We evaluate the return on investment (ROI) from public land conservation in the state of Minnesota, USA. We use a spatially-explicit modeling tool, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), to estimate how changes in land use and land cover (LULC), including public land acquisitions for conservation, influence the joint provision and value of multiple ecosystem serv...

Predicting land use change is an indispensable aspect in identifying the best development and management of land resources and their potential. This study used certified land-use maps of 1997, 2006, and 2015 combined with ancillary data such as road networks, water bodies and slopes, obtained from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Surveying and Mapping in Malaysia, respectivel...

The Passage mechanism introduced in this paper provides an easy and intuitive way to transport various types of digital objects by using also normal physical objects without any special identification tags. The current implementation of the Passage mechanism utilizes electronic scales and contact-free identification devices and thus allows for identification of arbitrary physical objects as wel...

Soil quality has been significantly degraded in the Loess Plateau of China by soil erosion. Our objectives were to (i) identify regional-scale soil quality factors (groupings), (ii) select soil attributes within these factors that can be used as indicators of soil quality, and (iii) determine the impact of land use on these soil quality factors and indicators for the Loess Plateau in China. Soi...

Land use (and land management) change is seen as the primary factor responsible for changes in sediment and nutrient delivery to water bodies. Understanding how sediment and nutrient (or constituent) concentrations vary with land use is critical to understanding the current and future impact of land use change on aquatic ecosystems. Access to appropriate land-use based water quality data is als...

Land application of biosolids has proven a cost-effective method of waste disposal by beneficially recycling organic matter and nutrients and improving soil quality; however, it may also pose potential threat to the environment and human health. The purpose of this paper is to provide information on recent research progresses and regulation efforts regarding land application of biosolids, inclu...

This study investigates how property taxes a¤ect development timing. A theoretical framework motivates an empirical model that explores how land use change decisions are made over time. A survival model using plot level data is estimated to show how di¤erent factors in‡uence the timing of development of individual parcels. The results suggest that higher taxes slow development, as expected. Wit...

The aim of this study was to develop a storm water quality improvement strategy plan (WQISP) which assists managers and decision makers of local city councils in enhancing their activities to improve regional water quality. City of Gosnells in Western Australia has been considered as a case study. The procedure on developing the WQISP consists of reviewing existing water quality data, identifyi...