Search Results (933)

Abandoned slopes often encounter problems such as compacted soil and lack of nutrients. Biochar, as a promising soil amendment agent, can effectively enhance soil fertility. Moreover, evaluating the nutrient and microbial characteristics during the improvement process is of great significance for revealing its mechanism of action in improving abandoned land. This study analyzed the characteristics of soil nutrients, microbial community structure, and co-occurrence network after reclamation under different application rates (0%, 1%, 2.5%, 4%, 5.5%, hereinafter referred to as CK, T1, T2, T3, T4) of corn straw biochar. The results showed that biochar significantly increased soil organic carbon (by 60.74–164.82%), total nitrogen (11.31–27.73%), and total phosphorus (13.32–56.03%) content, and the effect was best at a rate of 4% (T3). With the increase in biochar application rate, soil bulk density generally showed a downward trend, and pH generally showed an upward trend. Significant levels (p < 0.05) were reached from T2 to T4. There was a strong linear correlation between biochar application rate and soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and pH in the fitted model, with R² values reaching 0.753, 0.601, and 0.706, respectively. Microbial community analysis showed that biochar application changed the bacterial community structure. With the increase in soil depth, the Shannon index and Chao index of each treatment generally increased, indicating that soil depth is one of the key factors regulating the community structure. Biochar application promoted the proliferation of beneficial bacterial groups such as Pseudomonadota and Acidobacteriota, by increasing the number of co-occurrence network nodes and edges enhancing the complexity and stability of the microbial network. Full article

Legume cultivation offers a chance for agricultural development on lands that have been abandoned over the years. In this study, simple agronomic indicators on the growth and yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.) were assessed on the abandoned agricultural lands of Foloi Plateau in Western Greece. Field trials were conducted from October 2023 to July 2025, and the legumes were grown either according to the false seedbed concept or with conventional seedbed preparation practices (direct sowing). The false seedbed involves pre-sowing weed control following initial seedbed preparation, and in these trials, it suppressed weed density by 62–77%. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of faba bean and pea increased by 13% on the false seedbed plots, while white lupin NDVI was not affected by treatments (p ≥ 0.05). Destructive crop biomass measurements were in accordance with NDVI assessments. Faba bean and pea seed yield demonstrated an increase of 17% and 23%, respectively, in the false seedbed plots compared to direct sowing plots. White lupin seed yield was not significantly affected by false seedbed (p ≥ 0.05). This study provides preliminary evidence supporting the use of legume crops as a component of sustainable agricultural revitalization in the Foloi region. However, further research is required to optimize legume cultivation on the abandoned lands of the wider region as a first step towards the agricultural revitalization in the Plateau. Full article

Oil-dependent urban regions face persistent ecological and societal issues following extraction, including land degradation and infrastructural neglect. Despite the discourse on environmental justice and extractivism, a research gap exists regarding the transition of post-extractive cities from recognizing environmental harm to implementing territorial rehabilitation strategies. This study examines Poza Rica, Mexico, a critical city in the oil industry, as a case study for restorative justice and urban transition after extraction. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach with planning documents, technical reports, environmental regulations, spatial data, and community input, the research evaluates the territorial impacts of seventy years of oil extraction and explores restoration pathways. The results indicate a landscape characterized by abandoned wells, environmental liabilities, and the integration of former extraction zones into urban areas. In the Tampico–Misantla Basin, 49.5% of wells remain inactive, with only 2.7% meeting contemporary closure standards. In Poza Rica, nearly 98% of urban growth from 1997 to 2016 occurred in regions previously linked to oil extraction. The article posits that restorative justice in post-extractive cities necessitates more than mere financial restitution. It advocates for a territorial restitution framework centred on remediation, economic transformation, and community governance, illustrating how former extraction sites can evolve into assets for urban resilience and sustainable development. Full article

The switch in land use of abandoned tailings can precondition their reuse as newly built parks. This study investigated the feasibility of reusing a remediated mercury (Hg) retorting site in Wanshan, Guizhou Province, China, as a functional urban park by assessing residual heavy metal risks and associated vegetation responses. Field investigations were conducted across 31 park sites distributed along an east–west geographical gradient from the former mining area to urban parks, using replicated plots to sample the surface soils and dominant plant species. The concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), and lead (Pb) in soil and plant tissues were quantified using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, and vegetation structure and diversity were evaluated using standard community indices. The results showed significant spatial variability in soil and plant metal concentrations, with higher levels generally observed near historically impacted areas of the mine. However, all soil metal concentrations were below the national safety thresholds. Plant tissues exhibit controlled metal accumulation within normal or regulated ranges, reflecting the effective screening of tolerant and hyperaccumulating species. Increasing heavy metal concentrations were associated with reduced vegetation coverage, height, and diversity along the gradient. Overall, the findings indicate that the reclaimed Hg retorting site almost met ecological safety requirements, but more data on deep soils, groundwater, and long-term observations are needed to draw more conclusive conclusions. Full article

Under the dual impact of new urbanization and rural population mobility, divorced rural women in China face severe challenges in obtaining collective membership qualification for land expropriation compensation. The newly enacted Rural Collective Economic Organization Law (RCEOL) contains ambiguous provisions, hindering effective implementation. This study asks: How can collective membership qualification for divorced rural women be determined based on pre-enactment court judgments to refine the law’s ambiguities? Adopting a qualitative design, data were collected from China Judgments Online. Through systematic keyword search, 238 court judgments were retrieved and analyzed using a three-level coding procedure (open, axial, selective). The theoretical framework draws on Amartya Sen’s capability approach. Three main findings are briefly summarized. First, a concrete determination scheme is proposed: the “stable rights-obligations relationship” is operationalized via collective medical insurance purchase and non-abandonment of contracted land; “basic livelihood security” emphasizes land’s security function without requiring primary income reliance; the “stable production-living relationship” criterion should be discarded. Second, the household registration (hukou) condition is becoming ambiguous, but such ambiguity reflects governance adaptation to complexity, moving toward “de-hukouization.” Third, legal ambiguity, while challenging, creates a flexible space for adaptive rural governance. This study contributes by introducing Sen’s capability approach into the analysis of divorced rural women’s membership qualification and providing empirical grounds for clarifying Article 11 of the RCEOL. Future research may observe changes in case volume and litigant testimonies after the law’s implementation to evaluate its real effects, further enriching the discussion on institution—agency interaction. Full article

Agricultural land abandonment is widespread in high-latitude regions, yet its effects on soil microbial communities in permafrost ecosystems remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we used a 0–25 year chronosequence of abandoned soils in the Yamalo–Nenets Autonomous Okrug to analyze the succession of soil microbial communities and compared them with mature reference Podzols. Soil physicochemical properties, microbial community composition, and potential functional changes were systematically assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, multivariate statistical analyses, and functional prediction. The results showed that, in mature soils, SOC was the key factor driving microbial community variation, whereas in agricultural and abandoned soils, available nutrients were the main factors influencing microbial community structure. The abandonment process also constrained soil microbial mineralization. The dominant microbial phyla mainly included Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Verrucomicrobiota, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteriota, while the relative abundances of other taxa differed markedly among land-use stages. Agricultural soils were dominated by copiotrophic microbial groups, whereas microbial communities in abandoned soils gradually shifted toward oligotrophic groups with increasing recovery time, and some taxa associated with the degradation of complex carbon substrates also increased in abundance. Functional analysis further indicated that carbon and phosphorus cycling functions in soil microbial communities exhibited a certain degree of functional redundancy, whereas nitrogen-cycling functions depended more strongly on specific microbial taxa. Land abandonment promoted an increase in the abundance of genes related to microbial carbon metabolism in soil. However, even after 25 years of abandonment, microbial community composition and functional potential had not fully recovered to the level of mature reference Podzols, indicating that agricultural disturbance exerts long-term legacy effects on soil microbiomes in permafrost-affected regions. Full article

This study quantified the extent of cropland abandonment in relation to bush/shrub encroachment and natural rangeland in Sencherere village, Limpopo Province, from 1994 to 2024. Landsat 5, 7, 8, and 9 images were used to classify three land-cover categories using a Random Forest algorithm, with overall accuracies ranging from 80% to 85% and Kappa coefficients between 0.73 and 0.80. Results show that cropland abandonment followed a non-linear trend, decreasing from 498 ha (37.7%) in 1994 to 200 ha (15.14%) in 2014, suggesting a period of recovery or re-cultivation during this interval. However, this trend reversed thereafter, with abandonment increasing again to 473 ha (35.81%) in 2024, indicating renewed abandonment of cultivated areas. This pattern suggests that cropland use in the study area is not a progressive one-directional abandonment process, but rather a cyclical interaction between abandonment and reclamation influenced by changing environmental and socio-economic conditions over time. Bush or shrub cover expanded substantially over the 30 years, increasing from 51 ha (3.86%) in 1994 to 354 ha (26.8%) in 2024, indicating a strong shift toward woody vegetation dominance. Natural rangeland cover fluctuated considerably from 195 ha in 1994 to 385 ha in 2004, declining to 65 ha in 2014 before partially recovering to 115 ha in 2024. Rainfall variability showed no clear long-term trend, suggesting that climatic patterns alone do not explain the observed land-cover changes; therefore, other drivers may have influenced this. The study highlights dynamic local trends of cropland abandonment and woody vegetation expansion, underscoring the need for continued monitoring and targeted investigation into the socio-economic and ecological drivers shaping these changes to support effective land-use planning and rangeland management in semi-arid communal systems. Full article

Traditional inter-station crude oil heating processes rely heavily on fossil fuels, leading to high energy consumption and environmental pollution. To address this issue, this paper develops a dynamic thermal simulation model for a novel pipeline heating system that couples geothermal and solar energy. The model synergistically utilizes abundant solar energy and abandoned geothermal well resources in the Jilin region, and is applied to analyze the thermal performance of the Xinmiao Station on the Qingtie Fourth Line pipeline. The results show that the system achieves approximate thermal stabilization during long-term operation: the produced water temperature stabilizes at approximately 30.85 °C, and the average coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump remains above 4.79, demonstrating good stability. Solar energy contributes about 23.5% of the total annual heat supply (7.0 × 10⁶ kWh) over 1600 effective hours, significantly reducing the annual electricity consumption of the heat pump and water pumps. The integration of solar energy effectively mitigates the decline in the average soil temperature; after 25 years, the soil temperature remains at approximately 54.43 °C. Through optimized configuration, the system reduces its life-cycle cost and levelized cost of heat (annual cost reduced by about 4.35%), showing excellent economic performance. Comprehensive analysis indicates that the coupled system exhibits outstanding energy efficiency and sustainability, providing technical support for the optimized design and engineering application of clean heating systems for crude oil pipelines. This paper contributes four novelties: first application of a coupled geothermal–solar system to a crude oil pipeline (Xinmiao Station, Qingtie Fourth Line); reuse of abandoned deep oil wells as geothermal boreholes to cut drilling costs; a 25-year dynamic simulation quantifying long-term soil temperature evolution and proving sustainability gains over a standalone geothermal system; and multi-scenario economic optimization identifying the optimal collector area under site land constraints. Based on these, a dynamic thermal simulation model is developed and its synergistic operation strategy is investigated, aiming to provide theoretical and technical support for clean-energy-driven crude oil heating. Full article

Grassland ecological governance is a systematic project integrating natural and social attributes, involving pastoral social structure adjustment and herders’ livelihood transformation. Pastoral households are the basic production units and direct ecological responsibility bearers in Inner Mongolia. Based on 2001–2023 statistical data and 2014–2023 field surveys, this study adopts an integrated mixed-methods approach: quantitative trend analysis is used to identify long-term changes in household number and size, while qualitative thematic coding of interviews and participatory observation is applied to interpret behavioral logic and governance mechanisms, so as to achieve mutual verification and complementarity between the two data types. We find that pastoral household numbers grew rapidly after 2010 and remained high. By 2023, the number reached 641,500, with average household size dropping to 2.89 people. Driven by ecological subsidy policies, grassland tenure confirmation, and livestock market returns, household scale shrank and grassland was fragmented. The three spontaneously formed ecological governance functions—population regulation, grass-livestock balance, and human-land adjustment—have weakened and shifted from “spontaneous governance” to “passive response.” Herder differentiation in this paper refers to the stratification of pastoral households into distinct groups in terms of livestock scale, grassland area, livelihood structure, and governance capacity, forming heterogeneous behavioral patterns and policy responses. Future governance should abandon the one-sided label of herders as “ecological destroyers,” improve differentiated subsidy policies, and support joint household governance to revitalize endogenous governance capacity. Full article

In the dry–hot valley region of Southwest China, water infiltration exhibits temporal variations due to the combined effects of land use type and the dramatic seasonal dry–wet cycle. To accurately compare and predict the infiltration characteristics, soil water infiltration processes and cumulative infiltration were quantified for five typical land uses—traditional corn (TC), plum orchard (PO), pine forest (PF), grassland (GL), and abandoned cropland (AC)—in a dry–hot valley region during both the rainy (July) and dry (November) seasons using a Mini Disk Infiltrometer (MDI). These data were then statistically analyzed using the Kostiakov, Philip, and Horton models. The results showed that the mean infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration during the rainy season were 1.34 times and 1.31 times higher than in the dry season, respectively. The water infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration for the five land uses generally followed the order of PF > GL/TC > PO/AC during both rainy and dry seasons. The model parameters related to the initial infiltration capability (Kostiakov parameter, a) and the steady infiltration capability (Philip parameter, A; and the Horton parameter, f_c) during the rainy season were all greater than those in the dry season. Compared to the Kostiakov and Horton models, the Philip model achieved the highest mean Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values in fitting soil water infiltration processes, the lowest mean relative error (MRE) values, and the highest determination coefficient values (R²) in predicting the cumulative infiltration, with relatively little difference between the two seasons. These results indicate that PF, GL, and TC exhibit superior soil water infiltration capabilities compared to other land uses during both the rainy and dry seasons. The Philip model is more suitable for estimating soil infiltration capacity in the dry–hot valley region during both seasons. Identification of the superior land use types and accuracy determination of the water infiltration model can help guide effective water conservation and vegetation restoration initiatives in the dry–hot valley region of Southwest China. Full article

Non-grain use of cultivated land (NGUCL) in ecologically fragile regions has become a major challenge to food security and land sustainability, yet its spatiotemporal dynamics, spatial spillover effects, and associated factors remain insufficiently understood. Taking Ningxia, China, as a typical semi-arid to arid transition zone, this study developed a phenology-informed framework that combined multi-temporal Landsat imagery, random forest classification, spatial autocorrelation analysis, centroid and standard deviation ellipse models, and a spatial lag model to identify and analyze NGUCL in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. Within the cultivated land boundary, NGUCL was further decomposed into cash crop-cultivated farmland (CCCF) and farmland abandonment (FA). The results show that the classification framework achieved robust performance, with overall accuracies above 85% across the benchmark years. Food-crop mapping reached an OA of 86.38–90.12% and a Kappa of 0.80–0.85, while FA mapping reached an OA of 85.60–86.74% and a Kappa of 0.70–0.72. NGUCL in Ningxia exhibited strong subregional differentiation under the gradients of northern irrigation, central arid, and southern mountainous conditions. CCCF was more closely associated with irrigated and agriculturally productive areas, whereas FA was concentrated in ecologically constrained counties and showed stronger dispersion and migration complexity. Spatial econometric results further indicate significant spatial spillover effects, suggesting that NGUCL-related processes in one county are associated with those in neighboring counties. The effects of natural, socioeconomic, and agricultural production factors also varied by type and period, indicating that NGUCL in ecologically fragile regions is not a homogeneous land-use transition process. By distinguishing CCCF from FA, this study provides a more nuanced interpretation of NGUCL and offers empirical evidence for understanding cultivated land transition and governance in ecologically fragile areas. Full article

Traditional wooden granaries in rural Türkiye are disappearing at an accelerating rate due to agricultural abandonment, rural depopulation, and the absence of systematic documentation and conservation frameworks. In the Sındırgı district of Balıkesir, one of the richest concentrations of vernacular granary architecture in the Marmara Region, these structures remain largely unprotected and unstudied within a sustainable design framework, constituting an urgent conservation challenge. This study aims to assess the current preservation status of Sındırgı granaries, classify their typological diversity, and evaluate their sustainability performance against a defined set of ecological design criteria. A mixed methods approach was employed, combining a systematic literature review with extensive fieldwork across 33 neighborhoods. In total, 1411 granaries were identified and grouped into five typologies: evli, Simav, kabak, sandık, and üstü örtülü sandık. These typologies were systematically compared to five parameters: spatial distribution across neighborhoods, plan and section geometry, construction system and structural elements, material selection and condition, and preservation status. This comparison revealed that typological variation is not incidental but directly reflects differences in land ownership, agricultural production capacity, topography, and distance from the district center. Representative examples from each typology were documented through onsite measurements, photogrammetry, technical drawings, and interviews with local craftsmen. The sustainability performance of the granaries was then assessed across seven ecological design criteria: spatial organization, building form design, structural element design, material use and conservation, design with nature, urban design area planning, and nature interaction. The findings demonstrate that the long-term durability of these structures depends on an interrelated system of climate-responsive design decisions rather than any single factor. The study concludes by proposing a holistic conservation model comprising typology-based inventory, roof water moisture-focused intervention, periodic monitoring, and transmission of vernacular building knowledge, a framework applicable to comparable rural granary heritage across the region. Full article

Nepal has undergone significant land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes from 2000 to 2020, driven by urbanization, agricultural shifts, and broader socioeconomic dynamics. This study analyzes historical changes and projects LULC dynamics for 2030, 2040, and 2050 across four scenarios: Business-as-Usual (BAU), Rapid Urban Development (RUD), Forest Degradation and Terai Contraction (FDTC), and Agricultural Land Abandonment and Ecological Recovery (ALER). A CA–Markov modeling framework in TerrSet was used to simulate future land-use patterns, utilizing scenario-specific transition probability matrices and spatial constraints to reflect different socio-economic and policy assumptions. Under the BAU scenario, land-use change remains moderate, characterized by gradual urban expansion and limited forest decline. On the contrary, the RUD scenario predicts a drastic expansion of built-up areas by about 1.44 million ha, along with significant losses of cropland, bare soil, grassland, and forest, reflecting intensified development pressure. The FDTC scenario emphasizes agricultural expansion at the expense of forests, while urban growth remains limited. Conversely, the ALER scenario demonstrates strong ecological recovery driven by cropland abandonment and secondary vegetation regeneration, resulting in notable expansion of forest and other woody land. Overall, these four scenarios reveal sharply divergent land-use trajectories, ranging from rapid urban transformation to ecosystem restoration. These contrasting land-use pathways highlight the critical importance of integrated land-use policies that can proactively manage urban expansion, safeguard high-value agricultural and forest landscapes, and promote ecological restoration through incentives for agricultural land abandonment and secondary vegetation recovery, thereby ensuring long-term sustainability and climate resilience in Nepal. Full article

Cropland abandonment is increasing in the upper and middle Yangtze River Basin due to complex terrain, urbanization, and labor migration. This threatens regional food security. To address the challenge of monitoring abandonment in fragmented hilly areas, we developed a framework. We integrated machine learning with time-series analysis. We mapped cropland probability using multi-source remote sensing data, random forest, and kernel density estimation, then applied LandTrendr to detect land-use changes and track the spatiotemporal evolution of abandonment from 2000 to 2022. Next, we combined Geodetector and linear regression to identify driving factors. The results show that abandoned cropland exhibited an increasing trend from 2000 to 2010, with an average annual growth rate of 20.4%. From 2010 to 2013, the area of abandoned cropland declined rapidly, decreasing by 44.6%. Between 2013 and 2022, abandoned cropland decreased steadily, with an average annual reduction rate of 24.7%. Spatially, abandonment was clustered in the central mountains and southern hills. Key drivers included distance to towns (DtT), total grain output (GTO), and GDP. Our approach supports cropland management and rural revitalization in regions with complex terrain. Full article

Vegetation restoration is critical for ecosystem recovery in abandoned mining areas, yet how restoration age affects soil multifunctionality (SMF) and the underlying microbial regulatory mechanisms remains poorly understood. The space-for-time substitution method was employed in this study. Along a revegetation chronosequence (Restoration 1 year (R1), Restoration 10 year (R10), Restoration 30 year (R30), Restoration 45 year (R45)) in copper mine wasteland in Tongling, China, the dynamics of soil functions, SMF, and microbial communities were quantified, with the key factors influencing soil functions and the most important predictors of SMF subsequently identified. The results showed that the soil moisture regulation function recovered relatively slowly, whereas nutrient cycling functions and SMF were generally enhanced with advancing revegetation. Specifically, these functions all reached their maximum values at R30 (0.39, 0.45, and 0.28, respectively), followed by declines at R45 (−0.74, −0.09, and −0.20, respectively). Furthermore, the soil microbial communities exhibited successional characteristics of increased diversity but reduced dominance. Redundancy analysis indicated that aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (UGB), and soil total copper were key environmental variables associated with variations in multiple soil functions. Linear regression analysis showed that fungal diversity indices, plant biomass (AGB and UGB), soil total cadmium, and soil total zinc exhibited significant linear relationships with SMF. Random forest analysis further identified UGB, bacterial Simpson index, and fungal Shannon–Wiener index as key predictors of SMF. Importantly, bacterial communities played a more important role in influencing SMF than fungal communities. These results advance the understanding of key drivers of ecosystem functional recovery in mine lands and provide a theoretical basis for optimizing soil function restoration strategies. Ultimately, these findings provide new insights for advancing efforts aimed at halting land degradation and safeguarding biodiversity in degraded mining ecosystems. Full article