As tropical forests are cleared, a greater proportion of migratory songbirds are forced to winter in agricultural and disturbed habitats, which, if poorer in quality than natural forests, could contribute to population declines. We compared demographic indicators of habitat quality for a focal species, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), wintering in Jamaican citrus orchards and shade ...

Recent developments in gas-to-liquid conversion industry lead to reduction in initial investment, and it is expected by growth in demand for refined products in countries and the need to import these products in the countries. Implementing such projects can prevent currency outflow. In this article an integrated structure is developed for producing liquid fuels from natural gas through Fischer-...

The increasing human impact on the earth's biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood-associated species. This is especially alarmi...

Urbanization is one of the major causes destruction natural habitats in world. Cities are urban heat islands and can thus significantly influence populations plants animals. The research project SPEEDY investigated effects urbanization northern Belgium with a nested sampling design at local landscape scales for variety organisms. Here, we tested on non-marine ostracod communities, 81 small pool...

What does a horticulturist or landscape architect strive to attain when choosing plants for a naturalistic animal exhibit in any major zoo? Should visitors come upon bananas and tropical figs complementing an exhibit featuring giraffes or zebras that naturally roam the hot, arid Serengeti? Let’s hope not. Likewise, they should not be confronted by trees that resemble the acacias of arid Kenya a...

Marine pollution has been a hot issue since 1990s around the world. Chua discussed marine pollution prevention and management in the East Asian Seas, concentrating on pollution caused by land and sea based sources [2]. The land based sources included destruction of coastal habitats, urban effluents discharge and coastal sand mining has resulted in serious coastline erosion. Sea based sources in...

NATO’s strategic transformation will have an important impact on the Alliance’s approach to the Mediterranean and on the future of its Mediterranean Initiative. During the Cold War, NATO’s strategy, doctrine, and military capabilities were oriented toward deterring a military threat from the Soviet Union. Today, the threats and challenges are more diverse—and more indirect. They range from ethn...

Keywords: Linepithema humile Urban–rural gradient Biological invasions Urban ecology Biodiversity a b s t r a c t Urban habitats are undergoing a faunal and floral homogenization process worldwide. We investigated how such homogenization influences ant communities. We monitored ant species richness and abundance in natural, semi-natural, urban, and agricultural habitats for one year, along an u...