We assessed forest users’ willingness to pay (WTP) for regulating and cultural services based on their socio-economic status (rich vs. poor), proximity forests (nearby distant), management modalities (community forestry collaborative management). As expected, a huge variation was found in WTP among these sub-groups. The wealthier households (HH) preferred ‘cash’ whereas poor HHs ‘labour’ as pay...

This paper presents a semi-clinical interview-based empirical study for identifying effective scaffolds to support inquiry learning in a Multi-Agent based simulation of a desert ecosystem. Our preliminary results based on Sherin et al.‟s ∆-shift framework show that all five categories of identified scaffolds contributed to students‟ conceptual shifts and overall learning gains. This paper lays ...

We propose the ecosystem of self-replicating loops on CA by designing new rules for interactions between replicators. Here, the replicators interact with each other by forming a competition relationship (a hypercycle-like network). The spiral structure emerges in this model with in 5 species. This spiral pattern produces larger loops in the bounaries of species. Comparing with a single species ...

Without sustainable rehabilitation measures, the Lobau, a freshwater Biosphere Reserve, will soon became a primarily terrestrial ecosystem with major implications for its rich aquatic and amphibic biodiversity. An innovative ecosystem management scheme for this Danube floodplain needs to optimally balance between conservation and restoration objectives and to harmonize the partly competing ecol...

Grass Hills ecosystem lies in Anaimalais. The western ghats possesses rich biodiversity, The annual summer fire, an integral part of this ecosystem, promotes the ecological status of certain perennial grasses including the dominant grass. Chrysopogon zeylanicus Thw. On the other hand, some medicinal plants Viz., Impatiens tomentosa Heyne, Drosera peltata Sm Osbeckia parviflora Arn., Emilia sonc...

Human induced ecosystem alterations and climate change are expected to drive several species to extinction. In this context, the attention of public opinion, and hence conservationists' efforts, are often targeted towards species having emotional, recreational and/or economical value. This tendency may result in a high number of extinctions happening unnoticed. Among these, many could involve p...

Large terrestrial carnivores are important ecological components and 11 prominent flagship species, but are often extinction prone due to a combination of 12 biological traits and high levels of human persecution. This study combines 13 phylogenetic and functional diversity evaluations of global and continental large 14 carnivore assemblages to provide a framework for conservation prioritizatio...

Trade of ornamental aquatic species is a multi-billion dollar industry responsible for the introduction of myriad fishes into novel ecosystems. Although aquarium invaders have the potential to alter ecosystem function, regulation of the trade is minimal and little is known about the ecosystem-level consequences of invasion for all but a small number of aquarium species. Here, we demonstrate how...