Regional analysis of large wildfire potential given climate change scenarios is crucial to understanding areas most at risk in the future, yet wildfire models are not often developed and tested at this spatial scale. We fit three historical climate suitability models for large wildfires (i.e. ≥ 400 ha) in Colorado and Wyoming using topography and decadal climate averages corresponding to wildfire occurrence at the same temporal scale. The historical models classified points of known large wildfire occurrence with high accuracies.

The Central Asian countries are particularly affected by the global climate change. The cultural and economic centers in this mostly arid region have to rely solely on the water resources provided by the rapidly melting glaciers in the Pamir, Tien-Shan and Alay mountains. By 2030, the available water resources will be 30 % lower than today while the water demand will increase by 30 %. The unsustainable land and water use leads to a water deficit and a deterioration of the water quality.

This special issue focuses on terrestrial biogeochemical cycles and their roles in determining current continental-scale budgets and future trends in biogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) for North America.

The distribution of subterranean copepods may reflect the persistence of cave assemblages in relation to the environmental health of the overlying landscape. Areas supporting groundwater fauna were established by modelling the persistence of seven copepod species using a geographical information system (GIS). Environmental drivers were found to influence subterranean copepod distribution in the caves of the Romanian Carpathians.

This research highlights the spatial planning approach for coastal sustainability and adaptation to climate change. The dilemma of spatial planning in a dynamic and complex coastal environment as well as the establishment of a coastal buffer zone as an adaptation measure for climate change are elaborated upon. In particular, this study outlines the limitations of two of the traditional approaches used for spatial planning (optimization and simulation) and the opportunities that present themselves when combining both models for coastal zone planning.

Agriculture and forestry play an important role in emitting and storing greenhouse gases. For an efficient and cost-effective climate policy it is therefore important to explicitly include land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) in economy-climate models. This paper gives an overview and assessment of existing approaches to include land use, land-use change, and forestry into climate-economy models or to link economy-climate models to land-use models.

Changes in rural areas, such as depopulation and land abandonment, but also intensification and loss of biodiversity, usually proceed very slowly yet are often irreversible. A scenario study (called EURURALIS) was carried out by Wageningen University and Research Centre in combination with the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) to stimulate the strategic discussion among both national policy makers and policy makers at the European Union level on the future of Europe's rural areas and the role of policy instruments.

In response to climate change, research is being undertaken to understand the on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and water use for agricultural systems and investigate options farmers may have for mitigating or offsetting emissions. In the present study, a life cycle assessment framework is used to determine on-farm GHG emissions and water use, and the overall 'cradle-to-farm gate' GHG emissions and water use attributed to beef production.

Water temperature and discharge are fundamental to lotic ecosystem function, and both are strongly affected by climate. In large river catchments, however, climatic effects might be difficult to discern from background variability and other cumulative sources of anthropogenic change arising from local land and water management.

The conversion of marginal croplands to tree plantations, as an option to address climate change, land degradation, and irrigation water scarcity, as well as to improve the welfare of local population requires prior analysis.

Soil erosion by water is a major environmental threat to the sustainability and productive capacity of agriculture in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. In temperate regions, meanwhile, the ‘off-site’ transport of sediment and pollutants into nearby water courses and the ‘muddy flooding’ of properties and infrastructure pose a much greater threat.

Mesoamerican biodiversity is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic destruction of natural land cover. Habitat degradation and climate change are primary threats to specialized forest odonate species that are important model organisms for forest health and defining conservation units. The extreme niche specialization of Megaloprepus caerulatus, the world’s largest extant odonate, makes it well suited as an indicator for changing environmental conditions.