Javier Velázquez

Universidad Católica de Ávila | UCAVILA

Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) is listed as endangered according to IUCN criteria. The high degree of fragmentation and anthropogenic disturbances in capercaillie habitat suggests that habitat patterns may be related to decline of capercaillie populations in northern Spain. The objectives of this study are: (1) determining c...

Conservation and enhancement of ecological connectivity is widely recognized as one of the key objec-tives of forest landscape management. However, practical difficulties still exist due to the lack of pragmatic and operational methodologies that can be efficiently applied for these purposes within the scope of a forest management plan. Here we pre...

This paper studies the relationship between environmental quality and social welfare in local (urban and rural) areas. Based on a database of municipality indicators for the Spanish region of Extremadura, we find clear evidence of interconnection and compatibility between ecological and social welfare concerns. We apply distance-based objective ind...

The reduction and fragmentation of forests due to human activities are two primary factors that have led to forest biodiversity losses. The lack of forest continuation may prevent organisms from escaping areas that are no longer habitable due to altered environmental conditions and the reduction in size of habitat regions. Therefore, protecting and...

Erosion by water is the main cause of land degradation. Landscapes degraded by erosion need to be restored in many respects, and particularly in terms of ecosystem services. From an economic and management perspective, care is needed to select priority areas and determine the means to be applied to restore them. Globally, the model most commonly us...

Walkability is a modern concept that has become important in recent years due to the doubtless effects it has on aspects such as health and wellbeing, sustainable development, climate change, and tourism. It is necessary, therefore, that urban development strategies aim to achieve walkable cities. The main objective of this study is to define a met...

Incorporating risk analysis into physical planning is increasingly necessary to anticipate and take appropriate measures to prevent and defend against disasters. This paper extends the concept of carrying capacity by studying two models: an ecosystem-bringing capacity model and a territorial model of construction on rural land. A climate change var...

Tourism is an activity that generates important benefits; in the case of Costa Rica, it focuses its activity on natural areas, using the different ecosystem services (ES) and obtaining economic and social benefits. However, its ecological value can diminish, making it necessary to implement methods to estimate its sustainability. This paper propose...

Improving connectivity is the most commonly used approach employed in biodiversity conservation to mitigate habitat fragmentation. Graph-based networks relying on species-oriented definitions of nodes and edges are powerful tools for evaluating landscape connectivity. However, few studies have examined the effects of seasonal variation and uncertai...

Erosion by water is the main cause of land degradation. Landscapes degraded by erosion need to be restored in many respects, and particularly in terms of ecosystem services. From an economic and management perspective, care is needed to select priority areas and determine the means to be applied to restore them. Globally, the model most commonly us...

Citation: Rincón, V.; Velázquez, J.; Gülçin, D.; López-Sánchez, A.; Jiménez, C.; Özcan, A.U.; López-Almansa, J.C.; Santamaría, T.; Sánchez-Mata, D.; Çiçek, K. Mapping Priority Areas for Connectivity of Yellow-Winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum, Linnaeus 1758) under Climate Change. Land 2023, 12, 298. Abstract: The yellow-winged darter (Sympetrum fl...

Habitats have been undergoing significant changes due to environmental processes and human impact that lead into habitat fragmentation and connectivity loss. To improve quality habitats and maintain ecological connectivity, elements that improve the connectivity of habitats need to be identified. To meet this goal, finding optimal pathways location...

Forecasting the distribution patterns of invasive weed species under changing climate conditions is critical for the early identification of especially vulnerable regions and the implementation of effective preventive measures. In this study, the current and potential range of stranglewort (Cynanchum acutum L.)—an invasive alien species (IAS) in ce...

As a consequence of the exponential increase of the demographic and technological development of the human being, conflicts with the natural environment are accentuated. Pollution or the loss of biodiversity represent examples of problems that we must face to maintain the balance between the evolution of human beings and the conservation of nature....

The internal characteristics of dwellings and their level of accessibility to basic services have traditionally been the main variables in establishing their level of quality; however, in large cities, problems associated with traffic and environmental quality are becoming increasingly important because of their impact on people's quality of life....

The effects of climate change on species can influence the delicate balance in ecosystems. For this reason, conservation planning needs to take account of connectivity and the related ecological processes within the framework of climate change. In this study, we focus on the change in the ecological connectivity of the Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani...

The Natura 2000 protected area network is one of the EU's flagship biodiversity conservation initiatives. This study compares the network in two autonomous communities in Spain against maps based on areas of importance for biodiversity. The researchers report that the current network aligns well with priority areas, but there are some opportunities...

This paper presents a multi-criteria methodology for the detection of optimal locations for solar photovoltaic installations connected to the electrical grid. The proposed methodology has been applied to the island of Tenerife, as it is one of the territories in Spain with the greatest solar potential. This methodology integrates an Aptitude Model...

Climate projections for the near future suggest a general increase in temperatures and a decrease in precipitation in Castilla y León (Northwest Iberian Peninsula). In this context, hydrographic networks may be reduced due to the decrease in flow accumulation, which may compromise the connectivity of riparian habitats and aggravate fragmentation pr...

Dataset accompanying the publication "A Well-Being Index for Housing in the Central Districts of Madrid, Spain" (Journal of Urban Planning and Development 2022, 148-2). The internal characteristics of dwellings and their level of accessibility to basic services have traditionally been the main variables in establishing their level of quality; howev...

Natura 2000 network is becoming increasingly important for ecosystem services but not all human activities are limited as long as they ensure protection of conservation values. Private owned areas should harmonize biodiversity conservation and other compatible land uses with human activities sustainability. The purpose of this study is to present a...

Forest planning and management must be conceived in accordance with the circumstances and needs of the moment. Nowadays, the forest does not have a single and exclusive productive use but responds to multiple demands. The stand management method, with a broad approach, is has been recently well adapted to this type of multipurpose management. This...

The aim of the Natura 2000 Network is to ensure the conservation of habitats and species in their natural areas of distribution. Connectivity is an essential part of this conservation. For this purpose, a value map of importance for biodiversity (V.I.B) was generated proposing 4 levels of protection and overlapped with the Natura 2000 network. N...

Se presenta información sobre la localización de lugares de reproducción de la especie Anax imperator Leach, 1815 en lagunas de alta montaña del Sistema Central en la provincia de Ávila. Las citas de reproducción de esta especie en los años 80 en esta zona se limitaban a altitudes cercanas a los 1300 m s.n.m. Sin embargo, coincidiendo con un aument...

This paper presents a methodology to study the connectivity that livestock trails can offer to guarantee the transit of organisms and access to pasturelands. In this regard, a connectivity analysis was carried out in two scenarios: Basic Scenario (Scenario 1: pasture) and Extended Scenario (Scenario 2: pasture + livestock trails) by using the Morph...

Establecimiento de la red hidrográfica sobre la base de las variaciones climáticas observadas y determinación de la red de hábitats riparios en la Cuenca Hidrográfica del Río Duero

Modelización de la red hidrológica actual y de escenarios de cambio climático en la Cuenca Hidrográfica del río Duero, España.

Análisis de la situación del lobo en Ávila, centrado en el conflicto generado con la ganadería extensiva. Creación de un modelo de GIS que cataloga las zonas de un territorio en función de su riesgo a sufrir ataques de lobo a la ganadería e identificación de medidas de prevención eficaces y contrastadas.

The space-time dynamics and the effect of urban growth on territory transformation were simulated with Iber 2D to analyze flooding events in the lower basin of the Sabinal River, Mexico. We classified the main coverages and land uses of the study area. Soil roughness and water infiltration in the soil were evaluated. Both values were used as input...

El presente estudio versa sobre el diseño de una metodología para la correcta ubicación de tejados verdes en la ciudad de Madrid, que ayuden a paliar las consecuencias de la excesiva contaminación, tráfico y escasez de áreas verdes. Su empleo logra, entre otras ventajas, reducir los efectos de la isla de calor, disminuir la contaminación acústica,...

Urbanization is one of the agents that contribute most to habitat fragmentation and is therefore a threat to biodiversity conservation. Connectivity improvement is the adaptation strategy most often cited to address species conservation in a changing environment.Many studies of protection at local and regional level zones usually show separate port...

Due to the numerous environmental problems facing today's society, and especially urban areas, green roofs are presented as an adequate technique to fight the consequences of pollution, traffic and lack of green areas. These green structures help to reduce the effects of Urban Heat Island, to decrease noise and atmospheric pollution, to protect hom...

Connectivity loss has been identified as one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, at both the species and ecosystem levels. This study aims to find possible correlations between structural connectivity and faunal orichness and landscape diversity in Spain’s largest region, Castilla y León. Based on data provided by the National Biodiversity Inv...

The European Union (EU) ensures the conservation of biodiversity through the Natura 2000 Network, which establishes the classification and selection of protected areas at European level. Unfortunately, member countries cannot make the best zoning decisions for biodiversity conservation because there are no clear and uniform parameters to designate...

RESUMEN La presente comunicación versa sobre el diseño de una metodología basada en un enfoque multicriterio para evaluar la correcta ubicación de instalaciones de producción de energía solar fotovoltaica conectadas a la red eléctrica en territorios insulares. Para ello, se integrarán en un modelo de decisión una serie de criterios o factores de ap...

La presente comunicación versa sobre el diseño de una metodología basada en un enfoque multicriterio para evaluar la correcta ubicación de instalaciones de producción de energía solar fotovoltaica conectadas a la red eléctrica en territorios insulares. Para ello, se integrarán en un modelo de decisión una serie de criterios o factores de aptitud e...

La Red Natura 2000 es una herramienta aplicada por la Unión Europea con el objetivo de proteger la biodiversidad mediante la clasificación y selección de espacios protegidos. Estos espacios se designan a partir de la Directiva Hábitats y la Directiva Aves, sin embargo no están establecidos unos parámetros homogéneos que permitan medir la idoneidad...

This educational project aims to digitally reconstruct a wood library (collection of samples of various species of wood) in order to integrate them into the LMS. To do this, we propose the use of high resolution scanned textures to acquire three-dimensional reproduction of wood samples. This technology has been recently developed for the proposed a...

Ecological sustainable landscapes require that their ecological processes can be sustained over time. Spatial het-erogeneity is recognized as a very influent factor in biological diversity, but there is still a need to evaluate how this heterogeneity changes with scale and how pattern or processes change with the definition of the detail level, so...

The European Union (EU), through its initiative Natura 2000, established the classification and selection of protected areas at European level in order to ensure biodiversity conservation. However, there are not clear and uniform parameters to enable member countries to make the best decisions of zoning for biodiversity conservation. For this reaso...

La Red Natura 2000 tiene como objetivo proteger la biodiversidad a nivel europeo y garantizar la conectividad de distintas zonas de conservación de la biodiversidad a lo largo de la Unión Europea. Estas zonas de conservación se corresponden con la presencia de hábitats naturales a conservar bajo las instrucciones de las Directivas Aves y Hábitats....

Natura 2000 is a European network of protected areas established under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). According to the Habitats Directive, habitat maps must be periodically updated, which requires the development of cost- and time-efficient mapping practices. In this study, we propose a methodology for habitat mapping using very high spatial r...

The urban canopy is a very valuable element in cities, and its environmental benefits are significant. It is very important for cities to assess adequately their canopy. An important part of its value is related to the tree number density according to the population density. The most commonly used methods for tree appraisal use subjective means to...

The main goal of Natura 2000 network is to guarantee the favourable conservation status of habitats and species ensuring European biodiversity. As a result, certain forest areas have been included in this network listed as 9230-Quercus pyrenaica habitat and 9340-Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia forest habitat. These areas were previously used for f...

Urbanization has been a significant cause of deforestation throughout the latter half of the 20th century, and given global demographic trends, the conversion of forested land to urban uses will likely continue. California has had a long history of converting forests, and urbanization has been one of the principle drivers. While many studies have e...

Spanish open oak woodlands have had multiple land uses such as firewood extraction and grazing through centuries. Consequently, 20% of the Spanish forest is coppice forest. This particular agrosilvopastoral system is well widespread in the southern and western part of the Iberian Peninsula. As a result of the implementation of Natura 2000 in Spain,...

Conservation, protection and improvement of the environmental quality, including the conservation of habitats, as well as natural flora and wild fauna are one of the main objectives of the European Union environmental policy. The conservation of biodiversity in Europe is defined by Directive 92/43/EEC –commonly known as Habitats Directive– relating...

Calcareous amendments are being used in Tuber melanosporum truffle plantations in attempts to eradicate Tuber brumale. However, there are no studies available which provide soil analysis and statistical data on this topic. We studied 77 soil samples to compare the values for carbonates, pH and total organic carbon in T. brumale truffières with the...

La presente Tesis Doctoral propone una metodología para la ordenación integral de espacios forestales de la Red Natura 2000, que dé respuesta tanto a las disposiciones establecidas en la Directiva Hábitats, como a los requerimientos específicos de gestión de la ordenación tradicional de montes. Para ello, se propone la adaptación de la estructura y...