This paper describes key linkages between land management activities and stream water quality for a 5230ha catchment used for intensive pastoral agriculture in southern New Zealand. Due to low annual rainfall and the wide coverage of soils with low available water-holding capacities, flood irrigation of the 2400ha of flat land within the catchment is an important feature impacting on farm business profitability and stream health. Water quality variables and nutrient and sediment yield estimates are reported for a four-year period.

The ongoing forest biodiversity protection programme in Finland (METSO) relies on voluntary participation of family forest owners. Even though the programme has gained wide acceptability among owners, compared to traditional conservation such as land acquisition, more owners need to be engaged. In this study, we examined how the new protection measures have diffused among forest owners. This analysis will help find means to promote the protection among owners who could but have not yet participated. The theoretical background is innovation diffusion.

The growth of landscape-scale land management necessitates the development of methods for large-scale vegetation assessment. Field data collection and analysis methods used to assess ecological condition for the 47165-h North Spring Valley watershed are presented. Vegetation cover data were collected in a stratified random design within 6 Great Basin vegetation types, and the probability of detecting change in native herbaceous cover was calculated using power analyses.

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the changes in the fragmentation and ecological stability of the floodplain forest geobiocoenoses in the Protected Landscape Area Litovelske Pomoravi, Czech Republic. Using GIS methods, it was determined that the fragmentation within the study area had increased slightly and the ecological stability of the landscape had decreased slightly between the years 1938 and 2006, although the latter remained on a fairly high level.

The small playa-lakes and other saline wetlands of Monegros, scattered over a dry area with winter cereal monoculture, are threatened by the settlement of new irrigation districts and other kinds of human pressure. Enforcing the protection rules of European Union in these valuable habitats requires, first, their delimitation and monitoring. This article shows how these tasks can be undertaken using remote sensing in conjunction with field observations.

Surface mineral horizons from four ecosystems sampled in the northwestern Italian Alps were incubated at -3 and +3°C to simulate subnivial and early thaw period temperatures for a seasonally snow-covered area. The soil profiles at these sites represent extreme examples of management, grazed meadow (site M) and extensive grazing beneath larch (site L) or naturally disturbed by avalanche and colonized by alder (site A) and the expected forest climax vegetation beneath fir (site F).

Fire, climatic variability, and grazing by large herbivores have historically limited woody vegetation in the tallgrass prairie region of North America to gallery forests in protected areas along rivers and streams. Fire, in particular, has been a strong selective pressure against woody vegetation. Consequently, we expect that dominant tree species in these forests have developed mechanisms for tolerating periodic surface fires.

The specificity and uniqueness of land as a land appraisal object are disclosed. Principles of land appraisal are considered, their interrelation and dependence on land use features are shown.

Розкрито специфіку і унікальність землі як обєкта оцінки. Розглянуті принципи оцінки земельних ділянок, показаний їх взаємозвязок і залежність від особливостей використання землі.

Traditional knowledge has become a topic of considerable interest within the research and development environment. The contribution of traditional knowledge to conservation and management is increasingly recognized, and implementation endeavours are underway in several countries. The current scale of ecosystem degradation underscores the need for restoration interventions. It is increasingly recognized that successful ecological restoration depends on effective coordination of science and traditional ecological knowledge.

In the conditions of the Republic of Belarus there were presented theoretical statements and methodical approaches to the improvement of the use of lands and organization of the territory of agricultural organizations in conditions of ecologization of land use. There were formulated the notion and tasks of improvement of the use of lands of agricultural organizations.

Various land management decisions are based on local soil properties. These soil properties include average values from soil characterization for each soil series. In reality, these properties might be variable due to substantially different management, even for similar soil series. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that for claypan soils, hydraulic properties can be significantly affected by long-term soil and crop management. Sampling was conducted during the summer of 2008 from two fields with Mexico silt loam (Vertic Epiaqualfs).