Incidences of disease, dieback, decline or mortality, some of which induced or enhanced by climate change, threaten the sustainability of forest stands in many ecosystems. Spatially explicit prediction of disease onset remains challenging, however, due to the involvement of several causative agents. In this paper, we developed a generic framework based on machine-learning algorithms and spatial analyses for landscape-level prediction of oak disease outbreaks caused by the charcoal fungus Biscogniauxia mediterranea in a mixed-oak forest of Mediterranean climate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study relates changes in social vulnerability of 20 counties on the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf (PG) and the Gulf of Oman (GO) over a 30-year period (1988-2017) to changing socio-economic conditions and environmental (climate) hazard. Social vulnerability in 2030, 2040 and 2050 is predicted based on the RCP8.5 climate change scenario that projects drought intensities and rising sea levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDetermining the level of ecosystems exposure to multiple environmental hazards or risk factors is of paramount importance for developing, adopting, and planning management strategies to minimize the harmful effects of these hazards. We quantified the level of exposure of mangroves on the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf (PG) and the Gulf of Oman (GO) between 1986 and 2019 to eight environmental hazards, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoastal vulnerability assessment has become one of the most important tools for decision making and providing effective managerial solutions to reduce adverse socio-economic impacts of multiple environmental hazards on coupled social-ecological systems of coastal areas. The aim of this study was to assess the vulnerability of the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf (PG) and the Gulf of Oman (GO) in the Hormozgan province of Iran. Nine variables of vulnerability that included the rate of coastline change, relative sea level rise, coastal slope, mean tidal range, coastal geomorphology, significant wave height (SWH), extreme storm surge, population density, and fishing intensity were weighted, mapped, and combined into the Coastal vulnerability index (CVI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeaf Area Index (LAI; as an indicator of the health) of the mangrove ecosystems on the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman was measured in the field and modeled in response to observed (1986-2017) and predicted (2018-2100) drought occurrences (quantified using the Standardized Precipitation Index [SPI]). The relationship of LAI with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) obtained from satellite images was quantified, the LAI between 1986 and 2017 retrospectively estimated, and a relationship between LAI and SPI developed for the same period. Long-term climate data were used as input in the RCP8.
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