Heathlands in Western Europe have shown dramatic declines over the last century and therefore have been given a high conservation priority in the Habitats Directive of the European Union (EU). Accurate surveying and monitoring of heathland habitats is essential for appropriate conservation management, but the large heterogeneity of vegetation types within habitats as well as the occurrence of similar vegetation across habitat types hinders a straightforward, automated mapping based on aerial images.

A land suitability study covering an area of 56,655 square kilometers was carried out for the cultivation of a halophytic bioenergy crop, Salicornia bigelovii, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi using data collected from an extensive soil survey (scale of 1:100,000). Two simple limitation methods (referred to in the paper as the conservative and weighted methods) were used to interpolate soil map unit data for qualitative evaluation of the land.

This study reviews the potential use of biochar as soil amendment in afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, fruit tree orchards, and bio-energy plantations. Implementing this practice could sequester large amounts of carbon (C) over the long-term, potentially offsetting anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, and mitigating climate change. On a global scale, this practice could sequester between 2 and 109.2 Pg biochar-C in 1.75 billion ha of degraded and deforested lands and agroforestry systems.