Search Results (79)

In-depth data on business development processes is required to understand the reasons behind productivity dynamics and economic trends. However, even basic demographic knowledge of Russian timber enterprises is often scarce, which severely limits opportunities for advanced economic research. This paper addresses this issue by introducing an open dataset on the business demographics of logging and sawn wood production companies in Asian Russia, an important center of the global forestry economy. To create an aggregated dataset containing registration and liquidation information from 1991 to 2024, we developed an approach to collect and process primary data on 9731 legal entities in the specified timber industries and Russian regions. This paper presents the periodization of the Russian timber market for the first time based on the obtained dataset. This periodization allows us to track the effects of significant changes in the business environment over the past 35 years. The analysis revealed a structural shift in 2016, due to the launch of the tax authorities’ policy of liquidating abandoned and shell companies. This led to an overestimation of the number of liquidations in official statistics. Our estimates of the liquidation rates for economically active timber companies from 2016 to 2024 are three to five times lower, highlighting the importance of using micro-level data for economic research. Our findings suggest that the crises of 2019–2020 and 2022–2024 had a greater impact on new entries than exits in the Asian Russian timber market. The largest forest companies have demonstrated resilience in the face of changes in the timber market, the pandemic crisis, and economic sanctions imposed on Russia, as evidenced by their low liquidation rates. Full article

The socio-economic transformations that occurred across Central Europe in the 1990s profoundly influenced spatial development, as reflected in changes in population density and land cover, particularly in mountainous regions. This study investigates the relationship between population dynamics and land cover changes in the Polish Carpathians during the 20-year period following 1989, i.e., a time of major political and economic transformation. The research was conducted using detailed data based on 36 variables for 2250 statistical units at the lowest administrative level, combined with GIS-based analyses and statistical modelling. Results show that population density increased in more than 75% of administrative units, although the magnitude and direction of change varied considerably, both vertically and horizontally. The strongest growth occurred in the northern part of the study area, in the Foothills while depopulation was observed at higher elevations and in the eastern parts of the region. Land cover changes affected about 90% of administrative units, with built-up and infrastructural areas expanding mainly at the expense of heterogeneous agricultural land. At the same time, forest and shrub vegetation increased due to agricultural abandonment and natural regeneration. Principal component and mixed-model analyses identified topography, settlement location, and transport accessibility as the most significant drivers linking population and land cover changes. The findings highlight the lasting influence of historical spatial structures and initial demographic patterns on present-day development ways, illustrating how post-socialist transformation and EU integration have reshaped population distribution and land use in mountainous regions. Full article

Understanding how main plant functional strategies scale from species to communities is critical for guiding restoration in tropical disturbed areas by unsustainable livestock grazing; yet, the patterns and drivers of functional trait space along successional trajectories remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated functional trait space using principal component analyses (PCAs) based on eight traits related to leaf, stem, and seed morphology across 226 tree species and 33 forest communities along a chronosequence of natural regeneration following cattle ranching abandonment in deforested landscapes of the Colombian Amazon. We identified three species-level functional axes—namely, the ‘Structural–Reproductive Allocation Axis’, the ‘Mechanical Support and Tissue Investment Axis’, and the ‘Leaf Economics Axis’—and two community-level axes: the ‘Colonization–Longevity Axis’ and the ‘Persistence–Acquisition Axis’. These axes aligned with the life-history strategies of short-lived pioneers, long-lived pioneers, and old-growth species, and reflected their relationships with key environmental drivers. Community-level functional composition reflected species-level patterns, but was also shaped by soil properties, microclimate, and tree species richness. Forest age and precipitation promoted conservative strategies, while declining soil fertility suggested a decoupling between above- and belowground recovery. Functional richness and divergence were highest in mid-successional forests dominated by long-lived pioneers. Our findings highlight the role of environmental and successional filters in shaping functional trait space and emphasize the value of functionally diverse communities. Particularly, our results indicate that long-lived pioneers (LLP) such as Astrocaryum chambira Burret and Pouteria campanulata Baehni, with traits like large height, intermediate wood density, and larger seed size, represent ideal candidates for early enrichment strategies due to their facilitation roles in succession supporting restoration efforts in regenerating Amazonian forests. Full article

The escalating threat of climate-driven wildfires, land abandonment, wildland–urban interface expansion, and inadequate forest management poses an existential challenge to Mediterranean oak ecosystems, for which traditional fire suppression has proven insufficient. This paper presents a combination of integrated fire management (IFM) and closer-to-nature forest management (CTNFM) in a representative mixed Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) forest at Quinta da França (QF), in Portugal. It is structured around three main objectives designed to evaluate this pioneer integrated approach: (1) to describe the integration of IFM and CTNFM within an agro-silvo-pastoral landscape; (2) to qualitatively assess its ecological, operational, and socio-economic outcomes; and (3) to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of two key nature-based solutions (NbSs), that is, prescribed burning and planned grazing, in reducing wildfire risk and enhancing forest resilience and biodiversity. By strategically combining proactive fuel reduction with biodiversity-oriented silviculture, the QF case provides a replicable model for managing analogous Mediterranean forested areas facing similar risks. This integrated approach supports forest multifunctionality, advancing both prevention and adaptation goals, and directly contributes to the ambitious targets set by the European Union’s New Forest and Biodiversity Strategies for 2030, marking a significant step towards a more sustainable and fire-resilient future for such Mediterranean landscapes. Full article

We investigated the combined effects of climate and land-use change on plant diversity in northwestern Greece, a region representative of broader European trends in land abandonment. We based our study on comprehensive field data on plants’ distribution and modelling of land-use changes based on socio-economic trends. We build distribution models for 358 taxa based on current (2015) and future (2055) conditions according to the combinations of three climate and three land-use change scenarios. We compared species distribution changes between current and future conditions for each scenario, and we investigated species trends concerning their ecological indicator values and strategies. Additionally, by analyzing the distribution changes in aggregated differential taxa representing the various plant communities in the study area, we identified patterns of distribution shifts at the community level. Our results indicated more pronounced differences between land-use scenarios than between climate ones, which was attributed to the local scale of the study area, its climatic and physiographic characteristics, and its complex land-use legacy. Both climate and land-use changes drastically reduced the distribution of some species, with species distribution loss exceeding 80% under certain combinations of socioeconomic and climate change scenarios. Species ecological indicator values and strategies showed a buffering effect of forest microclimate against climate change, which, however, may favor only species of forest communities. At the community level, land-use change had again a stronger impact than climate change, with consistent patterns within major vegetation types (forests and open habitats) but contrasting trends between them. Our results highlight the need for appropriate conservation plans to counteract the negative impacts of land abandonment and to take advantage of its positive impacts. Full article

The change in the socio-political formation of Russia from a socialist planned system to a capitalist market system significantly influenced agriculture and one of its components—arable land. The loss of the sustainability of land management for arable land led to a reduction in sown areas by 38% (from 119.7 to 74.7 million ha) and a synchronous drop in gross harvests of grain and leguminous crops by 48% (from 117 to 61 million tons). The situation stabilized in 2020, with a sowing area of 80.2 million ha and gross harvests of grain and leguminous crops of 120–150 million tons. This process was not formalized legally, and the official (legal) area of arable land decreased by only 8% from 132.8 to 122.3 million ha. Legal conflict arose for 35 million ha for unused arable land, for which there was no classification of its condition categories and no monitoring of the withdrawal time of the arable land from actual agricultural use. The aim of this study was to resolve the challenges in the method of retrospective monitoring of soil–land cover, which allowed for the achievement of the aims of the investigation—to elucidate the history of land use on arable lands from 1985 to 2025 with a time step of 5 years and to obtain a detailed classification of the arable lands’ abandonment degrees. It was also established that on most of the abandoned arable land, carbon sequestration occurs in the form of secondary forests. In the course of this work, it was shown that the reasons for the formation of an array of abandoned arable land and the stabilization of agricultural production turned out to be interrelated. The abandonment of arable land occurred proportionally to changes in the soil’s natural fertility and the degree of land degradation. Economically unprofitable lands spontaneously (without centralized planning) left the sowing zone. The efficiency of land use on the remaining lands has increased and has allowed for the mass application of modern farming systems (smart, precise, landscape-adaptive, differentiated, no-till, strip-till, etc.), which has further increased the profitability of crop production. The prospect of using abandoned lands as a carbon sequestration zone in areas of forest overgrowth has arisen. Full article

The coastal region of Klaipėda (Lithuania) has experienced major political, economic, social, and cultural transformations since the 20th century. Landscapes as evolving expressions of land use and land cover patterns offer a valuable lens to analyse these changes. This study examines the evolution of physical landscape structures across the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods, using historical maps and open-access geospatial data. An ontological approach, combined with morphological and configurational metrics, reveals four major and relatively persistent landscape structures: hydrological systems (sea, lagoon, rivers), forest cover, farming intensity (from extensive grassland use to intensive arable farming), and semi-natural environments. Their structural evolution reflects broader cultural factors, such as contrasting land use traditions between former Prussian and Russian territories. The study also highlights the impact of Soviet collectivisation, marked by irrigation networks, agricultural intensification, and forest expansion. The post-Soviet period is characterised by widespread farmland abandonment and fragmentation, revealing new spatial dynamics and challenges in land reappropriation. Landscape transformations are predominantly structured around agricultural dynamics. Although the analysis was limited by the incomplete availability of data for this specific land use class, the centrality of agriculture in shaping territorial organisation is evident and reinforces the strong rural identity associated with the landscape. Full article

Cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands hold significant ecological, cultural, and economic value in the Mediterranean basin, particularly due to cork production, one of the most valued non-wood forest products worldwide. However, cork oak ecosystems are increasingly threatened by climate change, land-use intensification, and rural abandonment, leading to widespread signs of decline. To address these challenges, data-driven and scalable methods are more essential than ever. Satellite-based remote sensing (RS) offers a promising approach for large-scale, cost-effective, and timely monitoring of cork oak forests dynamics and health, but an exhaustive review about this topic is missing. This study reviews 35 peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2025, assessing how satellite RS has been applied to monitor cork oak landscapes. The results show that key research topics include forest disturbances, land cover classification, and forest and environmental variables monitoring. Landsat is the most frequently used satellite mission, and NDVI is the most applied vegetation index. Although machine learning techniques and accuracy metrics are heterogeneous, with results that are difficult to compare, relevant performances have been achieved. For instance, the highest classification accuracy (98%) was reached in mapping cork oak mortality. However, the field remains fragmented, with limited attention to key ecological indicators such as biodiversity, resilience, and ecosystem services. RS for cork oak monitoring is still a relatively young discipline with high potential for development, requiring greater methodological consistency and stronger integration with conservation strategies to support adaptive management in the face of future environmental pressures. Full article

The Portuguese forest plays a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance and fostering socio-economic sustainability within rural areas. Nonetheless, it is currently facing significant challenges due to the increasing intensity and frequency of forest fires observed in recent decades. The deterioration of traditional agricultural practices, the proliferation of monocultures, and alterations in land use patterns have significantly exacerbated these challenges. Consequently, the landscape has undergone considerable transformations, resulting in a decline in biodiversity and a weakening of local economies. This study examines land use in mainland Portugal from 1995 to 2018, utilising data on land occupation, land cover, and burnt areas from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests. The cartographic analysis of three periods—1995, 2007, and 2018—along with the fire data recorded between 1996 and 2018, enabled the observation of changes in the predominant land use and land cover (LULC) classes, particularly among forests, scrubland, and agricultural areas. The results highlight a significant increase in forested areas, especially eucalyptus, as well as urbanisation, while scrubland and agricultural areas have decreased. Using specific LULC level 4, and burnt (BA) and unburnt (NB) areas, temporary crops decreased substantially (−14% NB/−4% BA 1995–2007; −23% NB by 2018). Eucalyptus showed strong continuous growth (16% NB/35% BA 1995–2007; 23% NB/47% BA 2007–2018). Maritime pine suffered severe losses, especially in burnt areas (−42%/−28%). Cork oak remained stable (1–4% growth). Other oaks showed minimal changes. Bushes (scrubland) declined sharply post-2007 (−31% BA/−6% NB). The most significant transformation occurred between 1995 and 2007, particularly in the south of Portugal, where wildfires promoted the replacement of maritime pine with eucalyptus, a species that offers greater profitability, leading to agricultural abandonment in burned areas. Full article

Climate change and declining economic revenues are driving the closure of many ski resorts in mountainous regions worldwide, particularly at lower elevations, where winter snow cover is becoming increasingly sporadic. This abandonment is impacting wide areas of the Alps, previously managed to reduce erosion and to control trees/shrubs encroachment. As result, natural rewilding processes may lead either to the environmental degradation or to the restoration of pre-disturbance conditions, each with different implications for sustainability. Our aim was to assess the rewilding state and the drivers of sustainability at an abandoned ski resort in the Italian Alps (Valcanale, Bergamo), where the ecosystem has been evolving under minimal human pressure since the ski facilities were decommissioned in 1993. The assessment focused on pedological/vegetational perspectives, with particular attention to soil-based ecosystem services (SBESs). The results show that the interventions made during ski run construction significantly influenced the recovery of SBESs (and thus their long-term sustainability). Areas with minimal disturbance (e.g., forest vegetation removal without soil movement) now support SBESs at levels comparable to nearby undisturbed areas. Conversely, ski runs that underwent slope reshaping/grading support poorly developed soils and significant sheet/gully erosion, rendering them hazardous for pedestrians. Nevertheless, plant biodiversity has benefited in some cases, as many rare/endemic protected species colonize stony/eroded ski runs soils, extending their distribution beyond their original habitat. Full article

The abandonment of agricultural land is now considered one of the primary land use changes driven by complex interactions between social, economic, and environmental factors. To understand and manage this process, a holistic approach that integrates multidimensional methodologies and interactions is essential. This study examines the key driving factors behind agricultural land abandonment in Lithuania using two methodological approaches. First, seventeen highly qualified land management experts were surveyed, and their insights were analysed using in-depth qualitative interviews, focusing on agricultural land abandonment and its underlying factors. Second, the development of agricultural land abandonment in a representative Lithuanian municipality was modelled using Markov chain models, incorporating freely available geographic data as factors influencing land use transformation. Actual areas of abandoned agricultural land were mapped using orthophotos from 2012, 2018, and 2021, for both model development and validation. The importance of predictors in the model was then assessed in relation to their significance as drivers of agricultural land abandonment. The findings indicate that natural factors, such as the proximity of forests and topographical constraints, play a significant role in explaining land abandonment processes. Additionally, agricultural land abandonment is influenced by social, economic, and legal factors, including land ownership structures, migration, and infrastructure accessibility. The importance of soil quality, productivity, and the presence of nearby arable land was found to vary depending on data accuracy and local environmental conditions, highlighting the complexity of agricultural land use patterns. The chosen mixed-method approach, combining qualitative surveys with numerical spatial modelling, demonstrates potential for identifying critical land use areas and providing insights to improve land management policies and decision making. Full article

Bhutan is a developmental success story that since the 1960s has consistently used five-year national development plans to make substantial socio-economic progress and promote sustainability. Many other developing countries had abandoned medium-term national planning by the 1980s, but Bhutan continued using these instruments as the principal mechanisms for developing the country and making substantial welfare gains for its population while attending to the sustainability of its development path and environment. Poverty has been greatly reduced, incomes have grown in real terms, life expectancy has markedly increased, there has been enormous growth in the provision of education and the country has become a world leader in environmental protection with 71% of Bhutan still under forest, making it the first carbon negative country in the world. The reasons for Bhutan’s success include always working within the capabilities of government, economy, and society; a demonstrated capacity to reorient development strategies with new plans; a stable political environment; good governance; the gradual inclusion of multiple stakeholders into the development process; a strong supportive relationship with neighbouring India; and the wise use of income from hydropower to fund development. Though there have been disruptions, mistakes, and failures in planning in Bhutan, the general trajectory of solid progress and continued attention to sustainability has been maintained; however, there are considerable challenges ahead for the ambitious Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2024–2029). To investigate the Bhutanese experience, this article adopts a qualitative case study approach. Full article

Due to the rapid expansion of urban areas, the aging of agricultural labor, and the loss of rural workforce, some regions in China have experienced farmland abandonment. The use of remote sensing technology allows for the rapid and accurate extraction of abandoned farmland, which is of great significance for research on land-using change, food security protection, and ecological and environmental conservation. This research focuses on Qiaotou Town in Chengmai County, Hainan Province, as the study area. Using four high-resolution satellite imagery scenes, digital elevation models, and other relevant data, the random forest classification method was applied to extract abandoned farmland and analyze its spatial distribution characteristics. The accuracy of the results was verified. Based on these findings, the study examines the influence of four factors—irrigation conditions, slope, accessibility, and proximity to residential areas—on farmland abandonment and proposes corresponding governance policies. The results indicate that the accuracy of abandoned farmland extraction using high-resolution satellite imagery is 93.29%. The phenomenon of seasonal farmland abandonment is more prevalent than perennial farmland abandonment in the study area. Among the influencing factors, the abandonment rate decreases with increasing distance from road buffer zones, increases with greater distance from water systems, and decreases with increasing distance from residential areas. Most of the abandoned farmland is located in areas with gentler slopes, which have a relatively smaller impact on farmland abandonment. This study provides valuable references for the extraction of abandoned farmland and for analyzing the abandonment mechanisms in the study area, which have a profound impact on agricultural economic development and help to support the implementation of rural revitalization strategies. Full article

The dynamics of Land Use/Land Cover changes are crucial to environmental sustainability, socio-economic development, and spatial planning. These changes stem from complex interactions between human activities, natural processes, and policies. In recent decades, LULC transformations have been linked to global challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, and resource degradation. Key drivers include urban sprawl, agricultural expansion and abandonment, and deforestation, emphasizing the need for effective frameworks to monitor and assess their impacts. This study investigates Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes in Tuscany (Italy) over the period from 2007 to 2019. To achieve this, statistical analyses were conducted to quantify variations in LULC across different classes and administrative territories represented by provincial local authorities. Specifically, data spanning five temporal intervals (2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019) enabled a comprehensive comparative analysis of spatial persistence in LULC patterns. Changes were assessed using a statistical approach based on Odds Ratios (OR). Additionally, Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) at the provincial level were employed to facilitate one-to-many provincial comparisons and to evaluate the statistical significance of observed LULC changes. The analysis revealed that certain classes exhibit a greater susceptibility to changes compared to others. Specifically, the classes categorized under ’Artificial Surfaces’ (LC_100) were, on average, 6.7 times more likely to undergo changes than those classified as ’Agricultural Areas’ (LC_200) and 11 times more likely than those under ’Forest and Semi-natural Areas’ (LC_300). Over time, the areas classified as artificial territories have exhibited a progressively decreasing probability of change. Notably, during the first update period (2007–2010), these areas were 3.5 times more susceptible to change compared to the most recent update period (2016–2019). An additional significant finding emerged from the statistical comparison of LULC changes across administrative regions governed by different authorities (Provinces). These findings underscore the potential of using administrative indicators and morphological parameters to analyze LULC change trends. The proposed approach provides a robust framework for interpreting territorial resilience and informing spatial planning strategies effectively. Full article

Studies on land-use and land-cover change patterns contribute to better informed management decisions for the conservation and restoration of Atlantic Forest fragments and their megabiodiversity. In recent decades, the phenomenon of forest transition has been observed in several parts of the biome, including in highly urbanized and metropolitan areas such as Campinas, in the state of São Paulo. Here, we examine land-use and land-cover change (using MapBiomas data with 30 m spatial resolution) within the Campinas Environmental Protection Area, where natural forest cover increased from 9% to 17.1% of the total area between 1985 and 2023. Exogenous socioeconomic factors, including the gradual replacement of agricultural activities by tourism development and the designation of areas through successive ecological–economic zonings, are presented as possible causes of the decrease in deforestation and the stabilization and recovery of the remaining natural forest cover. Our analysis reaffirms evidence from other studies showing that secondary succession in abandoned pastures contributed to the forest transition process identified in the region. Strongly decreasing trends were identified for pasture areas and strongly increasing trends for forest formations and urban infrastructure. Based on analysis of forest formation transitions conducted at 5-year intervals between 1985 and 2020, we observed different patterns of net change between the local, regional, and macroregional levels and the state and biome levels. Our analysis of land-use and land-cover transitions for the most recent years (2018 to 2023), including the period of validity of the EPA Management Plan, indicates that the ecological–economic zoning instrument is effective in containing potential threats; however, it has limitations, since losses of forest formation were observed in all five conservation zones. We emphasize that, although we can attest to the effectiveness of ecological–economic zoning, which in the EPA region has undergone incremental adaptations favorable to the forest transition process, this management instrument is subject to changes in its limits and regulations based on the governance system established at its different levels. Full article