A survey was conducted from March to September 2012 along the altitudinal gradient of the Jomokungkhar trail in the Merak Himalaya of Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary to study the floristic compositions and the patterns of alpine vegetation of Eastern Bhutan. The vegetation of the sampled plots is classified into five types of communities based on the hierarchical cluster analysis at similarity index...

In this paper, we discuss some key aspects for the maintenance of biological diversity in grassland–forest mosaics in southern Brazil (Campos Sulinos) not explored yet. Campos Sulinos are grasslands distributed throughout the Pampa and the Atlantic Forest biomes. Since these grasslands remain from past dryer and colder climatic conditions, they are acknowledged as native rather than anthropogen...

the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) derived from the spot 4 satellite has been widely used to monitor moisture-related vegetation condition. the relationship between vegetation and climate index, however, is complex and has not been adequately studied with satellite sensor data. to better understand this relationship, an analysis was conducted on time series of monthly ndvi (1999–...

Raising safety levees and reinforcing dykes is not a sufficient and sustainable solution to the intense winter and summer floods occurring with increasing frequency in Eastern Europe. An alternative, creating permanently flooded floodplain wetlands, requires improved understanding of ecological consequences. A 9 month mesocosm study (starting in January), under natural light and temperature con...

Soils vary widely in mineral nutrient availability and physical characteristics, but the influence of this variability on plant responses to elevated CO2 remains poorly understood. As a first approximation of the effect of global soil variability on plant growth response to CO2, we evaluated the effect of CO2 on tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) grown in soils representing 10 of the 12 global s...

Despite limitations of low fertility and high acidity of the soils, the cerrado flora is the richest amongst savannas. Many cerrado woody species show sclerophyllous leaves, which might be related to the availability of water and nutrients in the soil. To better understand the function and structure of cerrado vegetation within its own variations, we compared two cerrado communities: one in its...

The effects of forest management on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are important to understand not only because these are often master variables determining soil fertility but also because of the role of soils as a source or sink for C on a global scale. This paper reviews the literature on forest management effects on soil C and N and reports the results of a meta analysis of these data. The...

Madagascar. located 375 km off the coast of Mozambique, is considered to be the 4,h biggest island in the world. Due to its particular evolutionary history, the island boasts a rich biodiversity characterised by a high degree of endemicity. Mittermeier et al. (1999) declared Madagascar to be a hotspot of biodiversity that should be protected at any cost. He thereby draws attention to the manifo...

For studying vegetation cover in Choghakhor wetland located in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari province (W Iran), some zones of vegetation life forms were determined and also digitized in order to produce the primary map of plant cover by using LISS-IV sensor of IRS satellite with the spatial resolution of 5.8 m. As aquatic plants in Choghakhor wetland were fully grown, homogeneity or heterogeneity of ...