Caucasus & Central Asia

Short-term vegetation loss versus decadal degradation of grasslands in the Caucasus based on Cumulative Endmember Fractions
Land degradation affects over one-third of the global land area and is projected to become even more widespread due to climate change …
DOI
Agricultural abandonment and re-cultivation during and after the Chechen Wars in the northern Caucasus
Armed conflicts are globally widespread and can strongly influence societies and the environment. However, where and how armed conflicts …
DOI
Assessing niche overlap between domestic and threatened wild sheep to identify conservation priority areas
Populations of large ungulates are dwindling worldwide. This is especially so for wild sheep, which compete with livestock for forage, …
DOI
Large greenhouse gas savings due to changes in the post-Soviet food systems
As the global food system contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, understanding the sources of GHG …
DOI PDF
Marmots from space: assessing population size and habitat use of a burrowing mammal using publicly available satellite images
Social, burrowing mammals such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels or marmots are keystone species in grassland ecosystems. Grasslands …
DOI PDF
Post-Soviet Land-Use Change Affected Fire Regimes on the Eurasian Steppes
Fire is an important disturbance in grassland ecosystems. Anthropogenic factors, especially land use, have drastically altered fire …
DOI
Mapping agricultural land abandonment from spatial and temporal segmentation of Landsat time series
Agricultural land abandonment is a common land-use change, making the accurate mapping of both location and timing when agricultural …
DOI
Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries
Knowledge of the spatial distribution of agricultural abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union is highly uncertain. To …
DOI
Assessing landscape connectivity for large mammals in the Caucasus using Landsat 8 seasonal image composites
Land-use is transforming habitats across the globe, thereby threatening wildlife. Large mammals are especially affected because they …
DOI
Underlying Drivers and Spatial Determinants of post-Soviet Agricultural Land Abandonment in Temperate Eastern Europe
Our goal was to understand the underlying drivers and spatial determinants of agricultural land abandonment following the collapse of …
DOI