Degraded lands are common in human-influenced tropical semiarid areas, and the potential for C sequestration through rehabilitation of these areas is substantial. In this study, we investigated changes in ecosystem C stocks (ECS) after establishing exclosures on degraded communal grazing lands, and identified easily measurable biophysical and management-related factors that can be used to predict ECS restoration in the highlands of Tigray, Ethiopia. We selected replicated (n = 3) 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-yr-old exclosures and paired each exclosure with an adjacent communal grazing land.

Organic and conventional farming practices differ in the use of several management strategies, including use of catch crops, green manure, and fertilization, which may influence soil properties, greenhouse gas emissions and productivity of agroecosystems. An 11-yr-old field experiment on a sandy loam soil in Denmark was used to compare several crop rotations with respect to a range of physical, chemical and biological characteristics related to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) flows.

In recent years, infrastructure investments, especially construction of new roads and upgrading of existing ones, have accelerated in Turkey. Expropriation cases related to building plot and land have increased due to these investments. One subject causes conflict and leads to the prolongation of cases due to the misuse of building plot-land discrimination.

The incidence of natural disturbance in forests is increasing globally as a consequence of global warming. The concomitant large-scale transformation of landscapes can have profound social impacts and trigger political conflict that hampers resource management. This paper explores the link between landscape transformations and political conflict using the example of the bark beetle epidemic in Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany.

The various land management and planning policies that have been developed for the Tierra de Campos district of northwestern Spain over the past century have had major effects on wetland ecosystems of this area. To assist conservation planners in the future management of these habitats, this study outlines the changes that have occurred in these environments using data for the years 1900, 1956, 1984 and 2007. Multiple logistic regression models allowed the accurate projection of locations of wetlands that need to be restored or regenerated.

Freshwater ecosystems are warming globally from the direct effects of climate change on air temperature and hydrology and the indirect effects on near-stream vegetation. In fire-prone landscapes, vegetative change may be especially rapid and cause significant local stream temperature increases but the importance of these increases relative to broader changes associated with air temperature and hydrology are not well understood.

Government agencies in many countries are encouraging rural landholders to improve their land management practices in order to improve the health of the natural environment. The level of adoption of improved practices by landholders is, however, highly variable. Understanding the diversity of rural landholders is an important step in increasing the uptake of improved land management practices. In this study, we investigate the factors that influence landholders to adopt recommended practices and use this to provide insights into how to encourage greater adoption of these practices.

Why do many smallholder farmers fail to adopt improved land management practices which can improve yields and incomes? The reason is not always because these practices are uneconomical but sometimes it is because resource poverty prevents farmers from taking advantage of yield and income enhancing agricultural practices. In this study we examine the relative merits of using a carbon payment scheme compared to a subsidy policy to help reduce the cost of specific land management practices with productivity and ecosystem benefits such as carbon sequestration.

Pricing greenhouse gas emissions is a burgeoning and possibly lucrative financial means for climate change mitigation. Emissions pricing is being used to fund emissions-abatement technologies and to modify land management to improve carbon sequestration and retention. Here we discuss the principal land-management options under existing and realistic future emissions-price legislation in Australia, and examine them with respect to their anticipated direct and indirect effects on biodiversity.