Desertification, which affects more than two-thirds of the world's arid and semi-arid regions, is a significant global ecological and environmental problem. There is a strong link between desertification of the drylands and emission of CO₂ from soil and vegetation to the atmosphere. The Horqin Sandy Land is a severely desertified area in China's agro-pastoral ecotone due to its fragile ecology, combined with unsustainable land management.

An assessment of sensitivity to land degradation has been carried out in the Extremadura region, SW Spain, by means of a modelling approach developed by the European Commission funded MEDALUS project (Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use) which identifies such areas on the basis of an index (Environmentally Sensitive Area index, ESA index) that incorporates data on environmental quality (climate, vegetation, soil) as well as anthropogenic factors (management).

Land use and land cover changes in the Brazilian Amazon have major implications for regional and global carbon (C) cycling. Cattle pasture represents the largest single use (about 70%) of this once-forested land in most of the region. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the RothC and Century models at estimating soil organic C (SOC) changes under forest-to-pasture conditions in the Brazilian Amazon. We used data from 11 site-specific 'forest to pasture' chronosequences with the Century Ecosystem Model (Century 4.0) and the Rothamsted C Model (RothC 26.3).

PURPOSE: Many Mediterranean drylands are characterized by strong erosion in headwater catchments, where connectivity processes play an important role in the redistribution of water and sediments. Sediment connectivity describes the ease with which sediment can move through a catchment. The spatial and temporal characterization of connectivity patterns in a catchment enables the estimation of sediment contribution and transfer paths. Apart from topography, vegetation cover is one of the main factors driving sediment connectivity.

Earlier studies on soil degradation in Vertisols of the Purna Valley of central India indicated that the semiarid climate characterized by a mean annual rainfall (MAR) of 875mm and a tropustic moisture regime is responsible for the development of calcareous sodic soils. Recent observations, however, indicate that in the adjacent east upland of the Purna Valley, namely in the Pedhi Watershed, Vertisols have drainage problems, although the area receives a higher MAR than the Purna Valley, the total MAR being 975mm.

Large fires coincident with drought occurred in south-eastern Australia during 2001-2007. Perceptions of large, intense fires as being ecologically 'disastrous' are common. These are summarised by four hypotheses characterising large fires as: (i) homogenous in extent and intensity; (ii) causing large-scale extinction due to perceived lack of survival and regeneration capacity among biota; (iii) degrading due to erosion and related edaphic effects; (iv) unnatural, as a consequence of contemporary land management.

Although producers' prime objective may be to increase net returns, many are also interested in conserving and enhancing the quality the soil, water and air resources through adopting more environmentally friendly production practices.

This study explored the health, well-being, and social capital benefits gained by community members who are involved in the management of land for conservation in six rural communities across Victoria. A total of 102 people participated in the study (64 males; 38 females) comprising 51 members of a community-based land management group and 51 controls matched by age and gender. Mixed methods were employed, including the use of an adapted version of Buckner’s (1988) Community Cohesion Scale.

1. Little is known about the diversity and land management response of native solitary bees in globally rare barrens restricted to the northeastern United States. Herein we assess solitary bee diversity in a scrub oak barrens 2 years after a mow and herbicide treatment. 2. Standard bowl‐trap and sweep‐net surveys were repeated six times during June–August in four treated scrub oak patches and a nearby untreated scrub oak patch. 3. Bee richness and total abundance (all specimens) did not differ appreciably between the treated and untreated scrub oak.

The composition and structure of bacterial communities were examined in soil subjected to a range of diverse agricultural land management and crop production practices. Length heterogeneity polymerase chain reaction (LH-PCR) of bacterial DNA extracted from soil was used to generate amplicon profiles that were analyzed with univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Five land management programs were initiated in July 2000: conventional, organic, continuous removal of vegetation (disk fallow), undisturbed (weed fallow), and bahiagrass pasture (Paspalum notatum var Argentine).

The present e-collection of scientific works deals with results of research on issues of economy, agrarian and engineering sciences studied by researchers, post-graduate students, magisters and students of Mykolayiv State Agrarian Univ. and other educational establishments of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine are elucidated. The issue comprises 30 scientific papers, distributed by three sections, in particular Economic sciences (18 papers), Agricultural sciences (10) and Engineering sciences (2 papers), and, what is important, except the Ukrainian-language contents (pp.

Soil erosion and subsequent degradation has been a contributor to societal collapse in the past and is one of the major expressions of desertification in arid regions. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) models soil lost to water erosion as a function of climate erosivity (the degree to which rainfall can result in erosion), topography, soil erodibility, and land use/management.