The present study demonstrates remote sensing derived phenological and productivity indicators of ecosystem functional dynamism. The indices were derived from SPOT VEGETATION NDVI data on 1km spatial resolution across the pan-European continent using the Phenolo approach. The phenological and productivity indices explained 78% of the variance in the European ecosystem gradient measured by bio-climatic zones. Along this gradient climatic predictors could only explain 57% of the variance in the satellite metrics.

Climate change and energy saving are challenging the city and the territorial organization. Innovative spatial and urban planning methods and procedures are required, and new approaches and instruments must be elaborated and applied in order to shift from the building scale to the urban and territorial ones.

Agriculture is the economic foundation of many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, employing about 60 percent of the workforce and contributing an average of 30 percent of gross domestic product. Yet agricultural growth rates for SSA declined in the 2000 and food insecurity remains a concern, with malnourishment only dropping from 34 to 30 percent in two decades. Various projections suggest that food production must increase by 70-100 percent by 2050 to meet the demands of a world with 9 billion people and changing diets.

The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report-the eighth in an annual series- presents a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger. It shows that the world has made some progress in reducing hunger since 1990, but still has far to go. The 2013 GHI report focuses on resilience in theory and in practice. The relief and development communities have long struggled to understand why some people fare better than others when confronting stresses or shocks.

Der Bericht zum Welthunger-Index 2013 – der achte in einer jährlich erscheinenden Serie – stellt die Entwicklung des weltweiten, regionalen und nationalen Hungers mittels eines mehrdimensionalen Indexwertes dar. Er zeigt, dass die Weltgemeinschaft bei der Bekämpfung des Hungers seit 1990 gewisse Fortschritte gemacht hat, dass aber noch viel zu tun ist.

Agricultural soils in the tropics have undergone significant declines in their native carbon stock through the long-term use of extractive farming practices. However, these soils have significant capacity to sequester CO2 through the implementation of improved land management practices. This paper reviews the published and grey literature related to the influence of improved land management practices on soil carbon stock in the tropics.