Magnificent beaches, peculiar karst environment, leisure hotels, recreational areas along Mexico’s Caribbean coasts make it one of the world’s beach tourism attractions. This study quantifies land use and land cover (LULC) changes across four zones of eastern Quintana Roo (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel Island) from 1990 to 2020 using multitemporal Landsat imagery, change detection analysis and two anthropization indices: The Tourist Urbanization Index (TUI) and the Beach Alteration Index (BAI). The acquired results indicate a progressive conversion of native land cover, including swampy land and evergreen forest into built-up area, with Cancun and Playa del Carmen showing the highest transformation rates (50%), while Tulum (30%) and Cozumel Island (15%) exhibited more change. BAI showed 100% alteration for all zones and decades, indicating extreme coastal alteration driven by the combined effects of tourism-urban expansion, recurrent hurricane disturbances and its artificial beach nourishment programs. These findings underscore the prerequisite for an intergraded coastal management strategy that balance tourism development with the conservation of the Caribbean’s unique coastal biodiversity.
Sacred groves are culturally protected vegetation patches in which biodiversity conservation has historically been associated with local beliefs, rituals, customary restrictions and community management. This study evaluated the contemporary conservation significance of Sacred groves in Bankura District, West Bengal, by integrating ecological assessment with an exploratory measure of cultural continuity. Ten Sacred groves and four non-sacred reference sites were surveyed from January 2022 to February 2023 for plant and animal diversity, species richness and abundance. Cultural continuity was assessed using a semi-quantitative Cultural Integrity Index (CII) based on ritual frequency, sacredness, priestly involvement, observance of traditional taboos and community participation. Sacred groves showed higher mean species richness (43.50 ± 9.12) and abundance (324.60 ± 101.88) than reference sites (33.00 ± 5.94 and 253.00 ± 98.35, respectively), although exact permutation tests were not significant for richness (p = 0.064) or abundance (p = 0.259). The combined standardized richness–abundance profile also did not differ significantly between site categories (PERMANOVA, pseudo-F = 2.780, p = 0.108). Nevertheless, several documented taxa occurred only in Sacred groves, and diversity indices generally tended to be higher there. CII scores ranged from 9 to 23 and were positively associated with plant Shannon diversity (ρ = 0.681, p = 0.030) and Simpson diversity (ρ = 0.648, p = 0.043), whereas associations with animal diversity were positive but non-significant. These findings indicate that Sacred groves retain important but heterogeneous conservation value and are best viewed as dynamic biocultural landscapes in which ecological condition and cultural continuity interact.
In fire-prone ecosystems, litter is a key component of surface fuels, and species assemblages play a relevant role in determining plant fuel characteristics. In this context, the introduction of alien species may alter fire regimes by modifying the structure and composition of pre-existing native communities. In central Argentina, Pinus halepensis is an alien species that has expanded over the high-altitude native grasslands, forming invasive populations that are increasing rapidly. This study aimed to evaluate changes in the litter flammability associated with this invasion process. We compared litter biophysical characteristics, litter flammability parameters and species-specific litter flammability between pine-invaded grasslands and adjacent, non-invaded grasslands. Dry biomass and bulk density of litter were significantly higher in invaded plots than in adjacent non-invaded plots (p < 0.001). Propagation, flame duration, maximum flame temperature, maximum flame height, and percentage of the sample burned were also higher in invaded plots than in adjacent non-invaded plots (p < 0.05). Regarding the species-specific flammability parameters, P. halepensis showed a similar ignition time to the native grassland species, whereas the maximum temperature reached was significantly higher for the invader. Overall, these results suggest that this species contributes significantly in altering fire behavior in the region, potentially increasing the fire severity in invaded grasslands, anreshaping long-term vegetation dynamics. High-altitude grasslands are ecosystems of high conservation value that provide key ecological and cultural functions. The invasion of P. halepensis may further intensify ecosystem degradation by increasing fire severity, altering post-fire recovery, reducing grassland resilience, and promoting long-term soil degradation in vulnerable mountain ecosystems.
Urban green spaces provide substantial ecological, social, and health benefits, yet these benefits are often inadequately captured in conventional markets, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions. This study examines the additional percentage of the housing purchase budget that respondents are willing to allocate when purchasing a residential property located near publicly accessible urban green spaces in Kolkata, India, using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Based on a survey of 414 respondents, the study models both the likelihood and the magnitude of willingness to pay as a percentage increase in the housing purchase budget for a residential property located near publicly accessible urban green spaces. Binary logistic regression is used to analyze the decision to pay a premium, while Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and ordered logit models estimate the premium’s magnitude. An exploratory factor analysis is also employed to capture latent perceptual dimensions associated with valuation. The results indicate that lower-income respondents are significantly less likely to increase their housing purchase budget for a residential property located near publicly acces-sible urban green spaces, highlighting affordability constraints. More importantly, perceptual factors dominate economic valuation. The perceived benefits of green spaces—encompassing health, aes-thetic, and social dimensions—have the strongest positive effect on willingness to pay. Policy-related perceptions also play a significant role, whereas actual usage of green spaces is not significantly associated with budget decisions. The findings suggest that willingness to pay for residential prox-imity to publicly accessible urban green spaces is associated not only with income but also with individuals’ perceived benefits of green spaces and their support for green infrastructure policies. A two-standard-deviation increase in the Perceived Benefits factor is associated with an estimated 3.56-percentage-point increase in expected WTP, indicating that respondents place an economically meaningful value on residential proximity to publicly accessible urban green spaces within their hous-ing purchase decisions. This study contributes to the literature by framing stated willingness to pay as a housing purchase budget premium for residential proximity to publicly accessible urban green spaces, thereby providing evidence from a rapidly urbanizing Indian city.
Grasslands in arid and semi-arid regions provide critical ecosystem services that support pastoral livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation. However, the economic implications of grassland degradation and restoration under increasing drought pressure remain poorly understood. This study evaluates how potential alternative grassland ecological trajectories (degraded annual-dominated systems versus restored perennial-dominated systems) could affect the economic flow of ecosystem services under drought conditions in northern Kenya. Ecosystem service values were estimated using a value transfer approach based on the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database and applied to the Ewaso Ng’iro North catchment. Two vegetation scenarios were modeled to represent contrasting land management pathways and their responses to severe drought. Results indicate that annual-dominated grasslands could potentially experience a substantially greater decline in ecosystem service value during drought compared to perennial-dominated systems, reflecting the greater ecological resilience of restored grasslands. At the landscape scale, this difference represents a large potential loss in ecosystem service flows associated with degraded systems. A simplified incremental benefit-cost analysis, based on the difference in ecosystem service value between perennial and annual grasslands, resulted in estimated benefit-cost ratios of 0.32 for earth bund construction and 32.4 for Holistic Land and Livestock Management, with the difference primarily reflecting the substantially lower per-hectare implementation cost of the latter. While the monetary estimates presented here should be interpreted as indicative rather than precise valuations, the results illustrate how ecosystem service assessment and incremental benefit-cost analysis can inform restoration investment decisions in dryland landscapes facing increasing climate variability.
