High quality landscape assessments of areas protected under the Natura 2000 network are critical for effective long-term management plans. In a recent study, scientists have presented a integrated assessment of a Natura 2000 site in Sicily, Italy, which not only considers preservation of environmental features, as required by Natura 2000, but also human features, such as places of historical interest or industrial activity.

Transport infrastructure and urban sprawl are increasingly dividing up landscapes in Europe, threatening wildlife. A new report has quantified landscape fragmentation across 28 European countries. To prevent further negative environmental impacts, it recommends protecting unfragmented areas, monitoring fragmentation and applying fragmentation analysis in planning.

Gardens are good for biodiversity, according to a study of intensively managed farmland in Sweden. The study has found that abundance and species richness of pollinating bees is higher near domestic gardens, with the pollination of a native plant also greater at these sites. Domestic gardens play a role in complementing 'natural' habitats for pollinators in impoverished environments.

New research has outlined a four-step approach to multipurpose wetland creation or restoration: clarifying the objectives, defining the scale and analysing possible conflicts, before finally defining a strategy.

Large carnivores play important roles in ecosystems by regulating populations of herbivores and other species. Understanding how human activities affect the role of predators, particularly within human-modified systems such as agricultural landscapes, is therefore important. This study investigated how predator and prey populations were distributed in Transylvania, Romania, and assessed them in relation to human activities. The research highlights how relationships between large carnivores and people need to be considered as part of biodiversity conservation efforts, especially considering the successful recovery of several large carnivore populations within the EU.

A new study has investigated the effects of set-aside management —when fields are taken out of agricultural production — on common invertebrate decomposers in soil. The diversity of woodlice species was higher in set-aside fields compared to neighbouring wheat fields and this effect increased in older set-asides. This study highlights the importance of set-aside areas as habitats for soil invertebrates, which are important for soil health.

Woody networks in agricultural landscapes are known to harbour high intrinsic biodiversity (i.e. diversity of plant species) and functional biodiversity (i.e. ecosystem services that arise from biodiversity). In order to clarify the drivers of intrinsic and functional biodiversity in woody networks, researchers analysed the plant species diversity, pollinator resource value (PRV), and potential edibility value (PEV) of a woody network in northern Belgium. The analysis confirmed that woody elements are a rich source of intrinsic and functional biodiversity and identified several important drivers. From a policy perspective, this research highlights the value of protecting existing woody elements and thoughtfully designing and locating new ones to maximise intrinsic and functional biodiversity in the countryside.

Populations of the European corn borer, a major pest of maize plants, fell significantly in areas where Bt maize (genetically modified maize) was planted alongside non-Bt maize, in a recent US study. This means that farmers who plant conventional maize crops could reap this benefit from farmers who plant Bt maize in the same landscape.

Transforming public spaces with plants that decontaminate soils can add functional, ecological, economic and social value to derelict areas. A new study calls for consideration of social and environmental factors, as well as remediation needs, to produce effective and innovative landscape design.

Video: How climate change is impacting freshwater and saltwater marshes.

A new NASA video uses photos from New Horizons to give you a sense of what it would be like to soar over Pluto.

From Dutch flower fields to Californian slopes, windmills are one of mankind's oldest ( loveliest) energy machines. Here are some windmill photos to celebrate.

'Where the River Runs' is a pop-up meadow with a deep environmental message.

From their vanilla-scented secretions to their amazing ability to alter an ecosystem, here's what you need to know about beavers.

With the Living Building Challenge now under its belt, the facility is being heralded as one of the greenest buildings in the world.

Glacial gifts such as erratics, moraines, kettle lakes, cirques, tarns and eskers from the ice age are all around if you know where to look.

The disruption ahead extends well beyond healthcare. Are you prepared?

Learn more about the ancient agricultural legacy of rice paddy farming.

Our planet has quite a knack for creating surreal natural landscapes. Case in point: Basalt rock columns.

International Landscape Photographer of the Year contest highlights winning images of everything from ice to forests.

The aim of this guide is to provide an insight into the best locations around Snowdonia for landscape photography. Highlights for the photographer along this section include the Llanberis Pass, Snowdon, Dolbadarn castle and Llanberis village.

Special Earth Day Celebration Planned

Did You Hear the Buzz? John Mini Distinctive Landscapes Saves the Bees on Earth Day

Boost your employees' mood and creativity with beauty

Why Mulch is Crucial to Your Landscape

Warm Weather Landscape Ideas for Everyone

Four Awesome Ways To Shake Things Up

Leveraging Nature For Mental Well-being

4 Plantings That Can Help Repel Insects

Adding a Hint of Tranquility to Your Landscaping

Staying Attuned To The Major Seasons

6 Crucial Steps for Winter Prep

6 Applications That Will Transform Your Office Space

4 Tips for Proper Upkeep

Tips for Decorating the Thanksgiving Table

Tips and Suggestions for a Festive Fall Scene

Tailor Your Decor to Enchant Clients and Customers

Designing and Building Stylish, Practical, and Performance-Boosting Interiorscapes

Increase Your Health and Improve Your Well-being

UPRx announces the launch of their Cash Prescription Website and Telehealth App. UPRx provides services eliminating the exorbitant costs of Rx medications regardless of insurance. Because access and affordability should never be a barrier to care.

Usher in the Glory of Spring With These Tips

Hal Sirkin, senior partner and managing director at The Boston Consulting Group and coauthor of "Globality."

The renowned American journalist talks with HBR senior editor Dan McGinn.

I’ve written about my love of seascapes, but I truly love landscapes too, especially ones that have a vintage vibe when they’re enlarged on a canvas or a big frame. Landscapes have that power to transport you outdoors and to another place, something we could all use a little more of right now. :) I’m

7:30 to 10 a.m., Thursday, March 14, 2013
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The Ikes Fire is approximately 3,289 acres, 42% contained, and has 89 resources assigned. The natural caused lightning fire is being utilized to fulfill its natural role within a fire-dependent ecosystem. The lightning-caused wildfire is actively burning within a 7,785-acre planning area. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/ikes-fire-moves-across-landscape-as-containment-increases-20190816.htm

Roads are important ecological features of forest landscapes, but their cause-andeffect relationships with other ecosystem components are only recently becoming included in integrated landscape analyses. Simulation models can help us to understand how forested landscapes respond over time to disturbance and socioeconomic factors, and potentially to address the important role roads play in these processes.

Effectively addressing wildfire risk to communities on large multi-owner landscapes requires an understanding of the biophysical factors that influence risk, such as fuel loads, topography, and weather, and social factors such as the capacity and willingness for communities to engage in fire-mitigation activities.

Landscape exposure to multiple stressors can pose risks to human health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Attempts to study, control, or mitigate these stressors can strain public and private budgets. An interdisciplinary team of Pacific Northwest Research Station and Oregon State University scientists created maps of the conterminous United States that indicate landscape exposure to concentrated wildfire potential, insects and disease risk, urban and exurban development, and climate change. The maps, which show where these stressors might occur and overlap, provide a valuable resource for regional and national land use, land management, and policymaking efforts by helping to guide resource prioritization.

Old-growth forests provide unique habitat features and landscape functions compared to younger stands. The goals of many forest management plans in the Pacific Northwest include increasing the area of late-successional and old-growth forests.