Communal forests, or Montes Veciñais en Man Común (MVMC), are a specific form of communal land tenure and a singular legal category in Galicia. The growing demographic decline in rural areas and, particularly, in inner areas of Galicia has led to a decrease in the economic interest of forest resources. The complexity of the different management modes or levels of organization of forest communities cannot be explained through a homogeneous interpretation.

The restoration of riparian sites following aggregate extraction frequently aims to expand the wetland habitat, and enhance the wetland wildlife community. However, aggregate extraction sites, typically on river flood plains, are subject to unpredictable flooding along with climate variability and other factors beyond the control of local management that may be equally important in determining the success or failure of a restoration project.

Land managements and agricultural practices in China changed significantly during the past 25 years. Differences in soil fertility parameters between 1981 and 2006 in Jingzhou County, China were investigated, with the changes of land management and agricultural practices. The results showed that, from 1981 to 2006, soil pH and organic matter decreased by 3.35% and 32.2%, while total nitrogen (TN), available N (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) increased by 0.4 g kg⁻¹, 21 mg kg⁻¹, 8 mg kg⁻1, and 32 mg kg⁻¹, respectively.

Received for publication April 21, 2006. Increasing consumer demand for organic products has created a need for certified organic research sites. Our objective is to discuss the lessons learned from evaluating alternate cropping systems to establish a certified site in western Iowa.

Objective scientific characteristics of present reclamation systems of Belarus have been done. Structure of reclamation lands has been analyzed. Distribution of reclaimed lands according to the types of irrigation and drainage systems has been presented. Reasons of insufficient usage of reclamation systems have been discovered. Mistakes that had been made on large-scale reclamation building have been estimated. Review of realization of the Republican programme “Preservation and usage of reclaimed lands” for 2001-2005 has been made.

Public agencies sometimes seek outside guidance when capacity to achieve their mission is limited. Through a cooperative agreement and collaborations with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), we developed recommendations for a conservation program for migratory species. Although NPS manages ∼36 million hectares of land and water in 401 units, there is no centralized program to conserve wild animals reliant on NPS units that also migrate hundreds to thousands of kilometers beyond parks.

Farmland birds have suffered a severe decline in recent years throughout Europe including Ireland. Agricultural intensification is believed to be the main cause and this has led to the introduction of agri-environmental schemes, of which set-aside is a part. Bird abundance and diversity were compared between set-aside and adjacent tillage or grassland at 18 locations.

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) is a highly invasive species in the Northern Great Basin that helps decrease fire return intervals. Fire fragments the shrub steppe and reduces its capacity to provide forage for livestock and wildlife and habitat critical to sagebrush obligates. Of particular interest is the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an obligate whose populations have declined so severely due, in part, to increases in cheatgrass and fires that it was considered for inclusion as an endangered species.