Search Results (81)

Managing land-use activities sustainably in mountainous regions requires addressing the interconnected impacts of geophysical, socioeconomic, cultural, and geopolitical stressors. This complexity is exemplified in roadbuilding across highland Asia, where insufficient planning, incomplete environmental impact assessments (EIAs), and governance gaps often result in lasting “toeprints”—subtle yet significant unintended consequences. Drawing on specific case studies within Yunnan, China; Central Asia’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); and the Kedarnath Disaster in India, this perspective highlights the risks of rapid infrastructure development without holistic, long-term planning and explores the underlying issues of these problems. While mountain roads enhance connectivity, mobility, and short-term economic prosperity, they frequently impose environmental and social costs that offset their intended benefits. Poorly designed roads in the mountains of northwest Yunnan and Central Asia have triggered landslides, sedimentation, habitat fragmentation, and disruptions to local livelihoods and cultural practices. In contrast, road improvements to the remote Kedarnath Temple in the Himalaya led to the overcrowding of religious pilgrims who were killed and stranded during a major flood and sediment disaster in 2013. These case studies emphasize the need for transdisciplinary research, community engagement, and regulatory frameworks that integrate disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and sustainability for the benefit of all stakeholders. By aligning infrastructure projects with robust planning frameworks, development practitioners and policymakers can better balance economic, environmental, and social priorities, minimizing unintended impacts while fostering resilient and equitable outcomes in fragile mountain landscapes. Full article

Human activities intensely transform landscapes, resulting in significant changes in the abundance of native plant species and even leading to their local extinction. The fragmentation of native orchid habitats and populations in countries recognized as global biodiversity hotspots is a matter of grave concern. This issue is exacerbated by the extensive infrastructure projects currently underway in many biodiversity hotspot areas of the world. The southwestern state of Kerala in India is a prominent hotspot for orchids, both in India and globally, owing to its exceptionally high density of native orchid species. Roadside trees in Kerala provide a sanctuary for a diverse range of species, including native orchids, which constitute one of the major groups. This study undertook a preliminary assessment of the diversity of trees and native orchids in two northern districts of Kerala, specifically, Kannur and Wayanad. The removal of trees in Kerala for road building directly affects the populations of many native orchids, some of which are endemic to the southern Western Ghats regions in Kerala. In the Kannur district, Mangifera indica and Artocarpus heterophyllus were the dominant trees in terms of hosting the greatest number of individual orchids. The endemic tree Pterocarpus marsupium from Wayanad was the dominant tree, which hosted the greatest number of species of orchids, including four that are endemic. This paper explores the potential opportunities of rescuing orchids and planting them in a safe and protected urban environment. The thematic question is whether native orchids, particularly endemic species, can be preserved from local extinction and used for conservation translocation. Could this method of introducing native orchids to urban environments enhance conservation efforts while also fostering a stronger connection between people and nature? Over 17,000 plants, representing 22 native orchid species, were collected, of which 16 species were endemic. Six months after planting, all but three of the endemic species successfully survived in the urban biological park. Among the surviving orchids, all species except four managed to bloom. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first endeavor of its kind to plant a substantial number of endemic rescued orchids within an urban landscape to reduce local extinction and enhance the connectivity of people with native biodiversity. This resource aims to enhance our understanding of the resilience of endemic orchids, which originate from highland regions, as they adapt to a lowland urban environment in the coming decades. Full article

Studying natural hazards in the context of human-induced landscape transformation is complex, especially in regions with limited information. The narratives of the elderly can play a role in filling these knowledge gaps at the multi-decadal timescale. Here, we build upon a citizen-based elderly approach to understanding natural hazard patterns and landscape transformation in a tropical mountainous environment, the Kigezi Highlands (SW Uganda). We engaged 98 elderly citizens (>70 years old) living in eight small watersheds with different characteristics. Through interviews and focus group discussions, we reconstructed historical timelines and used participatory mapping to facilitate the interview process. We cross-checked the information of the elderly citizens with historical aerial photographs, archives, and field visits. Our results show that major land use/cover changes are associated with a high population increase over the last 80 years. We also evidence an increase in reported natural hazard events such as landslides and flash floods from the 1940s until the 1980s. Then, we notice a stabilization in the number of hazard events per decade, although the two most impacted decades (1980s and 2000s) stand out. Despite this new information, an increase in natural hazard frequency due to land use/cover change cannot yet be quantitatively validated, especially when the probable modulator effect of climate variability is considered. Nevertheless, the increase in the exposure of a vulnerable population to natural hazards is clear, and population growth together with poor landscape management practices are the key culprits that explain this evolution. This study demonstrates the added value of historical narratives in terms of understanding natural hazards in the context of environmental changes. This insight is essential for governments and non-governmental organizations for the development of policies and measures for disaster risk reduction that are grounded in the path dependence of local realities. Full article

Highland ecologies are the most susceptible to climate change, often experiencing intensified impacts. Due to climate change and human activities, there were dramatic changes in the alpine domain of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a vital project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CPEC is subjected to rapid infrastructure expansion, which may lead to potential land surface susceptibility. Hence, focusing on sustainable development goals, mainly SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG 13 (climate action), to evaluate the conservation and management practices for the sustainable and regenerative development of the mountainous region, this study aims to assess change detection and find climatic conditions using multispectral indices along the mountainous area of Gilgit and Hunza-Nagar, Pakistan. It has yielded practical and highly relevant implications. For sustainable and regenerative ecologies, this study utilized 30 × 30 m Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 (ETM+), and Landsat-8/9 (OLI and TIRS), and meteorological data were employed to calculate the aridity index (AI). The results of the AI showed a non-significant decreasing trend (−0.0021/year, p > 0.05) in Gilgit and a significant decreasing trend (−0.0262/year, p < 0.05) in Hunza-Nagar. NDVI distribution shows a decreasing trend (−0.00469/year, p > 0.05), while NDWI has depicted a dynamic trend in water bodies. Similarly, NDBI demonstrated an increasing trend, with rates of 79.89%, 87.69%, and 83.85% from 2008 to 2023. The decreasing values of AI mean a drying trend and increasing drought risk, as the study area already has an arid and semi-arid climate. The combination of multispectral indices and the AI provides a comprehensive insight into how various factors affect the mountainous landscape and climatic conditions in the study area. This study has practical and highly relevant implications for policymakers and researchers interested in research related to land use and land cover change, environmental and infrastructure development in alpine regions. Full article

The fragmented forests of the Kenya highlands, known for their exceptional species richness and endemism, are among the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. However, detailed studies on the fauna of these ecosystems—especially specialist species that depend on moist forests, which are particularly threatened by habitat fragmentation—are still limited. In this study, we used mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and the displacement loop) and a nuclear marker (retinol-binding protein 3) to investigate genetic and morphological diversity, phylogenetic associations, historical divergence, population dynamics, and phylogeographic patterns in two rodent species—the soft-furred mouse (Praomys jacksoni) and the African wood mouse (Hylomyscus endorobae)—across Kenya’s forest landscapes. We found a complex genetic structure, with P. jacksoni exhibiting greater genetic diversity than H. endorobae. The Mt. Kenya P. jacksoni populations are significantly genetically different from those in southwestern forests (Mau Forest, Kakamega Forest, and Loita Hills). In contrast, H. endorobae presented no observable biogeographic structuring across its range. The genetic diversity and geographic structuring patterns highlighted selectively strong effects of forest fragmentation and differing species’ ecological and evolutionary responses to these landscape changes. Our findings further underscore the need for expanded sampling across Kenya’s highland forests to better understand species’ changing diversity and distribution patterns in response to the impacts of human-mediated habitat changes. These insights are critical for informing conservation strategies to preserve biodiversity better in this globally important region. Full article

In the northwestern Highlands of Ethiopia, a region characterized by diverse ecosystems, significant land use and land cover (LULC) changes have occurred due to a combination of environmental fragility and human pressures. The implications of these changes for ecosystem service values remain underexplored. This study quantifies the impact of LULC changes, with an emphasis on the expansion of plantation forests, on ecosystem service values in monetary terms to promote sustainable land management practices. Using Landsat images and the Random Forest algorithm in R, LULC patterns from 1985 to 2020 were analyzed, with the ecosystem service values estimated using locally adapted coefficients. The Random Forest classification demonstrated a high accuracy, with values of 0.97, 0.98, 0.96, and 0.97 for the LULC maps of 1985, 2000, 2015, and 2020, respectively. Croplands consistently dominated the landscape, accounting for 53.66% of the area in 1985, peaking at 67.35% in 2000, and then declining to 52.86% by 2020. Grasslands, initially the second-largest category, significantly decreased, while wetlands diminished from 14.38% in 1985 to 1.87% by 2020. Conversely, plantation forests, particularly Acacia decurrens, expanded from 0.4% of the area in 2000 to 28.13% by 2020, becoming the second-largest land cover type. The total ecosystem service value in the district declined from USD 219.52 million in 1985 to USD 39.23 million in 2020, primarily due to wetland degradation. However, plantation forests contributed USD 17.37 million in 2020, highlighting their significant role in restoring ecosystem services, particularly in erosion control, soil formation, nutrient recycling, climate regulation, and habitat provision. This study underscores the need for sustainable land management practices, including wetland restoration and sustainable plantation forestry, to enhance ecosystem services and ensure long-term ecological and economic sustainability. Full article

Funaria hygrometrica, a cosmopolitan moss species known for its remarkable dispersal capacity, was selected as the focal organism to investigate the relationship between landscape features and genetic diversity. Our study encompassed samples collected from two distinct regions: the Spanish Sierra Nevada Mountains (SN), characterized by a diverse landscape with an altitudinal difference of nearly 3500 m within a short distance, and the Murcia Region (MU) in Southeast Spain, characterized by a uniform landscape akin to the lowlands of Sierra Nevada. Genotyping analysis targeted three genetic regions: the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS), the chloroplast rps3-rpl16 region, and the mitochondrial rpl5-rpl16 spacer. Through this analysis, we aimed to assess genetic variability and population structure across these environmentally contrasting regions. The Sierra Nevada populations exhibited significantly higher haplotype diversity (Hd = 0.78 in the highlands and 0.67 overall) and nucleotide diversity (π% = 0.51 for ITS1) compared to the Murcia populations (Hd = 0.35, π% = 0.14). Further investigation unveiled that samples from the lowlands of Sierra Nevada showed a closer genetic affinity to Murcia than to the highlands of Sierra Nevada. Furthermore, the genetic differentiation between highland and lowland populations was significant (Φ_ST = 0.55), with partial Mantel tests and ResistanceGA analysis revealing a strong correlation between ITS1-based genetic diversity and landscape features, including altitude and bioclimatic variables. Our study elucidated potential explanations for the observed genetic structuring within F. hygrometrica samples’ populations. These included factors such as a high selfing rate within restricted habitats, a limited average dispersal distance of spores, hybrid depression affecting partially incompatible genetic lineages, and recent migration facilitated via human activities into formerly unoccupied areas of the dry zones of Southeast Spain. Full article

The monumental scale agricultural infrastructure systems built by Andean peoples during pre-Hispanic times have enabled intensive agriculture in the high-relief, arid/semi-arid landscape of the Southern Peruvian Andes. Large tracts of these labor-intensive systems have been abandoned, however, owing in large measure to a range of demographic, economic, and political crises precipitated by the Spanish invasion of the 16th century CE. This research seeks to better understand the dynamics of agricultural intensification and deintensification in the Andes by inventorying through the semantic segmentation of active and abandoned agricultural fields in satellite imagery across approximately 77,000 km² of the Southern Peruvian Highlands. While manual digitization of agricultural fields in satellite imagery is time-consuming and labor-intensive, deep learning-based semantic segmentation makes it possible to map and classify en masse Andean agricultural infrastructure. Using high resolution satellite imagery, training and validation data were manually produced in distributed sample areas and were used to transfer-train a convolutional neural network for semantic segmentation. The resulting dataset was compared to manual surveys of the region and results suggest that deep learning can generate larger and more accurate datasets than those generated by hand. Full article

The Maasai Mara and the wider Mau River Basin in East Africa provide fundamental ecosystem services that support people, wildlife, livestock and agriculture. The historical indigenous land use of the Mara and wider Mau basin was wildlife conservation and pastoralism with highland agriculture. However, land policy changes, the rise of community conservancies and the increase in human populations have mediated unprecedented land use shifts over time. We analyze land use and land cover change (LULCC) trends from 1990 to 2040 in the Mara and the wider Mau River Basin landscape. The study examines land use and land cover change trends, establishes factors driving the trends, and assesses the implications of these trends on biodiversity. Multi-temporal satellite images, together with physical and social economic data, were collated to generate future scenarios for transitions for forest, shrubland, grassland, cropland, wetlands and built-up areas between 1990 and 2040. Agricultural expansion is the chief driver of LULCC in the Mara and the wider Mau River Basin, particularly since 2015. There was insignificant change to the forest cover after 2015, which was in part due to government intervention on forest encroachment and boundaries. The anthropogenic choice of tilling the land in the basin caused a decline in grasslands, forests and expanded shrublands, particularly where there was clear tree cutting in the Mau forest. Land use and land cover trends have generated undesirable impacts on ecosystem services that support wildlife conservation. Full article

Satellite tracking allows for novel investigations into golden eagle home range characteristics. Understanding home range characteristics is important for conservation and for assessing the potential impact of landscape changes from forest planting, wind farms, etc. Small sample sizes, inconsistent definitions and methods restricted several previous studies. Our study involved 69 resident tagged eagles with over one year of data across five Scottish regions. Home range size was estimated from 95% isopleth contours extracted from Utilisation Distributions. Above a small threshold, estimated range size was not affected by the number of records but at least one year of data is required, largely because of the breeding and non-breeding seasonal differences. There were no significant range size differences between birds tagged as range holders and those previously tagged as nestlings. Across four regions, with considerable intra-regional variation, planar 95% isopleths did not differ (medians, km²): Argyll 58.9, Northwest Highlands 61.7, Northeast Highlands 89.3, South of Scotland 91.9. Ranges in the isolated Outer Hebrides region were exceptionally small, at 24.0 km². Estimated range area was usually reduced to 70–80% of the planar area when restricted to usable habitat, as estimated by the Golden Eagle Topography (GET) model. Applying measures of known unsuitable habitat (closed-canopy commercial forest and wind turbines) further reduced usable open land. Loss of otherwise suitable habitat was substantially due to commercial forest. Larger ranges had larger extents of suitable habitat (according to GET), with no apparent optimum of preferred GET habitat. Range size was not different across a year between the sexes. Breeding ranges were smaller, and females’ breeding ranges were much smaller than those of males, but larger than males’ ranges in the non-breeding season. Breeding attempt duration was probably also influential. Our study provides novel insights into golden eagle home range characteristics and can guide further research and practical applications. Full article

Land use and land cover (LULC) change is the variable with the maximum influence on carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems, due to a fundamental alteration of the ecosystem, structure, function, and variability over time. Understanding the dynamics of aboveground carbon stocks in underway constructions and urban expansions is crucial to provide a basis for land use management and planning. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of aboveground carbon storage and assess how the LULC change is affected by human intervention, as well as how aboveground carbon stocks respond to these changes in the tropical highland landscape of Jatigede. In this study, changes in aboveground carbon stocks were investigated between 2014 and 2021 by using the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The results revealed that the total aboveground carbon stock decreased between 2014 and 2021. Forests showed the greatest decline in the aboveground carbon stock in terms of space. The primary cause of the reduction in the aboveground carbon stock was the conversion of vegetated land to agricultural and urban land cover. The aboveground carbon stock change was also caused by the continuing construction, which resulted in the extension of construction zones. However, an increase in the aboveground carbon stock was mostly observed in mixed gardens that were close to forest areas. The preservation of mixed gardens as a tree-based agroforestry system can be suggested for enhancing the aboveground carbon stock, as mixed gardens play a significant role in carbon storage in the midst of the increasingly massive deforestation due to the expansion of urban areas. Full article

Groundwater-influenced ecosystems (GIEs) are increasingly vulnerable due to groundwater extraction, land-use practices, and climate change. These ecosystems receive groundwater inflow as a portion of their baseflow or water budget, which can maintain water levels, water temperature, and chemistry necessary to sustain the biodiversity that they support. In some systems (e.g., springs, seeps, fens), this connection with groundwater is central to the system’s integrity and persistence. Groundwater management decisions for human use often do not consider the ecological effects of those actions on GIEs. This disparity can be attributed, in part, to a lack of information regarding the physical relationships these systems have with the surrounding landscape and climate, which may influence the environmental conditions and associated biodiversity. We estimate the vulnerability of areas predicted to be highly suitable for the presence of GIEs based on watershed (U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Unit Code 12 watersheds: 24–100 km²) and pixel (30 m × 30 m pixels) resolution in the Atlantic Highlands and Mixed Wood Plains EPA Level II Ecoregions in the northeastern United States. We represent vulnerability with variables describing adaptive capacity (topographic wetness index, hydric soil, physiographic diversity), exposure (climatic niche), and sensitivity (aquatic barriers, proportion urbanized or agriculture). Vulnerability scores indicate that ~26% of GIEs were within 30 m of areas with moderate vulnerability. Within these GIEs, climate exposure is an important contributor to vulnerability of 40% of the areas, followed by land use (19%, agriculture or urbanized). There are few areas predicted to be suitable for GIEs that are also predicted to be highly vulnerable, and of those, climate exposure is the most important contributor to their vulnerability. Persistence of GIEs in the northeastern United States may be challenged as changes in the amount and timing of precipitation and increasing air temperatures attributed to climate change affect the groundwater that sustains these systems. Full article

Ecological records from before and after the creation of natural parks are valuable for informing conservation and management but are often unavailable. High-resolution paleoecological studies may bridge the gap and provide the required information. This paper presents a 20th-century subdecadal reconstruction of vegetation and landscape dynamics in a national park of the Pyrenean highlands. The park lands had traditionally been used for cultivation, extensive grazing, forest exploitation, and hydroelectricity generation following the damming of numerous glacial lakes. A significant finding is that forests have dominated the landscape, with negligible changes in composition, and only experienced fluctuations in forest cover, influenced by both climatic and anthropogenic factors. The creation of the park (1955) and the initial restrictions on forest exploitation did not significantly affect vegetation cover or composition. Major forest expansion did not occur until several decades later, 1980, when the park was enlarged and forest exploitation was further restricted. This expansion peaked in the 1990s, coinciding with a warming trend and a decrease in fire incidence, before declining due to warmer and drier climates. This decline was coeval with the ongoing global forest dieback and may be exacerbated by the predicted global warming in this century, which could also increase fire incidence due to dead-wood accumulation. Currently, the main threats are global warming/drying, fire, and tourism intensification. Similar high-resolution paleoecological records in protected areas are globally scarce and would be capable in providing the long-term ecological scope required to properly understand forest dynamics and optimize conservation measures. Full article

While some Inka structures and motifs align with astronomical and horizon markers, a significant portion of their constructions exhibit different patterns. We examined the potential correlation between the orientation patterns of the Inka walls and Andean geomorphology, aiming to uncover the extent to which the physical landscape guided these ancient architectural design methodologies. Using geospatial technology and specially developed peak detection and recognition software, we extensively and meticulously analyzed over 40,000 m of surveyed Inka walls and 20,000 mountain peaks across 11 distinct geographical areas. The analysis revealed a significant correlation between key wall orientations and the parallel peak alignment of the Andean Mountain Range. This suggests a purposeful encoding of landscape orientations into Inka architecture. These findings propose a novel perspective on the intricate relationship between Inka culture and the Andean highlands’ topography. Furthermore, this research introduces a distinctive methodological approach to exploring the impact of natural landscapes on architectural planning, establishing a foundation for comparative studies among other ancient civilizations. Full article

GPS satellite tracking allows novel investigations of how golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos use the landscape at several scales and at different life history stages, including research on geographical barriers which may prevent or limit range expansion or create population/sub-population isolation. If there are significant barriers to golden eagle movements, there could be demographic and genetic consequences. Genetic studies have led investigations on the identification of sub-species, populations, and sub-populations but should be conjoined with demographic studies and dispersal movements to understand fully such designations and their geographic delimitation. Scottish eagles are genetically differentiated from continental European birds, with thousands of years of separation creating a distinct population, though without sub-species assignation. They present unique research opportunities to examine barriers to movements illustrated by satellite tracking under Scotland’s highly variable geography. We primarily examined two features, using more than seven million dispersal records from satellite tags fitted to 152 nestlings. The first was the presence of unsuitable terrestrial habitat. We found few movements across a region of largely unsuitable lowland habitat between upland regions substantially generated by geological features over 70 km apart (Highland Boundary Fault and Southern Uplands Fault). This was expected from the Golden Eagle Topography model, and presumed isolation was the premise for an ongoing reinforcement project in the south of Scotland, translocating eagles from the north (South Scotland Golden Eagle Project: SSGEP). Second was that larger expanses of water can be a barrier. We found that, for a northwestern archipelago (Outer Hebrides), isolated by ≥24 km of sea (and with prior assignation of genetical and historical separation), there were no tagged bird movements with the Inner Hebrides and/or the Highlands mainland (the main sub-population), confirming their characterisation as a second sub-population. Results on the willingness of eagles to cross open sea or sea lochs (fjords) elsewhere in Scotland were consistent on distance. While apparently weaker than the Outer Hebrides in terms of separation, the designation of a third sub-population in the south of Scotland seems appropriate. Our results validate the SSGEP, as we also observed no movement of birds across closer sea crossings from abundant Highland sources to the Southern Uplands. Based on telemetric results, we also identified where any re-colonisation of England, due to the SSGEP, is most likely to occur. We emphasise, nevertheless, that our study’s records during dispersal will be greater than the natal dispersal distances (NDDs), when birds settle to breed after dispersal, and NDDs are the better shorter arbiter for connectivity. Full article