Flexible males, reactive females: faecal glucocorticoid metabolites indicate increased stress in the colonist population, damping with time in males but not in females.

Individuals colonizing new areas at expanding ranges encounter numerous and unpredictable stressors. Exposure to unfamiliar environments suggests that colonists would differ in stress levels from residents living in familiar conditions. Few empirical studies tested this hypothesis and produced mixed results, and the role of stress regulation in colonization remains unclear. Studies relating stress levels to colonization mainly use a geographical analysis comparing established colonist populations with source populations. We used faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) to assess both spatial and temporal dynamics of stress levels in an expanding population of midday gerbils (Meriones meridianus). We demonstrated that adult males and females had higher FGM levels in newly emerged colonies, compared with the source population, but differed in the pattern of FGM dynamics post-foundation. In males, FGM levels sharply decreased in the second year after colony establishment. In females, FGM levels did not change with time and remained high despite the decreasing environmental unpredictability, exhibiting among-individual variation. Increased stress levels of colonist males damping with time post-colonization suggest they are flexible in responding to immediate changes in environmental uncertainty. On the contrary, high and stable over generations stress levels uncoupled from the changes in the environmental uncertainty in female colonists imply that they carry a relatively constant phenotype associated with the reactive coping strategy favouring colonization. We link sex differences in consistency and plasticity in stress regulation during colonization to the sex-specific life-history strategies.

Post-wildfire neighborhood change: evidence from the 2018 Camp Fire.

As the number of highly destructive wildfires grows, it is increasingly important to understand the long-term changes that occur to fire-affected places. Integrating approaches from social and biophysical science, we document two forms of neighborhood change following the 2018 Camp Fire in the United States, examining the more than 17,000 residential structures within the burn footprint. We found that mobile or motor homes, lower-value residences, and absentee owner residences had a significantly higher probability of being destroyed, providing evidence that housing stock filtering facilitated socially stratified patterns of physical damage. While the relationship between building value and destruction probability could be explained by measures of building density and distance to nearby roads, building type remained an independent predictor of structure loss that we could not fully explain by adding environmental covariates to our models. Using a geospatial machine learning technique, we then identified buildings that had been reconstructed within the burn footprint 20 months after the fire. We found that reconstructed buildings were more likely to have been owner-occupied prior to the fire and had higher average pre-fire property value, suggesting an emerging pattern of cost-burden gentrification. Our findings illustrate the importance of examining the built environment as a driver of socially uneven disaster impacts. Wildfire mitigation strategies are needed for mobile and motor home residents, renters, low-income residents, and dense neighborhoods.

Impacts of land use/land cover and climate change on landscape sensitivity in Tunca River sub-basin: Use in spatial planning and sectoral decision processes.

Managing landscape change is increasingly challenging due to rapid anthropogenic shifts. A delicate balance must be struck between the environment and change to ensure landscapes can withstand these impacts. This study conducted in the Tunca River sub-basin of Edirne province, aims to assess landscape sensitivity by examining the influence of land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change on landscape function processes. For this purpose, a methodology was developed based on ecosystem services to determine landscape sensitivity. The results revealed a LULC transformation that could lead to a 60% reduction in forest areas and a 5% and 20% increase in urban and irrigated agricultural areas, respectively. Water and erosion emerged as the most affected landscape function processes. Future scenarios from 2050 to 2070 indicate noteworthy changes in landscape sensitivity, showing an increase in sensitivity in the upper regions of the basin. The study identified high sensitivity in forested areas, moderate sensitivity in agricultural zones, and low sensitivity in micro-basins near residential areas. Protection and improvement strategies are recommended for areas with high and moderate sensitivity, while use-oriented strategies are suggested for those with low sensitivity. This study also establishes a scientific foundation for guiding the protection and management of ecologically sensitive basin areas, offering insights into the effects of landscape change processes at the micro-basin level in connection with climate change models.

Landscape drives zoonotic malaria prevalence in non-human primates.

Zoonotic disease dynamics in wildlife hosts are rarely quantified at macroecological scales due to the lack of systematic surveys. Non-human primates (NHPs) host Plasmodium knowlesi, a zoonotic malaria of public health concern and the main barrier to malaria elimination in Southeast Asia. Understanding of regional P. knowlesi infection dynamics in wildlife is limited. Here, we systematically assemble reports of NHP P. knowlesi and investigate geographic determinants of prevalence in reservoir species. Meta-analysis of 6322 NHPs from 148 sites reveals that prevalence is heterogeneous across Southeast Asia, with low overall prevalence and high estimates for Malaysian Borneo. We find that regions exhibiting higher prevalence in NHPs overlap with human infection hotspots. In wildlife and humans, parasite transmission is linked to land conversion and fragmentation. By assembling remote sensing data and fitting statistical models to prevalence at multiple spatial scales, we identify novel relationships between P. knowlesi in NHPs and forest fragmentation. This suggests that higher prevalence may be contingent on habitat complexity, which would begin to explain observed geographic variation in parasite burden. These findings address critical gaps in understanding regional P. knowlesi epidemiology and indicate that prevalence in simian reservoirs may be a key spatial driver of human spillover risk.

Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. For example, the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium knowlesi can be transmitted from monkeys to humans through mosquitos that have previously fed on infected monkeys. In Malaysia, progress towards eliminating malaria is being undermined by the rise of human incidences of 'monkey malaria', which has been declared a public health threat by The World Health Organisation. In humans, cases of monkey malaria are higher in areas of recent deforestation. Changes in habitat may affect how monkeys, insects and humans interact, making it easier for diseases like malaria to pass between them. Deforestation could also change the behaviour of wildlife, which could lead to an increase in infection rates. For example, reduced living space increases contact between monkeys, or it may prevent behaviours that help animals to avoid parasites. Johnson et al. wanted to investigate how the prevalence of malaria in monkeys varies across Southeast Asia to see whether an increase of Plasmodium knowlesi in primates is linked to changes in the landscape. They merged the results of 23 existing studies, including data from 148 sites and 6322 monkeys to see how environmental factors like deforestation influenced the amount of disease in different places. Many previous studies have assumed that disease prevalence is high across all macaques, monkey species that are considered pests, and in all places. But Johnson et al. found that disease rates vary widely across different regions. Overall disease rates in monkeys are lower than expected (only 12%), but in regions with less forest or more 'fragmented' forest areas, malaria rates are higher. Areas with a high disease rate in monkeys tend to further coincide with infection hotspots for humans. This suggests that deforestation may be driving malaria infection in monkeys, which could be part of the reason for increased human infection rates. Johnsons et al.'s study has provided an important step towards better understanding the link between deforestation and the levels of monkey malaria in humans living nearby. Their study provides important insights into how we might find ways of managing the landscape better to reduce health risks from wildlife infection.

Botany and geogenomics: Constraining geological hypotheses in the neotropics with large-scale genetic data derived from plants.

Decades of empirical research have revealed how the geological history of our planet shaped plant evolution by establishing well-known patterns (e.g., how mountain uplift resulted in high rates of diversification and replicate radiations in montane plant taxa). This follows a traditional approach where botanical data are interpreted in light of geological events. In this synthesis, I instead describe how by integrating natural history, phylogenetics, and population genetics, botanical research can be applied alongside geology and paleontology to inform our understanding of past geological and climatic processes. This conceptual shift aligns with the goals of the emerging field of geogenomics. In the neotropics, plant geogenomics is a powerful tool for the reciprocal exploration of two long standing questions in biology and geology: how the dynamic landscape of the region came to be and how it shaped the evolution of the richest flora. Current challenges that are specific to analytical approaches for plant geogenomics are discussed. I describe the scale at which various geological questions can be addressed from biological data and what makes some groups of plants excellent model systems for geogenomics research. Although plant geogenomics is discussed with reference to the neotropics, the recommendations given here for approaches to plant geogenomics can and should be expanded to exploring long-standing questions on how the earth evolved with the use of plant DNA.

Rural selection drives the evolution of an urban-rural cline in coat color in gray squirrels.

Phenotypic differences between urban and rural populations are well-documented, but the evolutionary processes driving trait variation along urbanization gradients are often unclear. We combined spatial data on abundance, trait variation, and measurements of fitness to understand cline structure and test for natural selection on heritable coat color morphs (melanic, gray) of eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) along an urbanization gradient. Population surveys using remote cameras and visual counts at 76 sites along the urbanization gradient revealed a significant cline in melanism, decreasing from 48% in the city center to <5% in rural woodlands. Among 76 squirrels translocated to test for phenotypic selection, survival was lower for the melanic than gray morph in rural woodlands, whereas there was no difference in survival between color morphs in the city. These results suggest the urban-rural cline in melanism is explained by natural selection favoring the gray morph in rural woodlands combined with relaxed selection in the city. Our study illustrates how trait variation between urban and rural populations can emerge from selection primarily in rural populations rather than adaptation to novel features of the urban environment.

Analysis of long-term spatio-temporal wetland change reveals the complex nature of habitat alterations - A case study from the Czech Republic 1842-2017.

Wetlands fulfil a number of functions in the landscape, especially non-productive ones. Information on landscape and biotope changes is important not only from a theoretical point of view for understanding the forces and pressures that cause changes in the landscape, but also from a practical point of view, as we can take inspiration from history when planning the landscape. The main goal of this study is to analyse the dynamics and trajectories of changes in wetlands, including testing the influence of the main natural conditions (climate, geomorphology) on their changes, for a large area of 141 cadastral territories (1315 km2), which will allow the results to be sufficiently generalized. The results of our study confirmed the global trend of rapid wetland loss, with almost three quarters of wetlands disappearing, mostly on arable land (37 %). The results of the study are of great importance in the field of the ecology of landscapes and wetlands, both in the national and international context, not only because they make it possible to understand the regularities and forces that affect changes in wetlands and landscapes, but also have significance due to the methodology. The specific methodology and procedure are based on the application of advanced GIS functions (Union and Intersect functions) to identify the location and area of individual change dynamics and types of wetland (new, extinct, continuous), using accurate old large-scale maps and aerial photographs. The proposed and tested methodological procedure can generally be used for wetlands in other locations, but also for studying the dynamics of changes and trajectories of other biotopes in the landscape. The greatest potential for using the results of this work in the field of environmental protection is the possibility of using the places of extinct wetlands for their restoration.

Climate-driven spatial and temporal patterns in peatland pool biogeochemistry.

Peatland pools are freshwater bodies that are highly dynamic aquatic ecosystems because of their small size and their development in organic-rich sediments. However, our ability to understand and predict their contribution to both local and global biogeochemical cycles under rapidly occurring environmental change is limited because the spatiotemporal drivers of their biogeochemical patterns and processes are poorly understood. We used (1) pool biogeochemical data from 20 peatlands in eastern Canada, the United Kingdom, and southern Patagonia and (2) multi-year data from an undisturbed peatland of eastern Canada, to determine how climate and terrain features drive the production, delivering and processing of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in peatland pools. Across sites, climate (24%) and terrain (13%) explained distinct portions of the variation in pool biogeochemistry, with climate driving spatial differences in pool dissolved organic C (DOC) concentration and aromaticity. Within the multi-year dataset, DOC, carbon dioxide (CO2 ), total N concentrations, and DOC aromaticity were highest in the shallowest pools and at the end of the growing seasons, and increased gradually from 2016 to 2021 in relation to a combination of increases in summer precipitation, mean air temperature for the previous fall, and number of extreme summer heat days. Given the contrasting effects of terrain and climate, broad-scale terrain characteristics may offer a baseline for the prediction of small-scale pool biogeochemistry, while broad-scale climate gradients and relatively small year-to-year variations in local climate induce a noticeable response in pool biogeochemistry. These findings emphasize the reactivity of peatland pools to both local and global environmental change and highlight their potential to act as widely distributed climate sentinels within historically relatively stable peatland ecosystems.

Faroe Islands rephotography image registration dataset.

Over 200 georeferenced registered rephotographic compilations of the Faroe Islands are provided in this dataset. The position of each compilation is georeferenced and thus locatable on a map. Each compilation consists of a historical and a corresponding contemporary image showing the same scene. With steady object features, these two images of the same geolocation are aligned pixel accurately. In the summer of 2022, all contemporary images were photographed by A. Schaffland, while historical images were retrieved from the National Museum of Denmark collections. Images show Faroese landscape and cultural heritage sites, focusing on relevant areas when the historical images were taken, e.g., Kirkjubøur, Tórshavn, and Saksun. Historic images date from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. The historical images were taken by scientists, surveyors, archaeologists, and painters. All historical images are in the public domain, have no known rights, or are shared under a CC license. The contemporary images by A. Schaffland are released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. The dataset is organized as a GIS project. Historic images, not already georeferenced, were referenced with street view services. All historical images were added to the GIS database, containing camera position, viewing direction, etc. Each compilation can be displayed as an arrow from the camera position along the view direction on a map. Contemporary images were registered to historical images using a specialized tool. None or only a suboptimal rephotograph could be taken for some historical images. These historical images are still added to the database together with all other original images, providing additional data for improvements in rephotography methods in the upcoming years. The resulting image pairs can be used in image registration, landscape change, urban development, and cultural heritage research. Further, the database can be used for public engagement in heritage and as a benchmark for further rephotography and time-series projects.

Integration of aerial surveys and resource selection analysis indicates human land use supports boreal deer expansion.

Landscape change is a driver of global biodiversity loss. In the western Nearctic, petroleum exploration and extraction is a major contributor to landscape change, with concomitant effects on large mammal populations. One of those effects is the continued expansion of invasive white-tailed deer populations into the boreal forest, with ramifications for the whole ecosystem. We explored deer resource selection within the oil sands region of the boreal forest using a novel application of aerial ungulate survey (AUS) data. Deer locations from AUS were "used" points and together with randomly allocated "available" points informed deer resource selection in relation to landscape variables in the boreal forest. We created a candidate set of generalized linear models representing competing hypotheses about the role of natural landscape features, forest harvesting, cultivation, roads, and petroleum features. We ranked these in an information-theoretic framework. A combination of natural and anthropogenic landscape features best explained deer resource selection. Deer strongly selected seismic lines and other linear features associated with petroleum exploration and extraction, likely as movement corridors and resource subsidies. Forest harvesting and cultivation, important contributors to expansion in other parts of the white-tailed deer range, were not as important here. Stemming deer expansion to conserve native ungulates and maintain key predator-prey processes will likely require landscape management to restore the widespread linear features crossing the vast oil sands region.

Spatiotemporal distributions of mammals occurring in an agro-prairie ecosystem.

Anthropogenic activities since the European colonization of the North American Great Plains have drastically altered landscape composition and configuration, subsequently affecting native biodiversity. These contemporary human-modified landscapes may affect mammal species' distributions, diel activity patterns, habitat use, and interspecific interactions, though a better understanding of these effects on mammals occurring in remaining prairie landscapes is needed. To fill this gap, we surveyed 381 randomly selected sites in 2018, 2019, and 2020 using motion-sensing camera traps across the western part of the US state of Kansas (7,160,077 ha). Sites were separated by ≥2 km ( x ¯ $$ \overline{x} $$ = 8.16 km, SD = 3.61), and cameras were secured to a metal post 40 cm above ground and randomly oriented toward the north or south. We placed an olfactory attractant (mixture of skunk essence and petroleum jelly) on a wooden stake 3 m in front of each camera. Cameras were in place at each site for 28 consecutive days for each year. We manually identified all mammal species detected at each site, collating these data into a database that included taxonomic information for 14 families of mammals (Antilocapridae, Bovidae, Canidae, Cervidae, Cricetidae, Dasypodidae, Didelphidae, Erethizontidae, Felidae, Heteromyidae, Leporidae, Mephitidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Sciuridae, and Muridae) comprising 28 total species. We recorded 31,178 mammal photographs (nonindependent events) over 27,954 camera trap nights during 2018 (n = 10,351), 2019 (n = 9478), and 2020 (n = 8125). Additionally, we included the time and date of each photocapture. Moreover, we gathered survey-specific data useful for modeling species-specific detection along with site-level habitat composition data taken at each site each year. These data will be useful for examining habitat use, species distributions, diel activity patterns, and spatiotemporal interactions between species and across guilds of mammals occurring in a rapidly changing agro-prairie ecosystem. There are no copyright restrictions, but we ask researchers to cite this paper when using these data for publication.

Landscape change trends and their impacts on coastal tourism resources in the future: a case study from pak Phanang, Thailand.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of landscape change on natural tourism resources in coastal areas of Pak Phanang and to estimate future landscape changes. Data on tourism resources, land covers and coastline modification were collected on a random basis and combined with in-depth interviews of key informants. Data analysis seeking to demonstrate future coastline modification and projections interpreted satellite imagery using the hybrid approach to generate periodic coastal maps and the Dinamica EGO program to analyze future change rates of the coastline and landscape change. The results found that during 2021-2036, the areas of rice/vegetable farms, mudflats, beaches,and beach forests are likely to increase. The impacts on tourism resources can be negative or positive. The negative impacts arising from such changes include the decrease in the number of beaches in the southeast area and the increase in mudflats in Pak Phanang. The positive impacts include the beaches and beach forests in the northeast area increasing. These results can equip governments, communities and tourists with knowledge on the changes in landscape and tourism areas to prepare and adjust for such changes in the future.

Solar UV Measured under Built-Shade in Public Parks: Findings from a Randomized Trial in Denver and Melbourne.

Reducing exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV) is crucial for preventing UV-induced diseases of the skin and eyes. Shade may offer significant protection from UV. More empirical research to quantify the UV protection offered from built shade is needed to guide disease prevention practices and confidence in investment in shade. This study quantified UV levels under built-shade relative to unshaded passive recreation areas (PRAs) over summer months in parks in two cities. In a randomized controlled trial, n = 1144 UV measurements were conducted at the center and periphery of PRAs in a total sample of 144 public parks as part of pretest and posttest measures of use of the PRAs by park visitors for three recruitment waves per city during 2010 to 2014. Following pretest, 36 PRAs received built-shade and 108 did not. Regression analyses modelled pre-post change in UV (Standard Erythemal Dose (SED) per 30 min) at PRAs; and environmental predictors. Mean UV at the center of built-shade PRAs decreased from pretest to posttest (x¯ = 3.39, x¯ = 0.93 SED), a change of x¯ = -3.47 SED relative to control PRAs (p < 0.001) adjusting for the covariates of ambient SED, (cosine) solar elevation and cloud cover. Clouds decreased and solar elevation increased UV levels under shade. No significant differences in UV by shade design occurred. A substantial reduction in exposure to UV can be achieved using built-shade with shade cloth designs, offering considerable protection for shade users. Supplementary sun protection is recommended for extended periods of shade use during clear sky days.

Identification and Assessment of the Driving Forces behind Changes in the Foothill Landscape: Case Studies of the Myslakowice and Jelenia Góra Communities in Poland.

The main objective of this study was to determine the driving forces behind landscape change and the perceptions of change by the residents of selected research areas. The communities used for the study were Myslakowice and Jelenia Góra, located in the Lower Silesia region in Poland. Myslakowice is a rural community, and Jelenia Góra is an urban community. The landscape of both municipalities is dominated by forest-covered mountains surrounding dispersed built-up and agricultural areas. The time range of the analysis was 2005-2020, covering the period after Poland's accession to the European Union, and was divided into the following three time periods: 2005-2010, 2010-2015, and 2015-2020. The research methodology consisted of the following three stages: (1) the identification of landscape changes on the basis of land cover data and the calculation of the landscape change index (LCI), (2) the characterization and classification of the identified landscape changes, and (3) the identification of the driving forces of landscape changes through surveys with the residents of both municipalities. The results obtained based on the surveys were often consistent with the results from the GIS analysis. The respondents were able to identify the most important changes and proposed the driving forces affecting them. According to the residents of Myslakowice and Jelenia Góra, the changes in the landscape between 2005 and 2020 were primarily the result of political and socio-economic driving forces, accompanied by forces from other groups. However, each time period was distinctive. The analysis showed which types of changes in the landscape were viewed positively and negatively by the people during the analyzed periods of time, and what the influence of the different driving forces was on the formation of changes in the landscape.

Making sense of breaks in landscape change.

Context: The paper studies the possibilities of how the cultural explosion theory and path dependence approach could be used for exploring landscape (change). The former is an approach (not theory) used in humanities and social sciences to study the processes that happen when culture changes rapidly-how new cultural processes are created and how the past ones are integrated or forgotten. The latter is an approach developed also in social sciences, mostly economy, to study how the current decisions are dependent on the past decisions. Objectives: To demonstrate the possibilities the two theoretical approaches might offer. Methods: We discuss the ways landscape change could be analysed using, first, cultural explosion theory and, second path dependence approach, and demonstrate this on the example of the post-Soviet military areas. Results: Both approaches are indeed useful in understanding landscape change. The demo case on military landscapes allows for distinguishing three different development paths for the future of the areas: set-aside, active use, and neglect. Similarly three different ways of relating with the past are found: ignorance and oblivion; acknowledging the past; and making use of the past. Conclusions: Landscapes have time boundaries and these two analytical tools in fact help us to navigate through these boundaries, understand better the trajectories of change and the importance (or the lack of it) of the past.

Land Cover Change Associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas Development in the Appalachian Region.

Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) wells from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays have expanded greatly across the Appalachian region of the United States (US) since the early 2000s. This region is now the single largest natural gas producing area of the US. The local and regional impacts of this industry on the landscape make it critical to understand for future planning efforts. This study investigated land cover change associated with over 21,000 unconventional wells representing 4,240 well pads permitted from 2007 to 2017 in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The goal was to characterize UOG disturbance to document development patterns and extents in the region. Supervised classification was used to map land use and land-cover changes within a 25-ha buffer of well pads identified in the region. On average, disturbance related to unconventional development impacted 6.2 ha in Pennsylvania, 4.7 ha in Ohio and 4.4 ha in West Virginia and 5.6 ha over the region. Forest and grassland were found to be the most impacted cover types, with increases in impervious surface areas being a significant contributor to land-use classification change. These conversions can contribute to increased forest fragmentation and edge, which can in turn adversely impact biodiversity indicators at the regional level. Additionally, increases in impervious surface in small headwater watersheds can lead to increased sediment and runoff loads in receiving streams. Local and regional land use planning should be implemented during the well pad permit review process to help minimize environmental impacts over larger geographic scales.

Assessing the Effects of Landscape Change on the Occupancy Dynamics of the Greater White-Toothed Shrew Crocidura russula.

Land-use change is the main driver of biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean basin. New socio-economic conditions produced a rewilding process so that cultural landscapes are being invaded by more natural habitats. We analyze the effects of landscape change on the demography and the spatial distribution of Crocidura russula in six protected areas of the western Mediterranean basin. The study was conducted in the period 2008-2020 on 19 live trapping plots representing the three main natural habitats of the area (scrubland, pinewood, and holm oak woodland). We used a multiscale approach to ensure that the scale of response matched landscape structure (from plot to landscape) using either vegetation profiles (LiDAR) and land use data obtained from years 2007 and 2017. Statistical models (multiple-season single-species occupancy models) showed that C. russula populations were strongly associated to habitat features at the plot level. These models were used to predict occupancy at sampling units for the whole study area (850 km2), showing contrasting trends that shifted at relatively small spatial scales (expansions and retractions of species ranges). Parks showing extreme scrubland encroachment (-8% of area) and afforestation (+6%) significantly reduced habitat suitability for shrews and reductions in occupancy (-5%). Results would indicate faster changes in the spatial distribution of the target species than previously expected on the basis of climate change, driven by fast landscape changes.

Effects of habitat gradient and agro-climatic variation on selected soil physical and chemical properties in the Bale Mountains national park, south-eastern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that anthropogenic effects are responsible for drastic changes in landscape patterns and ecosystem services. This study aims to assess the effects of landscape change and agro-climatic variation on selected soil physical and chemical properties in the Bale Mountains national park. A combination of stratified and systematic sampling techniques was employed to draw representative soil samples. A total of 72 soil samples (3 agro-climatic zones × 3 land cover types × 2 habitat gradients × 4 replications = 72) at a depth of 0-20 cm were collected for the soil physical and chemical property analysis. A two-way analysis of variance was conducted to determine the level of variation in soil parameters. Tukey's honest significance difference (HSD) test was used to compare treatment means at a 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The results suggest that soil parameters differed significantly (p < 0.05) among agro-climatic zones, land cover, and habitat gradients. The soil pH, SOC, TN, AP, CEC and clay content were significantly higher in the lower altitude, natural vegetation and interior habitat, whereas the soil sand and silt content as well as the soil bulk density were significantly higher in the farmland and edge habitat. CONCLUSIONS: Conservation and restoration priority should be given to those vegetation types and ecosystems that are highly affected by human interferences such as the grassland in the middle altitude, ericaceous land in the higher altitude, and moist forest in the lower altitudes.

Crumbotti and rose petals in a ghost mountain valley: foraging, landscape, and their transformations in the upper Borbera Valley, NW Italy.

BACKGROUND: The abandonment of mountain areas in Europe is a process that started during industrialisation and whose traces are still present nowadays. Initiatives aimed at stopping this decline and preserving the local biological and cultural diversities reflect the crucial issue of fostering sustainable rural development. This article contributes to the ongoing debate in assessing and preserving local ecological knowledge (LEK) in a highly marginalised mountain community in the Piedmontese Apennines to support local development. In so doing, it continues a larger project assessing how local botanical knowledge and landscapes evolve over time, in order to understand in more depth which factors affect how LEK is shaped, eroded, and re-created, and how this could be revitalised. METHODS: We compared information about the current gathering and use of local wild plants in the upper Borbera Valley (Carrega Ligure municipality, NW Italy), elicited via 34 in-depth open and semi-structured interviews, with the findings of a field study conducted in the same location, most likely carried out at the end of the 1970s and published in 1981. RESULTS: There were remarkable quantitative and qualitative differences between the two ethnobotanies. The gathering and use of some wild medicinal plants growing in meadows, woodlands, and higher mountain environments (Achillea, Centaurea, Dianthus, Ostrya, Picea, Polygonum, Potentilla, and Thymus) seems to have disappeared, whereas the collection of plants growing in more anthropogenic environments, or possibly promoted via contacts with the "reference" city of Genoa (the largest city close to Carrega and historically the economic and cultural centre to which the valley was mostly connected), has been introduced (i.e. ramsons, safflower, bitter oranges, black trumpets) or reinvigorated (rose petals). This trend corresponds to the remarkable changes in the local landscape ecology and agro-silvo-pastoral system that took place from the first half of the twentieth century, dramatically increasing woodland and secondary vegetation, and decreasing coppices, plantations, grasslands and segregating cultivated land. CONCLUSION: The findings show a very difficult rearrangement of the LEK, as most of the areas the local actors still know are within their villages, and they no longer have daily experience in the rest of the abandoned woodland landscape (except for mushrooming and gathering chestnuts). This situation can be interpreted in two ways: as the start of the complete abandonment of the valley, or as a starting residual resilience lynchpin, which could possibly inspire new residents if the larger political-economic framework would promote measures for making the survival of the mountain settlements of this municipality possible, and not just a chimera.

Modelling regional ecological security pattern and restoration priorities after long-term intensive open-pit coal mining.

Long-term intensive open-pit mining can have huge impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide, affecting the integrity of ecosystem structures, functions and process and thus the "ecological security" of a whole mining region. The indirect and direct impacts of mining are spatially and temporally complex and therefore ecological security patterns need to be considered. However, to date there has been little research focusing on ecological security patterns in mining regions. This study aims to model and map ecological security and restoration priorities in an intensive open-cut coal mining region accounting for spatio-temporal changes of multiple ecosystem services. Four ecosystem services including habitat quality, carbon sequestration, water yield, and sediment retention were assessed and mapped in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Next ecological security patterns and restoration priorities were modelled and characterized using the Self-Organizing Feature Map to identify ecological sources, and circuit theory in Linkage Mapper to characterize connectivity and flows. The results showed that habitat quality, carbon sequestration, and water yield services were most affected by vegetation cover changes due to mining exploitation, while sediment retention was influenced by multiple natural factors, especially topography. Ecological sources, corridors, pinch-points and barriers showed various changing trends due to mined and built-up land expansion over time. Ecological source area declined from 1355.08km2 in 2000 to 584.92 km2 in 2020, while the number of corridors increased from 17 in 2000 to 25 in 2010 and then decreased to 21 in 2020. Although restoration has been conducted on some mine sites, regional-scale restoration needs greater consideration. This study provides decision-makers and stakeholders with a method for assessing regional-scale ecological security and restoration in a holistic and systematic way moving beyond a single mine, which is critical for balancing ecological security protection with minerals production in intensive mining regions.