Mihaita Iulian Niculae

University of Bucharest | Unibuc · Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies (CCMESI)

Habitat fragmentation is a significant threat to biodiversity conservation and the establishment of protected areas has been proposed as one of the main strategies for mitigating its impacts. Romania has established numerous Natura 2000 sites to protect habitats and species of European importance, but their effectiveness remains unclear. In Romania...

Environment Action Programmes (EAP's) are the most important documents defining the environmental policies within the European Union. Their implementation, over the previous 50 years, represented a significant advance in raising eco-friendly awareness and suggesting solutions for environmental problems in the European Union. In this paper, we used...

Environment Action Programmes (EAP's) are among the most important documents defining the environmental policies in the European Union. Their implementation during the last 50 years represented a step forward in raising awareness and solving environmental problems in European Union. In this paper, we used Institutional Grammar Tool and network anal...

Iron Gates Natural Park. Monograph An invitation to Iron Gates Natural Park: Maria Pătroescu, Laurențiu Rozylowicz, Marian C. Jiplea Iron Gates Natural Park. Administrative and legal aspects: Mihai R. Niță, Marian C. Jiplea, Diana A. Onose, Maria Pătroescu The Geography of Iron Gates Natural Park: Steluța Manolache, Iulian M. Niculae, Simona R. Gr...

Biological invasions are one of the main drivers of modern human-induced species losses. Research on the distribution of alien species and their pathways of introduction is essential for understanding and tackling the invasion process. A comprehensive overview on invasive alien plant (IAP) species in Romania is lacking. With this paper, we aim to c...

Designing natural protected areas is an effective approach for pausing biodiversity decline and habitat losses. Along its course, the Danube River has crafted unvaluable natural sanctuaries, most of them being targeted by nature conservation measures. At the same time, the Danube River has always created development opportunities for human settleme...

Parcul Natural Porţile de Fier: monografie; Invitație în Parcul Natural Porțile de Fier Maria Pătroescu, Laurențiu Rozylowicz, Marian C. Jiplea; Parcul Natural Porțile de Fier. Repere administrative și legislative Mihai R. Niță, Marian C. Jiplea, Diana A. Onose, Maria Pătroescu; Potențialul ecologic al Parcului Natural Porțile de Fier Stelu...

In general, the elaboration of the synthesis of water quality in Romania is based on the processing of a large volume of information coming from primary analytical data collected with a constant frequency by the organisms with a specific role in water quality monitoring. This study proposes a novel methodology for multi-criteria analysis aiming to...

Globally, ecosystems are constantly degrading as a result of pressures derived from human activities and climate change. For working towards the restoration of the natural balance, it is necessary to evaluate the deviations induced in the ecosystems, to identify where the changes took place, to know what is their amplitude and to decide where it is...

Large urban settlements are being organized in metropolitan areas, with a polarizing city influencing and shaping the landscape of the hinterland. Transport infrastructure networks are the main vectors for the permanent flux of resources, and these exchanges should be maintained undisturbed. A poor transportation network impedes the continuity of t...

In the context of present environmental changes, human society is continuously looking for ways to evaluate the status of ecosystems and determine human-induced modifications on their structure and functionality. A clear overview of ecosystems is fundamental in choosing the appropriate measures in our search for sustainability and improving the qua...

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Since the urban development is favoured by the amount and diversity of the natural resources (land, mineral resources, green areas, aquatic surfaces) available in the area of influ...

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Since the urban development is favoured by the amount and diversity of the natural resources (land, mineral resources, green areas, aquatic surfaces) available in the area of influ...

Our study focuses on the position of protected areas in relation to the transport infrastructure planning and their specific requirements (fragmentation, artificial edge effects, buffer zones, etc.). The presence of transport infrastructure in protected areas is discouraged by the European Union legislation and although their avoidance should be ea...

Maintaining and increasing landscape connectivity, especially of forest landscapes, are some of the main concerns regarding biodiversity conservation. The connectivity of protected areas for different species represents an indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network. Our research aims to evaluate the connectivity of forest...

Maintaining and improving landscape connectivity represents a central objective in biodiversity conservation. The present study aims to evaluate the functional connectivity of the Romanian Natura 2000 forest sites for mammals, and to determine the importance of individual forest patches in maintaining landscape connectivity. We established three gr...

Maintaining and improving landscape connectivity represents a central objective in biodiversity conservation. The present study aims to evaluate the functional connectivity of the Romanian Natura 2000 forest sites for mammals, and to determine the importance of individual forest patches in maintaining landscape connectivity. We established three gr...

Our study focuses on the position of protected areas in relation to the transport infrastructure planning and their specific requirements (fragmentation, artificial edge effects, buffer zones, etc.). The presence of transport infrastructure in protected areas is discouraged by the European Union legislation and although their avoidance should be ea...

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Since the urban development is favoured by the amount and diversity of the natural resources (land, mineral resources, green areas, aquatic surfaces) available in the area of influ...

Our study aims at evaluating the ecological impact of landscape fragmentation, identifying, and classifying the threats affecting habitats of community interest in the “Iron Gates” Natural Park. We used landscape metrics for assessing the fragmentation process, results expressing decreases in the values of three metrics (MPS, ED, SDI) and increases...

In the present paper, we identified landscape typologies in the “Iron Gates” Natural Park from Romania and assessed their dynamic starting with 1990 to 2006. We evaluated the dynamic of landscapes based on land use and land covers changes as extracted from the Corine Land Cover databases. We found no major modifications in the distribution of lands...

The Natura 2000 network is regarded as one of the conservation success stories in the global effort to protect biodiversity. However, significant challenges remain in Natura 2000 implementation, owing to its rapid expansion, and lack of a coherent vision for its future. Scientific research is critical for identifying conservation priorities, settin...

Industrial cities from post-communist countries have been confronted in the past 20 years with significant changes in their both functions and structure, due to processes of industrial restructuration, social changes, development of residential and commercial areas. This is the case of the municipality of Resita – Caras Severin County in Romania, a...

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Lately planners have been using GIS techniques, based on international and local databases, in finding the most probable scenarios and the best available solutions. Four models of...

Rapid climate change represents one of the top threats to biodiversity, causing declines and extinctions of many species. Range shifts are a key response, but in many cases are incompatible with the current extent of protected areas. In this study we used ensemble species distribution models to identify range changes for 21 reptile and 16 amphibian...

Threats to biodiversity are diverse and the management of these threats is a major research direction in the conservation of biological diversity. Determining the status of a species is essential in identifying those in danger of becoming extinct and also to establish conservation priorities. For the management of all types of threats that manifest...

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Lately planners have been using GIS techniques, based on international and local databases, in finding the most probable scenarios and the best available solutions. Four models of...

The Romanian Subcarpathian space has been the subject of continuous transformation during the last 2 centuries under the double impact of human activities and disruptive natural factors. Time and spatial dynamics of land use and coverage determined a major impact on the structure and functionality of the Subcarpathian landscape. In the Subcarpathia...

Rural space represents a definite element in the structural and functional transformations of Subcarpathian landscapes, analysed through their geodiversity, biodiversity, and cultural patrimony. The present analyse relieves historical and socioeconomic land use changes, process, which determined a restructuring of rural landscapes, allowing a class...