Recently scientists have started to examine how land-uses and land-use technologies can help mitigate carbon emissions. The half million small-scale farmers inhabiting the Amazon frontier sequester large stocks of carbon in their forests and other land uses that they might be persuaded to…
Intensive farming and grazing on Oxisols of the Brazilian savannas (also known as the Cerrados) are leading to loss of soil organic matter (SOM) and consequently to a decline in fertility and sustainability of the soils. Alternative land-use systems such as the introduction of legumes in…
We examined whole-soil samples and particle-size fractions to study the distribution of different phosphorus (P) fractions after land-use change from native savanna to crops, pasture, and reforestation on clayey and loamy Oxisols of the Brazilian savannas. Phosphorus was extracted sequentially,…
This study assessed the influence of land use (continuous cropping, CC; tree plantations, F; pasture, PG; and native savanna, NS) on P concentrations and partitioning in bulk soil and two aggregate size fractions of two Oxisols, one loamy and one clayey. The quantity and quality of physically…
In the Brazilian savannas, or Cerrados the rapid advance in agriculture and cattle ranching is affecting soils through, for example, accelerated erosion and depletion of soil organic matter (SOM). Changes in soil microbial biomass are good indicators of changes in SOM. We therefore assessed the…
The effect of land use on the availability of soil nitrogen (N) was studied by separating total soil N into one labile and one stable fraction by oxidation and extraction of labile N with potassium permanganate. The nitrogen management index (NMI) was calculated according to Blair et al. (1995)…
The effects of land-use change on the structure of Oxisols in the Brazilian savannas (also known as the Cerrados) are still insufficiently understood. We therefore studied loamy and clayey Oxisols under natural savanna, crop, pasture, and reforestation to (1) quantify management-induced changes…
This study is a revised version of a working document originally prepared by FAO in April 1995 analysing the policy and legal options available for dealing with the sensitive issue of foreign ownership of land. It provides information on the approaches that are, or have been adopted to regulate…