The Earth, with its core-driven magnetic field, convective mantle, mobile lid tectonics, oceans of liquid water, dynamic climate and abundant life is arguably the most complex system in the known universe. This system has exhibited stability in the sense of, bar a number of notable exceptions, surface temperature remaining within the bounds required for liquid water and so a significant biosphe...

Soil and water are suggested to represent pivotal niches for the transmission of Listeria monocytogenes to plant material, animals, and the food chain. In the present study, 467 soil and 68 water samples were collected in 12 distinct geological and ecological sites in Austria from 2007 to 2009. Listeria was present in 30% and 26% of the investigated soil and water samples, respectively. General...

We reviewed concepts of patch dynamics and environmental heterogeneity and their applications to the study of fluvial ecosystems, with emphasis on research published in J-NABS. We discuss several important papers synthesizing theories and findings on this topic and reports of descriptive and experimental research. A large body of research, much of it published in J-NABS, has demonstrated how sp...

1 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Natural Resources and the Environment, Ecosystems, Forestry and Forest Products Research Centre, PO Box 17001, Congella 4013, South Africa 2 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Natural Resources and the Environment, Ecosystems, Earth Observation, PO Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 3 School of Environmental Sciences, University o...

Introduction Mercury has been well known as an environmental pollutant for several decades. As early as the 1950’s it was established that emissions of mercury to the environment could have serious effects on human health. These early studies demonstrated that fish and other wildlife from various ecosystems commonly attain mercury levels of toxicological concern when directly affected by mercur...

We propose an environmental framework for simulation and visualization of woody plant forests. A complex application software system develops and animates a spontaneous afforestation process within this environment. The system considers several environmental properties and combines computer animation with artificial life. The main goal of the presented software system is to use it in computer a...

Terrestrial ecosystems that were rare before human colonisation of New Zealand often have highly specialised and diverse flora and fauna characterised by endemic and nationally rare species. Although many of these ecosystems are under threat from anthropogenic modification and their biodiversity values are declining, they still are not adequately identified by current land classifications. We c...

1 Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2 Secretariat, International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems, c/o Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0129, Japan. 3 Centre for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-0053, Japan. 4 School of Science, Monash Uni...