Urban parks are important settings for physical activity, but few natural experiments have investigated the influences of park modifications on activity patterns and visitor profiles.We assessed the impact of implementing a municipal policy on off-leash dogs in city parks in Calgary (Alberta, Canada). Systematic observation undertaken in 2011 and 2012 within four parks captured patterns of use,...

Community-based physical activity (PA) programs in Latin America have been recognized because of the use of available environmental resources to offer PA classes. Yet, the evaluation of programs focused on PA classes involving dancing in public spaces is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the physical activity levels, park use, and the contextual characteristics of public parks with a...

Riparian buffers are of major concern for land and water resource managers despite their relatively low spatial coverage. In Europe, this concern has been acknowledged by different environmental directives which recommend multi-scale monitoring (from local to regional scales). Remote sensing methods could be a cost-effective alternative to field-based monitoring, to build replicable "wall-to-wa...

Tropical forests around the world have been lost, mainly because of agricultural activities. Linear elements like riparian vegetation in fragmented tropical landscapes help maintain the native flora and fauna. Information about the role of riparian corridors as a reservoir of bat species, however, is scanty. We assessed the value of riparian corridors on the conservation of phyllostomid bat ass...

To recognize the dynamic of vegetation in eastern Iran as well as to ascertain interactions of human societies with theirenvironment, the present study is carried out on charcoal samples collected from Shahr-i Sokhta dated back to the Bronze Age.This research will present two different vegetal formations used by the inhabitants of Shahr-i Sokhta: riparian formationwith species such as tamarisk ...

Anthropogenic noise is debatably one of the most common threats to national parks' resources. Park visitors and workers generally suffer from adverse effects of noise from on- and off-road vehicles. The parks, studied here, are located in strictly urban areas, surrounded by streets with intense vehicle traffic. This study assesses the soundscape of urban parks in two cities of Odisha State, on ...

Anthropogenic noise is debatably one of the most common threats to national parks' resources. Park visitors and workers generally suffer from adverse effects of noise from on- and off-road vehicles. The parks, studied here, are located in strictly urban areas, surrounded by streets with intense vehicle traffic. This study assesses the soundscape of urban parks in two cities of Odisha State, on ...

Moderation of stream temperatures by riparian shading and groundwater are known to promote growth and survival of salmonid fishes, but effects of riparian shade and groundwater on to be growth of warmwater stream fishes are poorly understood or assumed to be negligible. We used stream temperature models to relate shading from riparian vegetation and groundwater inflow to summer water temperatur...

Agricultural expansion and intensification are major threats to global biodiversity, ecological functions, and ecosystem services. The rapid expansion of oil palm in forested tropical landscapes is of particular concern given their high biodiversity. Identifying management approaches that maintain native species and associated ecological processes within oil palm plantations is therefore a prio...

1. Natural and man-made barriers have a significant impact on the population structure and genetic diversity of aquatic species. Little is known whether terrestrial, riparian species are affected in the same way by barriers. 2. Here, we analysed the genetic structure of a threatened riparian shrub based on 20 microsatellite markers and 1176 individuals collected from 34 localities in four Alpin...