This article summarizes the primary outcomes of an interdisciplinary workshop in 2010, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, focused on developing key questions and integrative themes for advancing the science of human-landscape systems. The workshop was a response to a grand challenge identified recently by the U.S. National Research Council (2010a)--"How will Earth's surface evol...

Soft bottom macrobenthic communities were studied seasonally in three coastal ponds (Marinello ponds, Italy) at increasing distances from a gull (Larus michahellis) colony to investigate the effect of seabird-induced eutrophication (i.e. guanotrophication) on macrobenthic fauna. We hypothesized that enhanced nutrient concentration and organic load caused by guano input significantly alter the t...

Modern river ecosystems undergo constant stress from disturbances such as bank stabilization, channelization, dams, and municipal, agricultural, and industrial water use. As these anthropogenic water requirements persist, more efficient methods of characterizing river reaches are essential. Benthic macroinvertebrates are helpful when evaluating fluvial health, because they are often the first g...

the proposal of geomorphologic matters in relation to tourism is one of interdisciplinary research approaches that has been considered in recent years. in this manner, geomorphological sites are defined as geomorphological landforms and processes that have acquired a scenic/aesthetic, scientific, cultural/historical and/or a social/economic value due to human perception of geological, geomorpho...

This article addresses the problem of how to distinguish between natural and humanly modified features of the cultural landscape with reference to clitter (boulder and stone) masses in the south-west of England using the example of Leskernick hill, Bodmin Moor with its well-preserved Bronze Age settlement. We first set out a series of criteria for distinguishing between natural and humanly plac...

Storage routing models are becoming more widely accepted for flood hydrograph synthesis. The network models represent a considerable advance in this direction even though these models are based on many assumptions and empirical relationships. Watershed Bounded Network Model (WBNM) is one such model. This model maintains a good relationship between the hydrological and geomorphological propertie...

Along southwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Spermonde Archipelago comprises some 120 islands of variable size and degree of anthropogenic modification. Comparable to adjacent areas in Southeast Asia, the Spermonde Archipelago is characterized by the congregation of a naturally high marine biodiversity and, at the same time, a high population density influencing the surrounding environmental con...

Reconstruction of glacier equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) associated with advance stages of former ice masses is widely used as a tool for palaeoclimatic studies. This requires an accurate reconstruction of palaeo-glacier surface hypsometry, based on geomorphological evidence. Classically, the approach used to define ice-surface elevations follows the ‘cartographic method’, whereby contours a...

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) system on board the Terra (EOS AM-1) satellite has been a source of stereoscopic images covering the whole globe at 15-m resolution with consistent quality for over 16 years. The potential of these data in terms of geomorphological analysis and change detection in three dimensions is unrivaled and should be exploited mor...