A study was carried out at the treeline ecotone (3,730m-3,950m asl) of Langtang National Park in central Nepal with an aim to document the impact of climatic warming on ecological chracteristics. Three sampling sites were selected at Chaurikharka and Lauribina, where no serious anthropogenic pressure was noticed. The nearest meteorological station has records of climatic warming in recent years...

—Selective herbivory by animals can have significant effects on the succession of a plant community. Damage resulting from major insect outbreaks has been shown to alter species dominance and competitive balance of woody plants in temperate North America. In this study we examine the effects over three seasons of a visually striking herbivory event: periodical cicada (Magicicada cassini) ovipos...

Ecotones represent locations where vegetation change is likely to occur as a result of climate and other environmental changes. Using a model of an ecotone vulnerable to such future changes, we estimated the resilience of the ecotone to disturbances. The specific ecotone is that between two different vegetation types, salinity-tolerant and salinity-intolerant, along a gradient in groundwater sa...

iran has mountainous landscapes and half of its surface is occupied by highlands. moreover, iran is an arid country and deserts are located at lower altitudes. most metropolitan areas are positioned in mid-altitudes between mountain and desert. cities grow upwardly toward the highlands under pressures of urbanization and desertification. foothill ecotones are a zone between upland mountains and...

quantifying spatial structure is one of the most important components, describing natural ecosystems and their biodiversity. in this study, a set of indices and functions related to spatial structure using 102 established plots with an area of 1000 m2 were presented. to achieve spatial structure of carpinus-fagus type, a set of indices (clark & evans, uniform angle, shannon-wiener, mingling and...