Ecological restoration is increasingly called on to provide ecosystem services (ES) valuable to humans, as well as to benefit biodiversity and improve wildlife habitat. Where mechanisms to pay for ES exist, they may serve as incentives to embark on habitat restoration projects. We evaluated the potential of newly established carbon markets in the United States to incentivize afforestation along riparian corridors, by comparing the income earnable by carbon offset credits with the costs of planting, maintaining, and registering such a restoration project in California.

The U.S. South's wood supply chain has undergone major changes over the past two decades in terms of forestland ownership and forest industry structure. Recent interest in producing energy from wood has raised questions about how a vibrant wood-energy market will impact the traditional southern wood supply chain. By using a survey of consulting foresters, this study examined how harvest tract size, forest ownership, and forest industry structure have changed within the U.S. South and how foresters expect the wood-energy market to impact the wood supply chain in the future.

Goat browsing can be used as an alternative brush management option for redberry (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.) and ashe (Juniperus asheii Buch) juniper instead of more expensive and invasive brush control methods, assuming consumption of juniper does not adversely affect the marketability of offspring. Some wildlife species reportedly retain juniper flavor when consumed. We determined if juniper consumption affected meat quality or flavoring of Boer-cross kid carcasses.

The governments of countries that allow private land ownership have two main tools to motivate landowner behavior: regulations and incentives. This research examines landowner preferences toward these policy tools and asks specifically: Do private forest landowners in New Brunswick and Maine believe that regulations and/or incentives are effective means to motivate responsible stewardship? Can landowners identify explicit regulations and policies that restrict property rights?

Bioenergy is a renewable form of potential alternative to traditional fossil fuels that has come to the forefront as a result of recent concerns over high price of fuels, national security, and climate change. Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners form the dominant forest ownership group in the southern United States. These forests often tend to have large quantities of small diameter trees. Use of logging residues and non-marketable small diameter trees for bioenergy production can create economic opportunities for NIPF landowners.

This article develops a theoretical model to analyze the spatial targeting of incentives for the restoration of forested landscapes when wildlife habitat can be enhanced by reducing fragmentation. The key theoretical result is that the marginal net benefits of increasing forest can be convex, in which case corner solutions--converting either none or all of the agricultural land in a section to forest--may be optimal. Corner solutions are directly linked to the spatial process determining habitat benefits and the regulator's incomplete information regarding landowner opportunity costs.

In 2003 we conducted a study to determine the consequences of feral hog (Sus scrofa) invasions in several ecoregions of Texas. We examined the observations, experiences, and actions of landowners and managers concerning feral hogs on their property. We used purposive sampling of landowners and managers who fit 1 or more of 3 selection criteria. Landowners and managers were either sent a self-administered, mail-out questionnaire or given a copy of the questionnaire during pesticide applicator workshops. There were 775 survey participants.

This paper analyses the effect of a set of irrigation rehabilitation projects conducted over the last 10 years in Peru. The projects were conducted without the aim or the tools for a full-fledged impact evaluation. Nevertheless, this paper attempts an evaluation through the use of alternative data sources such as household surveys and geographic information, a strategy of identification of beneficiaries and control households based on spatial proximity to the projects' sites, and an econometric approach consisting of a double-differencing technique.

The spread of pest plants is a trans-boundary problem that causes losses to biodiversity and disrupts ecosystems. Much social research into, and policy development for, weeds has conceptualised their control as a problem facing individual landowners, rather than as a collective action problem. In the case of serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma), a highly invasive, noxious weed that is widespread in southeastern Australia, landowners and government staff are acutely aware that this weed is a communal problem.

Individual landowners may capture non-timber benefits from both their own forested parcels and adjacent parcels owned by different landowners. These benefits may affect incentives for landowners to cooperate in their forest management decisions. Landowner survey data is used to examine incentives to cooperate concerning joint forest management and coordination of harvesting. We find spatial factors to be particularly important to these incentives.

Optimum crop yield is greatly affected by proper planting and sowing times. The objective of this research was to develop an algorithm that uses the heat unit concept to determine the most suitable planting times for vegetable crops. The developed algorithm was programmed in a database environment with sample climatic data for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The model was tested by validation (comparison to experts’ estimations), verification (statistical comparison to formal published data), and evaluation (by professionals, landowners, and farmers).

The fate of ecosystem services (ESS) in the United States depends on the actions of private landowners and operators (‘farmers’). This work uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative method to understand farmer knowledge of ESS and willingness to manage lands from an ESS perspective. Fourteen interviews were conducted to analyze farmer understanding of ESS within the context of conservation management.