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Landscape metrics are used in a wide range of environmental studies such as land use change and land degradation studies, soil erosion and runoff predictions, management of hunting communities, and strategic planning for environmental management, to name but a few. Due to their utility for a variety of applications, there are many indices and software packages that have been designed to provide calculations and analysis of landscape structure patterns in categorical maps. With the purpose of making a profound comparison between the most used tools (Fragstats, V-Late, PA4…), we examined their advantages and disadvantages in order to create a list of common features that need to be incorporated into this type of software. We believe that an API without limitations on data input is necessary, capable of calculating vector or raster metrics and very extensible. This API should make it possible not only to build third party applications in easily, but would also make it possible to add new metrics and research into new paradigms related to traditional landscape metrics. We have started to develop a proposal based on open standards, which is FOSS. We have called this API Land-metrics DIY (Do It Yourself). It can calculate almost 40 landscape metrics from geometry provided by an ESRI Shapefile, but we are working to complete its contents as we explain in this article.

The present study aims to inventory and analyse the ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinal plants in the Serra de Mariola Natural Park. In respect to traditional uses, 93 species reported by local informants were therapeutic, 27 food, 4 natural dyes and 13 handcrafts. We developed a methodology that allowed the location of individuals or vegetation communities with a specific popular use. We prepared a geographic information system (GIS) that included gender, family, scientific nomenclature and common names in Spanish and Catalan for each species. We also made a classification of 39 medicinal uses from ATC (Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical classification system). Labiatae (n=19), Compositae (n=9) and Leguminosae (n=6) were the families most represented among the plants used to different purposes in humans. Species with the most elevated cultural importance index (CI) values were Thymus vulgaris (CI=1.431), Rosmarinus officinalis (CI=1.415), Eryngium campestre (CI=1.325), Verbascum sinuatum (CI=1.106) and Sideritis angustifolia (CI=1.041). Thus, the collected plants with more therapeutic uses were: Lippia triphylla (12), Thymus vulgaris and Allium roseum (9) and Erygium campestre (8). The most repeated ATC uses were: G04 (urological use), D03 (treatment of wounds and ulcers) and R02 (throat diseases). These results were in a geographic map where each point represented an individual of any species. A database was created with the corresponding therapeutic uses. This application is useful for the identification of individuals and the selection of species for specific medicinal properties. In the end, knowledge of these useful plants may be interesting to revive the local economy and in some cases promote their cultivation.

Camera traps have become a widely used technique for conducting biological inventories, generating a large number of database records of great interest. The main aim of this paper is to describe a new Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), developed to facilitate the management of camera trapped data originated in a protected Mediterranean area (SE Spain). In the last decade, some other useful alternatives have been proposed, but ours focuses especially on a collaborative undertaking and on the importance of spatial information underpinning common camera trap studies. This FOSS application, namely "Camera Trap Manager" (CTM), has been designed to expedite the processing of the pictures on the .NET platform. CTM has a very intuitive user interface, automatic extraction of some image metadata (date, time, moon phase, location, temperature, atmospheric pressure, among others), analytical (Geographical Information Systems, statistics, charts, among others) and reporting capabilities (ESRI Shapefiles, Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets, PDF reports, among others). Using this application we have achieved a very simple management, fast analysis, and a significant reduction of costs. While we were able to classify an average of 55 pictures per hour manually, CTM has made it possible to process over 1,000 photographs per hour, consequently retrieving a greater amount of data.

Hunting bags provide important information for conservation measures and wildlife management. This study is to assess relationships between landscape structure and game species. The community parameters (abundance, richness and diversity) and landscape/land use indices have been related, using GIS and statistical analysis, in the South-East of Spain (Marina Baja, Alicante). Game species richness (S) is determined by the presence of fruit groves (p = 0.001, R = 0.714) and landscape shape. The total density of species (TD) is influenced positively by fruit groves (p = 0.001, R = 0.783) and wooded shrublands (p = 0.002, R = 0.911), but is influenced negatively by urban areas (p < 0.001, R = 0.844). Small game communities correlate to irrigated fruit (p = 0.002, R = 0.754) and dry vineyard (p = 0.021, R = 0.839) and also with the diversity landscape index (p = 0.029, R = 0.708). Big game density is positively related to holm oak (p = 0.018, R = 0.812) and dense pine forests (p = 0.001, R = 0.849) and also with the total area landscape index (p = 0.011, R = 0.921). Population control species prefer irrigated fruit (p < 0.001, R = 0.775), fruit groves (p < 0.001, R = 0.857) and irrigated vineyard (p = 0.017, R = 0.833) land uses. Our conclusion is that most game species presents a positive relation with landscape structure, such as fractal dimension and shape index, and traditional agriculture based on irrigated and dry fruit crops.Additional key words: game community; GIS; hunting bags; Mediterranean agrosystem; semi-arid climate. ResumenPrincipales indicadores del paisaje que afectan a la comunidad de especies cinegéticas en un agroecosistema semiárido en la región mediterránea Los estadísticos de caza proporcionan información fundamental para implementar medidas de conservación y manejo de fauna. Este estudio pretende evaluar las relaciones entre la estructura del paisaje y las especies de caza. Se han relacionado los parámetros de la comunidad (abundancia, riqueza y diversidad), el paisaje y los índices de uso del suelo, usando SIG y análisis estadísticos, en el sureste de España (Marina Baja, Alicante). La riqueza de especies (S) está correlacionada positivamente con los frutales (p = 0,001, R = 0,714) y la forma del paisaje. La densidad total de especies (TD) está influenciada positivamente por los frutales (p = 0,001, R = 0,783) y el matorral arbolado (p = 0,002, R = 0,911), aunque influida negativamente por las zonas urbanas (p < 0,001, R = 0,844). Las especies de caza menor se correlacionan con el frutal de regadío (p = 0,002, R = 0,754), el viñedo de secano (p = 0,021, R = 0,839) y con el índice de diversidad del paisaje (p = 0,029, R = 0,708). La densidad de especies de caza mayor se relaciona positivamente con el encinar (p = 0,018, R = 0,812), el pinar denso (p = 0,001, R = 0,849) y con el índice de área total del paisaje (p = 0,011, R = 0,921). Las especies que requieren control de la población prefieren el frutal (p < 0,001, R = 0,775), la viña de regadío (p = 0,017, R = 0,833) y frutales de sec...