their perspectives, in particular, about the key psychosocial issues they faced after moving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the relationship between factors affecting the decline of Zagros forests can elucidate many challenges associated with sustainable and effective forest management. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the interaction effects of simulated dust (0, 20, 40 and 60 g/m2) using dust simulator at three times (April, July and October 2016) and irrigation regimes (−0.3 and −0.9 MPa of soil water potential as control and water deficit treatments) on morpho-physiological characteristics of one- and three-year-old seedlings of Persian Oak (Quercus brantii Lindl) in the Research Field of Isfahan University of Technology in Iran. Results showed that dust stress significantly increased physical damage at 15 and 30 days, proline content and concentration of soluble carbohydrates under both irrigation regimes. Dust stress at 60 g/m2 level significantly decreased relative water content, leaf area, membrane stability index, plant height and consequently shoot fresh and dry weights under both irrigation regime. Under water deficit stress, corresponding reduction in shoot dry weight was 37.9%, 51.6% and 67.2% in one-year-old seedlings and 38.3%, 53.2% and 63.3% in three-year-old seedlings at 20, 40, and 60 g/m2dust treatments, respectively. In general, the results revealed that water stress exacerbated the stress caused by dusting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fragile landscape of Himalaya harbors a wide range of natural resource dependent communities. However, they are the primary receivers for any adverse social and environmental changes. The study explored the impact of climate variability, disaster, migration, and wildlife on resource utilization pattern of two natural resource dependent Socio-Ecological Systems (SESs) in the Central Himalaya. Integrated SES framework-based household survey and non-parametric statistical tests (Pearson's Chi-square test of homogeneity and Mann–Whitney U tests) were used to draw the conclusions. Results indicated that resource dependency and socio-environmental risks are heterogeneously distributed in the SESs. Climate change and wildlife intrusion were the most widespread risks causing agricultural decline, forest, and water degradation. Whereas the impact of migration and disasters were localized. However, an overall negative impact of risks on resource dependency was ubiquitously perceived. Diverse coping, disengagement, and adaptive responses were observed that indicated resilience of resource dependent SESs in the Central Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined microbial substrate utilization by community level physiological profiling and carbon-cycling enzyme assays (cellobiohydrolase, β-xylosidase, and oxidases) in three Japanese larch forests. The forests differed in their locations, topographies, and soil microclimates, and each covered three treatments, namely 20 (IT) and 35% basal area thinning (HT) without intensive residue harvests and an un-thinned control (UTC). Microbial substrate utilization and soil properties (temperature, moisture, total carbon and nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen, and pH) were analyzed at 0–10 cm depth, six years after thinning. Microbial utilization of carbohydrate group under IT was 27 and 62% higher than that under UTC and HT, respectively, in only one of the forests. This might occur because this forest featured a steeper slope, rockier soil texture, and cooler and drier soil surface than the other two forests, where no thinning effect was observed. However, neither microbial utilization of any other substrate groups nor enzyme activity changed by thinning across all forests. It could result from the exclusion of intensive residue harvests or the lack of changes in soil inorganic nitrogen and pH. These results indicate that the thinning effects on microbial substrate utilization might be inconsistent across multiple sites, and at least, not decline the associated forest ecosystem functions and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Climate warming is amplifying and exacerbating drought stress worldwide. Long-term trends of increasing evaporative demand and decreasing soil moisture availability occur superimposed on severe spells of drought. These rare, extreme droughts have triggered episodes of forest dieback that have led to reduced productivity and rising mortality rates, usually at small scales (dieback hotspots), but affecting biomes worldwide. Aims: This review summarizes and discusses the drivers, patterns and mechanisms of forest dieback caused by drought. Methods: I review studies on forest dieback and tree death linked to dry spells with a focus on tools to forecast dieback. Results: Several mechanisms have been described as physiological drivers of dieback, including hydraulic failure and carbon starvation, however hydraulics-based models have shown little predictive power of dieback and mortality. Field proxies of tree vigour, including changes in canopy defoliation and water content, combined with surrogates of tree functioning (tree-ring growth, wood anatomy, tree-ring δ13C or δ18O composition) may improve predictions of forest dieback or at least render early-warning signals of impending tree death. Conclusions: Drought-induced dieback and mortality are concerning phenomena which lack forecasting tools with sufficient predictive power. Surrogates of tree vigour, growth and functioning should be used to build more accurate models of tree death in response to extreme climate events linked to drought. Here, I argue for combining and comparing those surrogates to better forecast forest dieback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This produces more local rainfall in what is referred to as a "vegetation breeze" effect, with precipitation increasing over some range of forest clearance.[48],[49] In addition, deforestation can spatially redistribute cloud formation and therefore precipitation. Modeling now demonstrates a cascade effect, with 30-50% deforestation in the southern and eastern basin lowering precipitation in the west by 40%.[107] Thus, potential refugia on the eastern slopes of the Andes now blessed with 3,000 millimeters of precipitation annually will become environments with just 1,800 millimeters per year, still wet but approaching the open forest/savanna cutoff observed elsewhere in Amazonia. The crowning irony is that the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Inf-rastructure of South America regards the triborder region shared by Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru as critical to the continental plan.[108] Unfortunately, forests in this southwestern corner of Amazonia are also critical to maintaining atmospheric moisture flow to the continent's populous south.[109] Thus, the development of Amazonia now lies on a collision course not only with the interests of conservation but also with the welfare of the very people it is meant to benefit. [Extracted from the article]

Projections are that climate change will increase drought risk and intensity globally. Groundwater is critical during drought, but worldwide aquifers are experiencing unrecoverable groundwater declines. California is ideal to explore strategies for managing groundwater for drought resilience. Many areas rely on groundwater, yet multiple basins are in overdraft. Management was historically centered in local water districts, but in 2014, the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) establishing mandatory groundwater management rules. This paper discusses strategies used prior to and post SGMA to sustainably manage groundwater for drought resilience, and evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies. It highlights two recent approaches that can increase drought resilience under climate change: flood-MAR – using flood flows for both recharge and irrigation; and the development of locally sited groundwater drought reserves that can serve as a buffer during extreme droughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sweeping political transition from the Soviet Union to independence in Tajikistan was accompanied by a devastating civil war. Social, economic, and demographic change followed. This research examines a critical indicator of human welfare and stability at the micro- and macro-levels: educational attainment and mobility. Using the 2007 Tajik Living Standards Survey, I compare cohorts educated before, during, and after the civil war. I examine the impact of the war and the political transition on educational attainment and mobility. The findings suggest that the consequences of civil war and political transition in Tajikistan were gendered: boys' attainment was disrupted when they lived in a conflict-affected area and were 16-to-17 years old when the war began; girls' attainment decline was more widespread. This research contributes to our understanding of the long-term consequences of political events on human capital accumulation over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A natural holm oak forest was selectively thinned to test thinning as a tool to reduce tree mortality, increase productivity, and reverse the recent regression of the dominant species (Quercus ilex) induced by climate change. Thinning increased aboveground productivity and reduced stem mortality in this Mediterranean forest during four years just after thinning, contributing to the maintenance of forest functioning under changing climatic conditions. Q. ilex was the only species positively affected by the thinning: stem growth increased for all stem sizes, and mortality was significantly lower in thinned plots. On the contrary, mortality rates of Phillyrea latifolia and Arbutus unedo were not significantly lower. Stem growth increased for P. latifolia only in the smallest stem-size class. Our results highlight the suitability of selective thinning for improving the forest productivity and ensuring the conservation of Mediterranean coppices. Other benefits of selective thinning, such as a decrease in the risk of fire dispersion and an increase in the water supply for human populations, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conocarpus lancifolius is a fast-growing and drought tolerant tree species with phytoremediation potential in arid environments. The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytoaccumulation potential under wastewater treatment. The experiment was performed in a greenhouse where 3-month-old seedlings were irrigated with industrial wastewater and growth, biomass and physiological parameters were measured. Concentrations of zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) in leaves, shoots, and roots along with translocation and tolerance index were also determined. The results showed that under wastewater treatment total biomass increased from 24.2 to 31.5 g, net CO2 assimilation rate increased from 9.93 to 13.3 μmol m−2 s−1, and water use efficiency increased from 1.7 to 2.42. Similarly, heavy metals (Zn, Pb, and Cd) accumulation in stem, leaves, and roots increased significantly under wastewater treatment where the highest concentration of Zn, Pb and Cd was found in roots followed by leaves and stem, respectively. Tolerance index was found >1, and translocation factor of all heavy metals was found >1. The study revealed that phytoaccumulation potential of C. lancifolius was mainly driven by improved net CO2 assimilation rate and water use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lentisk dieback has been commonly observed in Tunisian forests. Nevertheless, the identity of the parasitic factors involved in this phenomenon has not yet been reported. Thus, in order to characterize the dieback-associated agents, symptomatic branches were collected from Pistacia lentiscus in the Rimel forest (Northern Tunisia). Two Botryosphaeriaceae species, Diplodia seriata and D. africana, were isolated and identified firstly based on morphological characteristics. Then, molecular identification was performed by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS4), a part of the translation elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α) gene and a partial sequence of the β-tubulin (TUB) gene. The two species were morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from all Diplodia species and represent newly recorded fungal pathogens of lentisk in Tunisia. Pathogenicity tests carried out on asymptomatic detached branches confirmed the virulence of the two species. These findings may confirm D. seriata and D. africana as fungal pathogens associated with lentisk dieback in Tunisia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many families live on the financial edge, but a natural disaster can throw even better-situated families into financial turmoil. Comparing the financial outcomes of residents in areas hit by natural disasters with otherwise similar people in unaffected communities, this study finds that natural disasters lead to declines in credit scores and mortgage performance, increases in debt in collection, and impacts on credit card access and debt—effects that persist or even worsen over time. We also find that people who are more likely to be struggling financially before disasters strike are often the hardest hit by the disaster. Specifically, for people with low pre-disaster credit scores, as well as those who live in a community of color, the estimated declines in credit scores are particularly substantial. We find a similar pattern for mortgage delinquency and foreclosure. This pattern of results suggests that disasters may be not only harmful for affected residents on average, but may also have the effect of widening already existing inequalities. Our results also suggest that medium-sized disasters, which are less likely to receive long-term public recovery funding, lead to larger negative declines on credit scores than large disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appalachian communities have lower access to healthier food sources like grocery stores. Through semi-structured interviews with owner/managers of convenience stores in Appalachian communities, this qualitative study explored perceived roles and business practices of small food retailers using a grounded theory approach. Five themes emerged including strong relationships between stores and customers, the role of the store in community, food and beverage stocking decisions, store owner/managers' perceived demand for healthier options, and federal food assistance program participation. The themes provide insight to store owner/manager perspectives on community-focused and business-focused priorities in Appalachian convenience stores and can inform healthy retail interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults' life stories are often connected with religious stories. In-depth interviews with 26 older Dutch adults indicate three groups of religious narratives (experiential, ontological, and critical narratives) and three master narratives of aging (active aging, decline, and inner growth). The narrative of aging as inner growth, which strives for a balance between opposites, offers a way out of the polarity between active aging and aging as decline. Kendall's tau-b correlation analysis shows that relative use of affirmative religious narratives tends to be positively correlated with relative use of supportive and negatively correlated with use of invalidating narratives of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zagros Mountains forests extend across 11 provinces in Iran and constitute approximately 40.0% of the country's woodlands. These forests have important soil conservation and water regulation functions. Over the last decade, these forests have been declining in oak populations in many places, triggered by factors such as drought, pathogens like the fungus Biscogniauxia mediterranea, and pests such as borer beetles. Mapping the regions that show such a decline is the first step to addressing and managing the risks posed by this environmental calamity. In this research, we focus on the forests surrounding Malekshahi city in the Ilam province of Iran. Using Landsat data from the years 2000 to 2016, we determined the spatial distribution of oak decline in the region. After applying a forest/non-forest classification, appropriate spectral indices including Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) were selected. Together with ground truth data, two regression methods (linear regression and support vector regression (SVR)) were used to model the decline score of each pixel based on the slope of variation of selected spectral indices during the observed 17 years. The oak forests were then classified into four categories: healthy forests, low-severity-declined forests, mid-severity declined forests, and high-severity declined forests, based on the respective estimated decline scores. SVR mapped different severities of oak decline with an overall accuracy of 51%, which appears to be due to the dependency of the method on the time of decline during the 17-year timeframe. However, in a binary classification mode – meaning classifying decline score to be either 'Healthy' or 'decline' – both regression methods were able to detect declined pixels with a producer's accuracy of 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past twenty-five years, per capita water use has declined in many US cities. Technological and policy changes partially explain this decline, but variables beyond the control of water managers also influence water use including external (e.g. drought) and emergent (e.g. public attention) changes. Importantly, these variables interact and the relationships between these variables and water use are non-stationary. However, many models assume fixed relationships between water use and its drivers, and limited interaction between variables. Here we present a flexible socio-hydrological approach to model how conservation strategies, and external and emergent changes, interact to influence per capita water use. We apply this approach to Las Vegas and find that marginal water rates, code changes coupled with population growth, and conservation response to water stress are the key drivers of the observed decline. Critically, modeling these strategies in absence of their connections to population growth and water stress cannot fully account for observed changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing of forest condition is typically based on broadband vegetation indices to quantify coarse categories of canopy condition. More detailed and accurate assessments have been demonstrated using narrowband sensors, although with more limited image availability. While differences in sensor capabilities are obvious, I hypothesized that multispectral imagery may be able to detect more subtle canopy stress symptoms if a new calibration approach was considered. This involves three major changes to traditional decline assessments: (1) calibration with more detailed field measurements, (2) consideration of narrowband derived indices adapted for broadband calculation, and (3) a multivariate calibration model. Testing this approach on Landsat-5 (TM) imagery in the Catskills, NY, USA, a five-term linear regression model (r2 = 0.621, RMSE 0.403) based on a unique combination of vegetation indices sensitive to canopy chlorophyll, carotenoids, green leaf area, and water content was able to quantify a broad range of forest condition across species. When rounded to a class-based system for comparison to more traditional methods, this equation predicted decline across 42 mixed-species plots with 65% accuracy (10-classes), and 100% accuracy (5-classes). This approach was a significant improvement over commonly used vegetation indices such as NDVI (r2 = 0.351, RMSE = 0.500, 10-class accuracy = 60%, and 5-class accuracy = 74%). These results suggest that relying solely on a single common vegetation index to assess forest condition may artificially limit the accuracy and detail possible with multispectral imagery. I recommend that future efforts to monitor forest decline consider this three-pronged approach to decline predictions in order to maximize the information and accuracy obtainable with broadband sensors so widely available at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest health monitoring schemes were setup across Europe in the 1980s in response to concerns about air pollution-related forest dieback (Waldsterben) and have continued since then. Recent threats to forest health are climatic extremes likely due to global climate change and increased ground ozone levels and nitrogen deposition. We model yearly data on tree crown defoliation, an indicator of tree health, from a monitoring survey carried Out in Baden-Württemberg, Germany since 1983. On a changing irregular grid, defoliation and other site-specific variables are recorded. In Baden-Württemberg, the temporal trend of defoliation differs among areas because of site characteristics and pollution levels, making it necessary to allow for space-time interaction in the model. For this purpose, we propose using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) incorporating scale-invariant tensor product smooths of the space-time dimensions. The space-time smoother allows separate smoothing parameters and penalties for the space and time dimensions and thus avoids the need to make arbitrary or ad hoc choices about the relative scaling of space and time. The approach of using a space-time smoother has intuitive appeal, making it easy to explain and interpret when communicating the results to nonstatisticians, such as environmental policy makers. The model incorporates a nonlinear effect for mean tree age, the most important predictor, allowing the separation of trends in time, which may be pollution-related, from trends that relate purely to the aging of the survey population. In addition to a temporal trend due to site characteristics and other conditions modeled with the space-time smooth, we account for random temporal correlation at site level by an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) process. Model selection is carried out using the Bayes information criterion (BIC), and the adequacy of the assumed spatial and temporal error structure is investigated with the empirical semivariogram and the empirical autocorrelation function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of forest declines are important, because they both reduce timber production and affect successional trajectories of landscapes and ecosystems. Of particular interest is the decline of red pines, which is characterized by expanding areas of dead and chlorotic trees in plantations throughout the Great Lakes region. Here we examine the impact of two bark beetle groups, red turpentine beetles and pine engraver bark beetles, on tree mortality and the subsequent gap formation over time in a plantation in Wisconsin. We construct spatial- temporal statistical models that quantify the relations among red turpentine beetle colonization, pine engraver bark beetle colonization, and mortality of red pine trees while accounting for correlation across space and over time. We extend traditional Markov random-field models to include temporal terms and multiple-response variables aimed at developing a suitable set of statistical models for addressing the scientific questions about the forest ecosystem under study. For statistical inference, we adopt a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach and devise Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms for obtaining the posterior distributions of model parameters as well as posterior predictive distributions. In particular, we implement path sampling combined with perfect simulation for autologistic models while formally addressing the posterior propriety under an improper uniform prior. Our data analysis results suggest that red turpentine beetle colonization is associated with a higher likelihood of pine engraver bark beetle colonization and that pine engraver bark beetle colonization is associated with higher likelihood of red pine tree mortality, whereas there is no direct association between red turpentine beetle colonization and red pine tree mortality. There is strong evidence that red turpentine beetle colonization does not kill a red pine tree directly, but rather predisposes the tree to subsequent colonization by pine engraver bark beetles. The evidence is also strong that pine engraver bark beetles are the ultimate mortality agents of red pine trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is some years now since forest decline was a major public concern in Europe and was one of the principal environmental issues around which international research programs were focused. A number of internationally coordinated activities were initiated in the 1980s and 1990s and have continued until now; these contributed significantly to our current understanding of forestry and to the way in which forestry policies have developed. In short, the concept of sustainable development has had an increasing influence and is now of immeasurable value in forest policy, with sustainable forest management well established as its guiding principle. This sequence of events is examined here. The extent to which understanding has advanced is remarkable; much has changed. Arguably this period gave the first indication of the extent to which forests and ecosystems globally are threatened by environmental change. On the basis of the last 20 years, it is tempting to conclude that we now have an effective institutional framework and have made excellent progress. However, some of the recorded ecosystem responses seem anomalous; there are surprises in system responses, e.g., the linkage between sulphur and nitrogen depositions and forest growth. Even more importantly some specific pollutant problems remain and will intensify, and climate change has become an environmental issue of overwhelming importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high contents of soluble and exchangeable aluminum (Al) in soils are believed to be main factors of forest damage in large areas. Krkonoše National Park, in the Czech Republic, is one of the most damaged areas in Central Europe, although the industrial emissions have declined in the past years. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the present concentration of soluble and exchangeable Al in some soils of that area, with different degrees of forest decline. The total Al concentration in water extracts was found to range within the limits 0.022–0.102 mM. According to the commonly used criteria, these values do not exceed the limit of toxicity for most plant species. Aluminum compounds in water extracts are represented predominantly by Al organic complexes and Al polymers. The percentage of the most toxic for plants, Al monomeric hydroxocomplex, ranges within the limits 0–52% of the total Al concentration and is higher in water extracts from the upper parts of the solum as compared with those from the subsoils, in compliance with the increase in pH values down the profile. The molar ratios of calcium (Ca)/Al and (Ca+Mg+K)/Al in water extracts exceed 1, but no clear relation with the forest status is found. The content of exchangeable Al is instead very high, especially in mineral horizons, and the lowest ratios between Ca or the sum of base cations and Al in the exchange complex occurs under the most degraded forest stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the first article in a series exploring the possible relationship between forest damage and acid rain in Europe. Measurement of forest decline; Methods of data synthesis; Findings on forest decline; The extent of decline.