Here we describe an economic development programme termed ARISE – an acronym for African Rural Initiatives for Sustainable Environments.

This study investigates today’s plant species richness and composition in cultivated and recently abandoned
arable land of Kosovo. Relationships between these aspects of vegetation and both environmental features
and agricultural management measures are studied at the regional and plot scale. In 2006, 432 vegetation relevés
with a standard plot size of 25 m² were recorded in cultivated fields. In 2007, data collection focussed on 41 plots
in arable fields that had been abandoned the year before. With respect to the environment, data analysis accounts

In the ten years 1903-1913 Arrigo Serpieri delivered the lessons of rural economy and evaluation in the Technical Superior Institute of Milano, following his teacher Vittorio Niccoli.

Peninsula effects - decreasing richness with increasing distance along peninsula lobes - have been identified for
many taxa on large peninsulas. Peninsula effects are caused by differences in colonization and extinction predicted
by island biogeography or by environmental gradients along the peninsula. We compared species-area regressions
for cove patches (i.e., mainland) to regressions for lobe patches (i.e., on peninsula tips) for wet meadow birds
along a highly interdigitated shoreline (northern Lake Huron, USA). We conducted analysis both with and without

The relationships between patterns and processes lie at the core of modern landscape ecology. These dependences
can be quantified by using indices related to the patch-corridor-matrix model. This model conceptualizes
landscapes as planar mosaics consisting of discrete patches. On the other hand, relief variability is a key factor for
many ecological processes, and therefore these processes can be better modeled by integrating information concerning
the third dimension of landscapes. This can be done by generating a triangle mesh which approximates

Mountain timber lines are relevant in the context of land abandonment and climate change. For Switzerland,
GIS-compliant delimitations of the tree line and the forest line are still lacking. Recent high-resolution landcover
information offers new possibilities for GIS-based approaches. In a Swiss-wide study, an analysis based
on slope zones was combined with a moving-window analysis to assess tree and forest line altitude, using
topographic data. The tree and the forest lines were delimited at the upper altitude reached by a tree or closed

Wild herbivorous mammals may damage treeline vegetation an cause soil erosion at a local scale. In many high
mountain areas of Europe and North America, large numbers of red deer have become a threat to the maintenance
of high-elevation forests and attempts to restore the climatic treeline. In northern Fennoscandia, overgrazing by
reindeer in combination with mass outbreaks of the autumnal moth are influencing treeline dynamics. Moose are
also increasingly involved damaging treeline forest. In the Alps, the re-introduction of ibex is causing local damage

Landslide is one of the most challenging disasters on the earth, which is believed to cause other natural catastrophic incidents. Normally, in studying landslide we investigate different influencing factors such as gender land, atmospheric rainfall, gradients’ change, earthquake, volcanic eruption, subterranean water vibration, and human causes in the form of different models. These facts are blamed as the main share in appearing this phenomenon.

The general trend of climatically-driven treeline advance is modified by regional, local and temporal variations. Treelines will not advance in a closed front parallel to the shift of any isotherm to higher elevations and more northern latitudes. The effects of varying topography on site conditions and the after-effects of historical disturbances by natural and anthropogenic factors may override the effects of slightly higher average temperatures. Moreover, the varying treeline-forming species respond in different ways to a changing climate.

This paper analyzes the legal framework of land management and water in Nicaragua. The starting point is the Constitution of 1987 and its amendments of 1995 and 2014, which state laws related to these processes; then the main rules that underlie the constitutional mandate are addressed; finally, the regulatory framework and the national situation are valued. The research is exploratory, documental and explanatory. The study provides a comprehensive view of the laws of the sector and some problems in the regulatory framework for water management.

Neste estudo foram analisados os programas de fomento florestal das empresas do segmento de celulose. O objetivo é identificar a participação do fomento florestal no suprimento de madeira e as dimensões definidas nos contratos desses programas. Para o estudo utilizou-se o referencial teórico da nova economia institucional, particularmente a teoria dos contratos incompletos de longo prazo e dos custos de transação. Utilizou-se a abordagem qualitativa da pesquisa exploratória e descritiva.

The high variety of ecosystem service categorisation systems, assessment frameworks, indicators,
quantification methods and spatial localisation approaches allows scientists and decision makers to harness
experience, data, methods and tools. On the other hand, this variety of concepts and disagreements among
scientists hamper an integration of ecosystem services into contemporary environmental management and
decision making. In this article, the current state of the art of ecosystem service science regarding spatial