Seasonal Stability Tests in gretl. An Application to International Tourism Data

The seasonal stability tests of Canova & Hansen (1995) (CH) provide a method complementary to that of Hylleberg et al. (1990) for testing for seasonal unit roots. But the distribution of the CH tests are unknown in small samples. We present a method to numerically compute critical values and P-values for the CH tests for any sample size and any seasonal periodicity. In fact this method is applicable to the types of seasonality which are commonly in use, but also to any other.

Colonization and development of Oribatida mite communities (Acari: Oribatida) in the forest reclaimed limestone mine dumps

In order to study the colonization and development of moss mites (Oribatida) communities in a Scots pine forest of a reclaimed limestone mine dump in Northern Poland, 3 plots from the dump were chosen. The selected plots differed in age, 5 years old, 35 and 50 years old. From a total of 30 samples 499 mites (Acari) were extracted in Tullgren funnel from which 262 were Oribatida. Abundance (N) was analyzed in all mites and after determining the species of both, juvenile and adult stages of oribatids, the following indices were analyzed: Abundance (N), Dominance (D), Species diversity (S), Species richness (s) and Shannon’s diversity index (H). Regarding to the results obtained; oribatid mites were dominant with the highest abundance in all assemblages (Plot 1: 139 Oribatida /299 Acari. Plot 2: 40/55 and Plot 3: 83/145). Tectocepheus velatus showed a very high dominance (45,99%) in plot 1; the highest value for Shannon’s diversity index belonged to plot 3. On the other hand, juvenile’s percentage was significantly higher than adult’s percentage, especially at plot 2 (95,02%). These results made us to conclude that the high abundance of oribatids in the youngest forest is due to T. velatus’s high abundance and that plot 3 is the best habitat for mites. Finally, the high occurrence of juvenile stages requires keeping on studying the area.

Classifying Ecosystem Services for Economic Valuation: The case of forest water services

30 p.

Economic Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Services Losses: Cost of Policy Inaction

52 p.

Modeling the Links between Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Human Wellbeing in the Context of Climate Change: Results from an Econometric Analysis on the European Forest Ecosystems

25 p.

Study and comparison of four forest structures on Mt. Chortiatis (northern Greece)

EL proyecto estudia y analiza la estructura de cuatro bosques en el monte Chortiatis, Grecia.

Seasonal Blowfly Distribution and Abundance in Fragmented Landscapes. Is It Useful in Forensic Inference about Where a Corpse Has Been Decaying?

Blowflies are insects of forensic interest as they may indicate characteristics of the environment where a body has been laying prior to the discovery. In order to estimate changes in community related to landscape and to assess if blowfly species can be used as indicators of the landscape where a corpse has been decaying, we studied the blowfly community and how it is affected by landscape in a 7,000 km(2) region during a whole year. Using baited traps deployed monthly we collected 28,507 individuals of 10 calliphorid species, 7 of them well represented and distributed in the study area. Multiple Analysis of Variance found changes in abundance between seasons in the 7 analyzed species, and changes related to land use in 4 of them (Calliphora vomitoria, Lucilia ampullacea, L. caesar and L. illustris). Generalised Linear Model analyses of abundance of these species compared with landscape descriptors at different scales found only a clear significant relationship between summer abundance of C. vomitoria and distance to urban areas and degree of urbanisation. This relationship explained more deviance when considering the landscape composition at larger geographical scales (up to 2,500 m around sampling site). For the other species, no clear relationship between land uses and abundance was found, and therefore observed changes in their abundance patterns could be the result of other variables, probably small changes in temperature. Our results suggest that blowfly community composition cannot be used to infer in what kind of landscape a corpse has decayed, at least in highly fragmented habitats, the only exception being the summer abundance of C. vomitoria.