Publications by authors named "Levi Garcia-Romero"

Environmental crimes are a global issue due to the damage they cause to landscapes and ecosystems. This study focused on characterizing environmental crimes in the Canary Islands (Spain). Four categories of environmental crimes related to construction, mining and tilling, solid waste, and liquid waste) were defined and analysed.

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Beach users often use a range of strategies to shelter from the wind and blown sand. This involves building structures made of stacking stones. Different from other portable wind blockers, stone-made wind shelters can remain in the landscape for a long time.

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Beach-dune systems are fragile ecosystems vulnerable to changes, especially those associated to human activities. This study focuses on El Inglés beach (Canary Islands, Spain), which is located on the eastern limit of the Maspalomas dunefield. This is the sediment input to the dunefield, and vehicles that provide urban-touristic services circulate every day, most notably heavy duty machinery responsible for beach cleaning.

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Article Synopsis
  • Traditional land uses have significantly altered sedimentary systems due to plant removal for grazing, fuel, and farming, yet quantifying deforestation processes has been challenging due to complexity and limited historical data.
  • A new methodology combines historical documents, oral interviews, and literature reviews to assess the impact of deforestation, applied in a case study on Jandía, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.
  • Findings reveal that to operate a large lime kiln, removal of extensive plant areas was necessary, leading to significant ecological and geomorphological changes and contributing to the eventual decline of the lime kiln industry by the 1960s.
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This study examines the role of sediment supply in controlling the formation and the spatial patterns of nebkha, numbers and sizes, present in foredunes fronting coastal dunefields of the arid northwest African and the Canary Islands coasts. Sediment supply is estimated qualitatively and quantitatively by various measures, and the number and size of nebkhas are obtained on a range of beach-dune systems. In the case of the Canary Islands, LiDAR data and orthophotos with high spatial resolution (0.

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The research hypothesis considered in this study is that decisions adopted on beach use and management in arid environments can result in significant changes in the biogeomorphological processes of the beach-dune system of which it forms part. Different information sources and geographical information systems were used to make a spatiotemporal analysis of possible correlations between the presence of beach equipment, services and uses in the backshore area of an arid beach-dune system, such as the beach named Playa del Inglés (Gran Canaria island, Spain) and environmental changes detected in the same area. The period considered in the study covers from 1961 (before the development of the mass tourism on the island) to 2018.

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Article Synopsis
  • Foredunes in arid areas, like those in the Canary Islands, differ significantly from those in tropical and temperate regions, with Traganum moquinii being the main plant species shaping the dune environment.
  • The study involved analyzing changes in Traganum moquinii morphology and foredune structure from the 1960s to present, revealing significant decadal changes influenced by human activities, particularly in tourist-heavy areas.
  • Findings indicate that the number and distribution of T. moquinii are declining, and spatial variations in foredune development were linked to both natural processes and human impacts, highlighting the need for effective management strategies in these ecosystems.
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Coastal areas worldwide are undergoing major changes and degradation due to a set of combined natural and anthropogenic stressors. In arid aeolian sedimentary systems these changes can be even more acute given their sensitivity to perturbances in landscape dynamics. While in many such areas recent (20 year) observations have been made regarding measurable differences in dune coverage and stability, few studies have assessed and quantified the long-term relationships of transitioning exploitation and land-use changes in order to fully evaluate their importance.

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Foredunes are formed by aeolian sand deposition in vegetation on the backshore of beaches. In this paper, the foredune mode (nebkha, discontinuous foredune, and continuous foredune), and transgressive dunefield development is studied along the Great Australian Bight (GAB), 2668 km of coastline. Orthophotos are used to classify the foredune mode, coastal landforms and the vegetation, through geographic information systems (GIS), with fieldwork support.

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Human occupancy of beaches is an important cause of environmental and landscape transformations, some of which are identifiable through vegetation analysis. Commonly, arboreal vegetation has been socially perceived in a positive way, as it contributes to the creation of environments appreciated as beautiful and natural. This type of vegetation has been recreated in urban coastal areas worldwide, including those located in arid environments where it is not always common or endemic to these areas.

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Article Synopsis
  • Urban and tourist developments, particularly the resort in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, significantly affect coastal environments and the evolution of coastal dune systems.
  • The construction of the resort altered local wind patterns, resulting in increased sediment transport to the south and creating a shadow zone with decreased wind speed and more vegetation.
  • The study employs historical aerial images and modern techniques to analyze changes in sediment volume and vegetation, revealing shifts in dune patterns and the growth of plant communities in areas affected by the urbanization.
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