The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is one of the most threatened steppe bird species in Europe, due mainly to agricultural intensification. Despite the relative importance of the Iberian population (approximately 50% of the global population) little is known about its dynamics and trends, especially in core distribution areas. This study evaluates the influences of meteorological factors and land management on the oscillations and medium-term trends of two Little Bustard populations in Central Spain.

AIM: Deforestation and climate change are two of the most serious threats to tropical birds. Here, we combine fine‐scale climatic and dynamic land cover models to forecast species vulnerability in rain forest habitats. LOCATION: Sulawesi, Indonesia. METHODS: We sampled bird communities on four mountains across three seasons in Lore Lindu National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia (a globally important hotspot of avian endemism), to characterize relationships between elevation and abundance. Deforestation from 2000 to 2010 was quantified, and predictors of deforestation were identified.

The Okavango catchment in southern Africa is subject to environmental as well as socio‐economic transformation processes such as population growth and climate change. The degradation of soil and vegetation by deforestation and overgrazing is one of the downsides of this development, reducing the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem functions and services. In this study, climate simulations are brought together with secondary socioeconomic, pedologic and remote‐sensing data in a GIS‐based assessment of the factors commonly associated with land degradation risk.

Climate change mitigation mechanisms related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) may provide significant opportunities for re-arranging political networks and overcome forest governance problems, of which land tenure is the main constraint for REDD and reforestation projects in the Amazon. We present a case study of a pilot REDD project associated with reforestation and payment for environmental services in Apuí, southern Amazonas.

In Cameroon and elsewhere in the Congo Basin, the majority of rural households and a large proportion of urban households depend on plant and animal products from the forests to meet their nutritional, energy, cultural and medicinal needs. This paper explores the likely impacts of climate-induced changes on the provisioning of forest ecosystem goods and services and its effect on the economic and social well-being of the society, including the national economy and the livelihoods of forest-dependent people.

A GIS-based Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is used to assess the impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime of the Cauvery river basin. First, the impact of changes in land-management practices on water availability under present conditions is modelled. Then, the same analysis is carried out under the future climatic scenarios. Finally, annual and monthly precipitation variability is compared under present, as well as future, climate-change scenarios.

Land degradation is a global issue on par with climate change and loss of biodiversity, but its extent and severity are only roughly known and there is little detail on the immediate processes – let alone the drivers. Earth-observation methods enable monitoring of land degradation in a consistent, physical way and on a global scale by making use of vegetation productivity and/or loss as proxies. Most recent studies indicate a general greening trend, but improved data sets and analysis also show a combination of greening and browning trends.

The productivity of arid environments and the reproductive success of vertebrates in these systems, are typically thought to be primarily influenced by rainfall patterns. Data from our 15 year study at an Australian arid zone site reveals asynchronous demographic responses to rainfall and other climatic variables among different lizard species.

This paper examines and predicts the effects of climate change and climate extremeson China’s land use conversion and soil carbon sequestration under two alternativeclimate change scenarios. It intends to investigate the following three questions. 1)How did climate factors affect land-use conversion in China from 1988 to 2000 andwhat was the relative importance of these factors? 2) How would the predicted futureclimate change pattern affect land-use choice under alternative climate changescenarios?

Ecosystems around the world are already threatened by land‐use and land‐cover change, extraction of natural resources, biological disturbances, and pollution. These environmental stressors have been the primary source of ecosystem degradation to date, and climate change is now exacerbating some of their effects. Ecosystems already under stress are likely to have more rapid and acute reactions to climate change; it is therefore useful to understand how multiple stresses will interact, especially as the magnitude of climate change increases.

In this study, a new framework was developed for the estimation of groundwater recharge based on a hybrid method. In this regard, the homogeneous recharge zones were determined by the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The recharge rates in these zones were calculated using the Thornthwaite and Mather’s method. These zones and their recharge rates were entered into the MODFLOW model. Next, the modeling processes, modification of recharge, and calibration of empirical models were interactively continued in the MODFLOW.

Feedbacks between climate warming and fire have the potential to alter Arctic and sub-Arctic vegetation. In this paper we assess the effects and interactions of temperature and wildfire on plant communities across the transition between the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Mackenzie Delta region, Northwest Territories, Canada. We sampled air temperatures, green alder (Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa) cover, growth, reproduction and age distributions, and overall plant community composition on burned and unburned sites across a latitudinal gradient.