Land-use emissions accompanying biomass loss, change in soil organic carbon (ΔSOC) and decomposing wood-products, were comparable with fossil fuel emissions in the late 20th century. We examine the rates, magnitudes and uncertainties for major carbon (C) fluxes for rangelands due to commercial grazing and climate change in Australia. Total net C emission from biomass over 369Mha of rangeland to-date was 0.73 (±0.40)Pg, with 83% of that from the potentially forested 53% of the rangelands. A higher emission estimate is likely from a higher resolution analysis.

The study investigated farmers' perception of land degradation, and adoption of soil conservation practices using a two-stage decision making process. The data for the study were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive analysis and simultaneous probit model. The results show erosion as the major cause of land degradation and 69% of the farmers experienced a low level of crop loss to land degradation. Majority of the farmers (80%) prefer fertilizer application as a conservation method.

The Turpan Oasis is a typical fragile environment that lies in an arid region of eastern Xinjiang and is affected by natural conditions and human activities. The severity of the land degradation and desertification in this area is increasing; therefore, ecological vulnerability evaluations are important for environmental management of the region. In this study, theories and methods of evaluating ecological vulnerability and the typical characteristics of ecological vulnerability were summarized.

Graph-based analysis is a promising approach for analyzing the functional and structural connectivity of landscapes. In human-shaped landscapes, species have become vulnerable to land degradation and connectivity loss between habitat patches. Movement across the landscape is a key process for species survival that needs to be further investigated for heterogeneous human-dominated landscapes.

The net effect of heavy grazing and land degradation on plant diversity and richness is insufficiently understood for incorporation in national biodiversity assessments. A study was undertaken to determine the effects of heavy grazing primarily on richness of vascular plant species across the arid and semi-arid rangeland biomes of South Africa. Major grazing contrasts were systematically identified for sampling in rangelands of Succulent Karoo, Nama-Karoo, Thicket, Grassland, Kalahari dune savanna and Mopane savanna.

Land degradation and their restoration are emerging issues all over the world for the environmental management. In this study, degraded sodic land was rehabilitated through afforestation and cropping for 50years.

A conceptual framework is developed and used for improving the livelihood of Sub-Saharan communities faced with multiple stresses resulting from adverse environments, vector-transmitted diseases, and limited food. Ecosocial systems are the units for management. The accumulation of ecological, economic, and social capital is the objective of management, the reduction of maintenance costs is the key strategy, and technologies must satisfy ecological, economic, and social criteria.

The island of Sri Lanka is free from serious natural hazards such as volcanic activity and earthquakes resulting from climatic extremes, but there are impacts of many natural disasters, such as landslides, floods and droughts, the intensity and frequency of which are increasing due to human interventions. Some areas of Sri Lanka are also periodically subject to cyclones that occur due to climatic conditions and geographical locations.Land degradation denotes all natural or anthropogenic processes that diminish or impair productivity of land.

Soil erosion by water is currently one of the most notable types of land degradation in Samanalawewa Watershed in Sri Lanka, creating copious environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Thus, with the aim of detecting and mapping the rates of human-induced soil erosion in the watershed, remote sensing and geographic information system based modelling and field experiments were carried out.

Land degradation in the Mediterranean Basin is clearly connected to the resilience of perturbed ecosystems, contributing to land abandonment, recurrent fires and biodiversity loss, with the prevalence of secondary shrublands that tend to occupy large areas. This is the case of Cistus ladanifer shrublands, one of the most widespread shrub communities in the Iberian Peninsula and a poor, uniform and resilient system. Here, we analyse the impact of several management practices in the recovery of territories largely occupied by this shrubland.

Poverty reduction and sustainable land management are two objectives that most Africancountries strive to achieve simultaneously. In designing policies to achieve theseobjectives concurrently a clear understanding of their linkage is crucial. Yet there isonly limited empirical evidence to demonstrate the linkage between poverty and land managementin Africa. Using Uganda as a case study, this analysis seeks to better understand thislinkage. We used several poverty measures to demonstrate the linkage between poverty and anumber of indicators of sustainable land management.

Periodic and regular assessment of land degradation in arid regions of the world is essential for implementing suitable corrective measures in time. Assessment of soil properties based on soil sampling from hot arid tracts followed by laboratory analysis is a formidable task. Reflectance spectroscopy appears to be an emerging technology for the assessment of soils in extreme environment.