In order to describe grasshopper (Orthoptera: Acrididae) species composition, diversity, abundance, and density of four rangelands types, we compared the grasshopper community composition and dynamics in the rangeland of the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains. In total, 55 grasshopper species were collected from 2007 to 2009, representing three families and six subfamilies. The subfamily O...

The olive grove agroecosystem (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae) is very important in terms of economy and culture throughout the Mediterranean region. In Trás-os-Montes (Portugal), groves are commonly surrounded by semi-natural areas consisting shrublands. Understanding role potential predators pests crucial to enhancing biological control sustainable agriculture. This study aimed investigate commun...

Chaparral and coastal sage scrub communities have a disproportionately high number of rare and endangered plants and thus are of particular conservation concern. Unnaturally high fire frequency has been a leading cause of degradation of chaparral and coastal sage scrub ecosystems. Although these shrublands are fire-adapted, below a certain threshold of fire frequency, resilience is inversely re...

In general, the socioeconomic analysis of natural systems does not enter into the realms of natural science. This paper, however, estimates the human-welfare effects of possible physicochemical and biological impacts of climate change on Mediterranean shrublands over the coming 50 years. The contingent choice method was applied to elicit the trade-offs in perceived values for three climate-sens...

An experimental burning program was set up in South Australia aimed at characterizing fuel dynamics and fire behaviour in mallee-heath woodlands. Fuel complexes in the experimental area comprised mallee and heath vegetation with ages (time since fire) ranging from 7 to 50 years old. Dominant overstorey mallee vegetation comprised Eucalyptus calycogona, E. diversifolia, E. incrassate and E. lept...

Fire disturbance is a primary agent of change in the mediterranean-climate chaparral shrublands of southern California, USA. However, fire frequency has been steadily increasing in coastal regions due to ignitions at the growing wildland-urban interface. Although chaparral is resilient to a range of fire frequencies, successively short intervals between fires can threaten the persistence of som...

ABSTRACT Most previous studies of extreme temperatures have primarily focused on atmospheric temperatures. Using 18 years the latest version Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) data, we globally investigate spatial patterns hot and cold extremes as well diurnal range (DTR). We show that world’s highest LST 80.8°C, observed in Lut Desert Iran Sono...

Characterizing time intervals between successive fires in the recent history is of main interest for fire hazard prevention and sustainable environmental management as it indicates what the typical fire return interval for each type of ecosystem is. We tested the extent to which fire return intervals (FRIs) depend on fuel type and age, and we compared FRI values between two fire-prone areas of ...

Chaparral shrublands burn in large high-intensity crown fires. Managers interested in how these wildfires affect ecosystem processes generally rely on surrogate measures of fire intensity known as fire severity metrics. In shrublands burned in the autumn of 2003, a study of 250 sites investigated factors determining fire severity and ecosystem responses. Using structural equation modeling we sh...