The Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax is one of the most threatened steppe bird species in Europe, due mainly to agricultural intensification. Despite the relative importance of the Iberian population (approximately 50% of the global population) little is known about its dynamics and trends, especially in core distribution areas. This study evaluates the influences of meteorological factors and land management on the oscillations and medium-term trends of two Little Bustard populations in Central Spain.

The habitats of Sarracenia rubra subsp. wherryi (Wherry’s pitcher plant) and Symphyotrichum georgianum (Georgia aster) have been declining as a result of human population growth, poor land management, invasive exotic species, and fire prevention. Through a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the Beattie Foundation measures have been taken to protect these species through a propagation and re-introduction program.

Over the past 20 years, water reform has moved to clarify water rights and responsibilities among users, separated water and land management, and introduced markets. Most recently, water policy has clearly recognised the need for environmental allocations to ensure sustainability. These reforms, especially the last, have created conflicts between stakeholder groups.

SummaryThe recognition that biodiversity conservation requires more than a system of reserves has led to the need to consider the outcomes of land management actions, such as timber harvesting, in the matrix land outside reserves. The design of harvesting systems can be guided by the natural disturbance regime, which in Tasmania's lowland wet eucalypt forests is infrequent, intense wildfire.

Oasification and desertification are basic geographical processes in arid areas, and both change the soil properties and quality. Recently, oasification has been obvious in the southern rim of the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, China, and agriculture is the main land-use type. In 2004, four experimental fields were established in the Cele Oasis, representing four typical land-use types of local farmers' tillage practices during oasification.

This study examined the occurrence, relative abundance and condition of platypuses in the upper catchment of the South Esk River, in north-east Tasmania, Australia, and the impact of past forestry activities on the occurrence of platypuses in first order headwater streams. The main trapping sites were in twenty first order streams, eight second-fourth order headwater streams and one fifth order stream reach. Additional trapping was also undertaken in the South Esk River and farm dams. Sites were trapped during late spring/mid summer and early autumn.

A GIS-based Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is used to assess the impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime of the Cauvery river basin. First, the impact of changes in land-management practices on water availability under present conditions is modelled. Then, the same analysis is carried out under the future climatic scenarios. Finally, annual and monthly precipitation variability is compared under present, as well as future, climate-change scenarios.

Market-based policy instruments are used in the design of land management programs to provide incentives to landholders to generate efficient ecological outcomes on private land. Despite the increased use of economic instruments, many landholders remain unwilling to participate in these programs.

In this article, we provide a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature and state and federal policies focused on absentee landowners of forestland, rangeland, or farmland in the U.S. The synthesis indicates absentee owners, as compared to those living on the land, appear to be much more likely to live in urban areas, are less dependent financially upon the land and much more likely to own land for amenity reasons than production purposes.