Considered by the ecologists a complex of ecosystem and by the geographers a territorial system, the landscape represents the result of long-term interaction between man and nature, translated into a certain specific structural and functional organization and into the way it is perceived by human communities. The interaction between man and landscape is reflected in land cover and use changes, which represent an instrument to assess trends of interest

Oldest known macrofossils on Earth, marine stromatolites are known to result from microbially mediated processes, and are still forming in remote environments. The microbial mats of stromatolites are fueled by cyanobacterial autotrophy. Several studies documented that cyanobacteria are able to move within these environments. Previous observations of stromatolites documented a preferential orientation of cyanobacteria, but there was no mathematical

Marine stromatolites are generated through the interactions of environmental parameters and specific microbial processes. The activities of endolithic bacteria, that bore canals through calcium carbonate (CaCO3) sand grains (ooids) and reprecipitate the CaCO3 as a single layer (i.e. micritic laminae) are especially important in the longer term stability of the stromatolite macrostructure. Image analysis and classification approaches have been used

Biofilms are bacterial colonies enveloped in a matrix of extracellular polymeric secretions. Confocal scanning laser microscopy has been used in conjunction with different image analysis techniques to investigate the structure of biofilms. A major goal is to reconstitute the three-dimensional structure of biofilms, and compute or estimate the biovolumes. Our previous research focused on the utilization of remote sensing techniques and Geographical

The unique geochemical coupling of organic molecules and mineral CaCO3provides a fluorescence signature detectable using conventional confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM). The surface microbial mats of open-water marine stromatolites (Bahamas) exist in a continuum of states ranging from a Type 1 (i.e., nonlithifying) to Type 2 (i.e., lithified micritic laminae present) to Type 3 (i.e., fused grain layer). An approach was developed here, that

The richness of the natural heritage of Romania pleads for the need of conserving its geodiversity and biodiversity. The natural protected areas (reserves) should reflect the national biogeographical diversity. Geographical Information Systems provide a methodology to assess whether this conservation goal is met. This paper focuses on employing the GIS methodology to assess whether existing natural protected areas reflect the national geodiversity,

Territorial development depends on territorial discontinuities, provided that the region is born of discontinuities, lives through them and is killed by them. Moreover, the equilibrium, as a goal of territorial cohesion, aims to reduce the gaps between regions, paying a special attention to deeply disadvantaged areas. The answer of the European Union consists of the concept of polycentricity, relying on many factors, including accessibility, which

Given the spatial dimension of urban (urbanization, deurbanization, urban restructuring etc.) and industrial (exploitation of natural resources) processes, Coordination of Information on the Environment Programme (CORINE) data provide an image of land cover/use dynamics in territorial statistical units - administrative units and development regions. This study employed ordinary kriging interpolation to depict how these processes are reflected at

The crucial importance of mountain regions in the socioeconomic and environmental cohesion policies is underlined by key documents in Romania as well as in the European Union. However, the lack of a unique definition or set of criteria used to delineate the mountain regions, in order to analyze their characteristics constitutes a barrier to the elaboration of a common strategy for their development. This study has created a methodology based upon

The extensive use of the Geographical Information Systems, but also of their extensions, in fields that do not necessary connect to geography, but allow for the implementation of methodologies based on the analysis of spatially referenced data, had resulted into new applications and methodological approaches to answer specific research questions. This paper proposes such an extension from the real space define by longitude and latitude to a virtual