Trialling a method to quantify the ‘cultural services’ of the English landscape using Countryside Survey data

Increasing pressure on natural resources driven by population growth and higher levels of individual resource consumption have led to the need to measure and ultimately place values on the diversity of ecosystem services supported by land in order to manage it appropriately. The complexity underlying the provision of many seemingly simple ecosystem services, e.g. drinking water, make the process of identifying and making appropriate measures far from simple. Cultural services, defined as the nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems, comprise a range of experiences of nature which enhance human well-being in a variety of ways. Measurement of the experiential benefits of ecosystems has proved difficult, despite their acknowledged importance. This paper describes a novel approach for providing measures of cultural services at national scale (England). The interdisciplinary approach described combines data from a national survey of the biophysical components of the UK countryside with data collected from regional assessments of experiential qualities of landscape in England. The paper discusses the results, merits and limitations of the datasets and approaches used

Spawning and non-breeding activity of adult giant bullfrogs ( Pyxicephalus adspersus

Populations of the giant bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) have been poorly monitored due to the unpredictable appearance of this species aboveground. To better understand the activity of P. adspersus we quantified spawning by a population during five summers, and the activity of twenty adult frogs radio-tracked at the same site ca. twice weekly during the first three summers. In addition we examined animal activity, and population spawning in relation to meteorological variables, day of season, and moonlight. During the six-month summer period, males and females, respectively, spent 10±7 and 3±2 days at water, and 22±5 and 13±5 nights active. Greater proportions of radio-tracked animals moved overland, and/or foraged at night, around full moon, after heavy rainfall, when cooler, and less windy conditions prevailed. More animals were found at water, or on land during the day, and population spawning was more likely, earlier in summer, following heavier rainfall. Spawning occurred most frequently, in descending order, during December, January, and November, and was triggered by 40±16 mm rain in 24h. Spawning events lasted 2±1 days, but were prolonged around full moon. Numbers of males at spawning events varied between 30 and 500 males, and were positively correlated with the previous day's rainfall. Annually 6±1 spawning events occurred, and numbers of annual spawning events were positively correlated with total summer rainfall. Results of this study show that single counts of spawning adults will often result in gross underestimates of population size, and therefore, long-term adult counts are necessary to detect real population trends. Due to the unpredictable activity of adults, however, it may be more practical to monitor, within certain areas, the number of aquatic sites where breeding occurs, for improved conservation management of P. adspersus.The study was funded through the Endangered Wildlife Trust by Rand Merchant Bank, the Pretoria East branch of the South African Hunter’s and Game Conservation Association, Arrow Bulk Marketing, Cellar Rats Wine Club, Bill Flynn and Diaz Films.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ther2

Utilizing Temporally Invariant Calibration Sites to Classify Multiple Dates and Types of Satellite Imagery

Mapping past time periods (retrospective mapping) using remotely sensed data is hindered by a lack of coincident calibration and validation information. The identification of features of same ground cover invariant across time and their use as calibration and validation data addresses this challenge by: (a) streamlining the process of image calibration for multiple dates, and (b) allowing each image to generate its own spectral signature. This study investigates the use of temporally invariant calibration and validation data to map land-cover in Massachusetts, employing five satellite images collected from five separate dates and different sensors. The results indicate that this technique can be used to produce land cover classifications of similar overall map accuracy to published mapping studies. Classification accuracy using this method is highly dependent on the characteristics (radiometric, spectral, and spatial) of the satellite imagery. © 2011 American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing