Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Ecological restoration is an important implement to avoid land degradation and improve the sustainability of ecosystems. As a spatial definition of ecological restoration, ecological restoration space (ERS) is recognized to have a positive impact on the environment. However, its spatiotemporal pattern and magnitude of contribution to ecosystem services (ESs) remain uncertain.

There is an urgent global need for the ecological intensification of agricultural systems to reduce negative impacts on the environment while meeting the rising demand for agricultural products. Enriching grasslands with floral species is a tool to promote diversity and the associated services at higher trophic levels, and ultimately, to enhance the agricultural landscape matrix.

Cattle grazing has been a historic use of rangelands in Utah since pioneer settlement in the mid-1800’s. Wright fishhook cactus is a small globose cactus endemic to an area of 280,000 ha in south–central Utah and was listed as endangered in October of 1979, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Amid the epoch of global overpopulation, the agroforestry system can intervene as a novel practice that can safeguard agricultural sustainability, provide a means of livelihood, yield ecological benefits, and contribute to household food security.

Erosive rainfall results in the loss of both soil and nutrients, which indirectly triggers soil deterioration and a reduction in land productivity. However, how rainfall affects runoff, soil erosion, and nutrient loss under different crop rotation patterns and topographic factors remains unclear.

Spatio-temporal changes in cultivated land have a profound impact on food security and sustainable development. However, existing studies on spatio-temporal changes in cultivated land mostly focus on single factors, for instance quantity, quality and ecology, that cannot comprehensively reflect the changes in total production capacity and the sustainability of cultivated land.

Soil erosion is a global environmental problem and a pervasive form of land degradation that threatens land productivity and food and water security. Some of the biggest sources of sediment in catchments are cultivated and abandoned lands. However, the abandonment of cultivated fields is not well-researched.

In this article, we contextualise, describe and analyse the last attempt at land reform in Spain—the one passed by the Autonomous Parliament of Andalusia in 1984.

After the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, Alaska Native lands have existed in a legal state of aboriginal title, whereby the land rights of its traditional occupants could be extinguished by Congress at any time.

Both human activities and climate change have changed landscapes significantly, especially in coastal areas. Sea level rise and land subsidence foster tidal floods and permanent inundations, thus changing and limiting land use. Though many countries, including Indonesia, are aware of these phenomena, the legal status of this permanently inundated land remains unclear.

Whereas most contemporary frameworks evaluating land management aspects focus on institutional settings at a national level, the 8R framework of responsible land management aims at evaluating individual land management projects or interventions.

Rainfed agriculture in Northern Darfur is influenced by erratic seasonal and decadal rainfall patterns and frequent droughts. Understanding the spatio-temporal variation in rainfed agriculture is crucial for promoting food security, socio-economic stability and protecting the vulnerable ecosystem.