Search Results (50)

Non-Native Tree Species (NNTs) play crucial roles in global and European forests. However, in the Czech Republic, NNTs represent a tiny fraction of the forested areas due to limited research on their potential use. The country is actively afforesting abandoned agricultural lands; NNTs which are already tested and certified could enhance the country’s forestry system. This study aimed to evaluate the initial growth of Castanea sativa, Platanus acerifolia, and Corylus colurna under three soil treatments on abandoned agricultural soil, evaluate the survival and mortality of the tree species, and further compare the soil dynamics among the three ecosystems to describe the initial state and short-term changes in the soil environment. The research plot was set in the Doubek area, 20 km East of Prague. Moreover, soil-improving materials, Humac (1.0 t·ha⁻¹) and Alginite (1.5 t·ha⁻¹), were established on the side of the control plot at the afforested part. The heights of plantations of tree species were measured from 2020 to 2024. Furthermore, 47 soil samples were collected at varying depths from three ecosystems (afforested soil, arable land, and old forest) in 2022. A single-factor ANOVA was run, followed by a post hoc test. The result shows that the Control-C plot (Castanea Sativa + Platanus acerifolia + Corylus colurna + agricultural soil without amendment) had the highest total growth (mean annual increment in the year 2024) for Castanea sativa (KS = 40.90 ± a21.61) and Corylus colurna (LS = 55.62 ± 59.68); Alginite-A (Castanea Sativa + Platanus acerifolia + Corylus colurna + Alginite) did best for Platanus acerifolia (PT = 39.85 ± 31.52); and Humac-B (Castanea Sativa + Platanus acerifolia + Corylus colurna + Humac) had the lowest growth. Soil dynamics among the three ecosystems showed that the old forest (plot two) significantly differs from arable soil (plot one), Humac and Platanus on afforested land (plot three), Platanus and Alginite on afforested land (plot four), and Platanus without amendment (plot five) in horizon three (the subsoil or horizon B) and in horizon four (the parent material horizon or horizon C). Results document the minor response of plantations to soil-improving matters at relatively rich sites, good growth of plantations, and initial changes in the soil characteristics in the control C plot. We recommend both sparing old forests and the afforestation of abandoned agricultural soils using a control treatment for improved tree growth and sustained soil quality. Further studies on the species’ invasiveness are needed to understand them better. Full article

The sole function of cultivated land of agricultural production is insufficient to meet the diverse demands of modern agriculture. To address land-use conflicts and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of zero hunger and reduced carbon emissions by 2030, this study introduces the theory of land sparing and sharing, uses landscape indices to identify spatially fragmented areas, employs a four-quadrant model to assess the matching status of functional supply and demand, and applies correlation analysis to determine the trade-off/synergy relationships between functions. The results indicate the following: (1) Zhengzhou’s farmland landscape exhibits characteristics of low density, low continuity, and high aggregation, with separation zones and sharing zones accounting for 77% and 23% of the total farmland area, respectively. (2) The multifunctional supply (high in the northeast, low in the southwest) and demand (high in the west, low in the east) of farmland show significant mismatches, with PF and EF exhibiting the most pronounced supply–demand mismatches. The “LS-LD and HS-LD” types of farmland account for the largest proportions, at 39% and 35%, respectively. (3) The study area is divided into four primary types: “PCZ, RLZ, BDZ, and MAZ” to optimize supply–demand relationships and utilization patterns. This study enriches the application of land sparing and sharing in related fields, providing important references for policymakers in optimizing land-use allocation and balancing food and ecological security. Full article

Reforestation is widely promoted as a nature-based solution for climate change, yet its unintended consequences, such as deforestation leakage, remain under-investigated. This study provides empirical evidence of reforestation-induced leakage in the Brazilian Amazon, using municipality-level panel data from 2000 to 2023 and spatial Durbin panel models to estimate both the magnitude and spatial reach of agricultural displacement. Despite the positive local effects of reforestation projects, we found a significant displacement of deforestation to the vicinity of municipalities. We estimated a statistically significant deforestation leakage effect of approximately 12% from the reforested area, due to the agricultural displacement of cattle ranching activities. Spatial spillovers are strongest within a 150 km radius and within two years after reforestation onset. Sensitivity tests using alternative spatial weight matrices, including distance decay and land rent-weighted specifications, confirm the robustness of these findings. Livestock intensification, proxied by cattle stocking rates, does not significantly mitigate displacement effects, challenging assumptions about land sparing benefits. These results suggest that current carbon market protocols (e.g., Verra, ART-TREES) may improve their leakage analysis to avoid under- or over-estimating net carbon benefits. Incorporating spatial econometric evidence into offset methodologies and reforestation planning can improve climate policy integrity and reduce unintended environmental trade-offs. Full article

Maintenance of offshore wind farms requires the transportation of tools and spare parts in close coordination with the deployment of technicians and the cost-intensive shutdown of the wind turbines. In addition to ships and helicopters, drones are envisioned to support the offshore transportation system in the future. For cost-efficient and scalable offshore drone operations, autonomy is key to minimize the required infrastructure and personnel. In this work, we present a system architecture that integrates the key onboard capabilities for autonomous offshore drone operations: onboard mission and contingency management, en-route trajectory planning, robust flight control, safe landing, communication management, and runtime monitoring. We also present technical solutions for each of these capabilities and discuss their integration and interaction within the autonomy architecture. Furthermore, remaining challenges and the feasibility of autonomous drone operations for offshore wind farm cargo delivery are addressed, contributing to the realization of this vision in the near future. The work presented here summarizes the results of autonomous cargo drone operations within the UDW research project, a joint project between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the energy supplier EnBW. Full article

Global biodiversity rates remain in decline despite the fact that worldwide 16% of the land is protected. Some argue that to stop the biodiversity decline, a shift from “land-sparing” (agricultural production and nature conservation on different plots of land) towards “land-sharing” (both activities on the same plot of land) may be needed. We use the regime dimensions of the multi-level perspective to analyze the development and implementation of land-sparing and land-sharing in Dutch national parks as they are experimenting with this. Our qualitative text-based analysis of Dutch national park policy documents from 1930 until 2022 shows that the first Dutch national parks focused on nature conservation and land-sparing. In contrast, the so-called Dutch national landscape parks were the first serious attempt to integrate nature conservation and agriculture and to implement land-sharing. However, this failed because of the misalignment between nature conservation and agriculture at that time. A new attempt is currently being made with the national parks “new style” in which more land-sharing should take place. We argue that for this, a hybrid agriculture nature-conservation regime is needed for which different dimensions of both regimes should align, which currently appears to be starting in The Netherlands. Full article

Land use change and agricultural management have a considerable impact on land use patterns and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in dynamic urbanised landscapes. This study evaluated sustainable land allocation strategies in line with the European Green Deal. A constrained cellular automata land use model was employed to assess the impacts of Business-as-Usual (BAU), Land Sharing (LSH), and Land Sparing (LSP) scenarios, using open-access data from Flanders (Belgium). Under BAU, urban expansion reduced unregistered agricultural land by 495 km², leading to higher GHG emissions despite an 11% increase in green space. LSH increased green space by 36% and enhanced landscape diversity, while LSP improved habitat coherence by 24%. Livestock-related methane (3.09 Mt ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$e) dominated GHG emissions, comprising more than 75% of the total, with cattle responsible for 73% of methane emissions. Nitrous oxide emissions reduced from 1.60 Mt ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$e to 1.44 (BAU), 1.43 (LSP), and 1.42 (LSH) Mt ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$e. Forest sequestration offset up to 34% of total emissions, removing −1.35 Mt ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$e. Green Deal measures mitigated emissions in all scenarios, with LSH achieving the highest gains. The results highlight the need for spatial strategies that integrate sustainable agricultural practices and balance productivity, nature conservation, and climate action under the European Green Deal. Full article

Drought is a natural phenomenon that has adverse effects on agriculture, the economy, and human well-being. The primary objective of this research was to comprehensively understand the drought conditions in Sistan and Balouchestan Province from 2002 to 2017 from two perspectives: vegetation cover and hydrology. To achieve this goal, the study utilized MODIS satellite data in the first part to monitor vegetation cover as an indicator of agricultural drought. In the second part, GRACE satellite data were employed to analyze changes in groundwater resources as an indicator of hydrological drought. To assess vegetation drought, four indices were used: Vegetation Health Index (VHI), Vegetation Drought Index (VDI), Visible Infrared Drought Index (VSDI), and Temperature Vegetation Drought Index (TVDI). To validate vegetation drought indices, they were compared with Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) precipitation data. The vegetation indices showed a strong, statistically significant correlation with GLDAS precipitation data in most regions of the province. Among all indices, the VHI showed the highest correlation with precipitation (moderate (0.3–0.7) in 51.7% and strong (≥0.7) in 45.82% of lands). The output of vegetation indices revealed that the study province has experienced widespread drought in recent years. The results showed that the southern and central regions of the province have faced more severe drought classes. In the second part of this research, hydrological drought monitoring was conducted in fifty third-order sub-basins located within the study province using the Total Water Storage (TWS) deficit, Drought Severity, and Total Storage Deficit Index (TSDI Index). Annual average calculations of the TWS deficit over the period from April 2012 to 2016 indicated a substantial depletion of groundwater reserves in the province, amounting to a cumulative loss of 12.2 km³ Analysis results indicate that drought severity continuously increased in all study basins until the end of the study period. Studies have shown that all the studied basins are facing severe and prolonged water scarcity. Among the 50 studied basins, the Rahmatabad basin, located in the semi-arid northern regions of the province, has experienced the most severe drought. This basin has experienced five drought events, particularly one lasting 89 consecutive months and causing a reduction of more than 665.99 km³. of water in month 1, placing it in a critical condition. On the other hand, the Niskoofan Chabahar basin, located in the tropical southern part of the province near the Sea of Oman, has experienced the lowest reduction in water volume with 10 drought events and a decrease of approximately 111.214 km³. in month 1. However, even this basin has not been spared from prolonged droughts. Analysis of drought index graphs across different severity classes confirmed that all watersheds experienced drought conditions, particularly in the later years of this period. Data analysis revealed a severe water crisis in the province. Urgent and coordinated actions are needed to address this challenge. Transitioning to drought-resistant crops, enhancing irrigation efficiency, and securing water rights are essential steps towards a sustainable future. Full article

The Landsat-9 satellite, launched in September 2021, carries the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) as one of its payloads. This instrument is a clone of the Landsat-8 OLI and its mission is to continue the operational land imaging of the Landsat program. The OLI-2 instrument is not significantly different from OLI though the instrument-level pre-launch spectral characterization process was much improved. The focal plane modules used on OLI-2 were manufactured as spares for OLI and much of the spectral characterization of the components was performed for OLI. However, while the spectral response of the fully assembled OLI was characterized by a double monochromator system, the OLI-2 spectral characterization made use of the Goddard Laser for Absolute Measurement of Radiance (GLAMR). GLAMR is a system of tunable lasers that cover 350–2500 nm which are fiber-coupled to a 30 in integrating sphere permanently monitored by NIST-traceable radiometers. GLAMR allowed the spectral characterization of every detector of the OLI-2 focal plane in nominal imaging conditions. The spectral performance of the OLI-2 was, in general, much better than requirements. The final relative spectral responses (RSRs) represent the best characterization any Landsat instrument spectral response. This paper will cover the results of the spectral characterization from the component-level to the instrument-level of the Landsat-9 OLI-2. Full article

Sugar beet, an important sugar crop, is particularly cultivated in humid regions to produce beet sugar, fulfilling about 25% of the world’s sugar requirement, supplementing cane sugar. However, sugar beet is not well adopted in the farming system of the tropics and subtropics, which is largely due to the historically well-established production technology of sugarcane and the lower awareness among local growers of sugar beet cultivation. Thus, the poor understanding of pest and disease management and the lack of processing units for sugar beet partially hinder farmers in the large-scale adaptation of sugar beet in the tropics and subtropics. Recent climatic developments have drawn attention to sugar beet cultivation in those regions, considering the low water demand and about half the growing duration (5–6 months) in contrast to sugarcane, sparing agricultural land for an extra crop. Nevertheless, a considerable knowledge gap exists for sugar beet when closely compared to sugarcane in tropical and subtropical growth conditions. Here, we examined the leverage of existing published articles regarding the significance and potential of sugar beet production in the tropics and subtropics, covering its pros and cons in comparison to sugarcane. The challenges for sugar beet production have also been identified, and possible mitigation strategies are suggested. Our assessment reveals that sugar beet can be a promising sugar crop in tropical and subtropical regions, considering the lower water requirements and higher salt resistance. Full article

Although deforestation remains a continuing threat to both the natural world and its resident human populations, a countervailing land cover dynamic has been observed in many nations. This process of landscape turnaround, the so-called forest transition, holds the potential of regenerating ecosystem services by sparing land from agricultural activities and abandoning it to forest succession. Here, we present a case study of a long-term process of forest transition that is ongoing in the Patzcuaro watershed of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The research to be discussed comprises a remote sensing analysis designed to (1) capture the land cover impacts of a multidecadal process of trade liberalization (1996–2018); (2) ascertain the role that land tenure plays in land use dynamics affecting forest cover, and (3) resolve forest cover types into native forest, secondary vegetation, and “commodity” covers of fruit trees, in this case, avocado. Mexico presents a useful case for addressing these three design elements. Our analysis, undertaken for both private property and collective modes of resource management in five communities, reveals a forest transition annualized at 20 ha-yr⁻¹, or a gain of eight percent for the period. This translates into a relative rate of forest transition of 0.39%-yr⁻¹ which is three times faster than what is occurring in the temperate biome on a national scale (0.07%-yr⁻¹). Most of the forest transition is occurring on private holdings and stems from field abandonment as farming systems intensify production with avocado plantations and cow–calf operations. As this study demonstrates, forest transitions are not occurring ubiquitously across nations but instead are highly localized occurrences driven by a myriad of distal and proximate factors involving disparate sets of stakeholders. Consequently, policy makers who are keen to expand forest transitions to fulfill their national climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement must first promote research into the complexity of landscapes and drivers of land change at regional and local scales. Full article

Urbanization negatively affects biodiversity worldwide. Consequently, alternative urban development styles are required for an eco-friendlier urbanization process. Thus, two development styles have been suggested: land-sharing (buildings mixed with dispersed green space) and land-sparing (buildings interspersed with large green patches). We assessed differences in species diversity and composition of bird assemblages between both development styles in two Argentinian cities: Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. We surveyed birds in land-sharing and land-sparing areas during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. As a control, we also surveyed birds in areas dominated by impervious surfaces. At a local scale, we also measured the environmental noise and pedestrian traffic. At a landscape scale, we measured the percent vegetation cover surrounding development styles and their distance to the main river. In Buenos Aires, species richness was higher in land-sparing than in land-sharing. However, the Shannon diversity and Simpson diversity were higher in land-sharing. In Santa Fe, both urban development styles supported similar species richness and diversity. Species composition varied between land-sharing and land-sparing in both cities during the breeding season. The pedestrian traffic was negatively associated with species diversity. Therefore, both development styles and strategies to reduce pedestrian traffic should be taken into account to enhance different components of species diversity and composition within the urban matrix. Full article

Land use change in pastures is considered one of the leading drivers of tropical deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region (EAR). To halt and reverse this process, it is necessary to understand, among other factors, the local livelihoods, income from grazing area and the appropriate options to foster sustainable production, incorporating the land-sparing and land-sharing approach. This work was conducted using 167 household surveys along an altitudinal gradient within the buffer and transition zone of the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve (SBR) in the EAR. The results of a comparative analysis of the main capital variables (human, social, natural, financial, and physical), and the opportunity cost of grazing area assessment provides the following key findings: (a) the concepts of land sparing and land sharing should be considered as complementary local strategies, including household livelihoods and the opportunity cost of the grazing area; (b) we should encourage markets with differentiated restoration rights, based on households engaged in low grazing areas’ opportunity costs, and making less impact on capitals’ livelihood a key element of economic and conservation initiatives; and (c) sectoral policy implications, including moderate intensification and technological improvements to strengthen the pastureland-sparing and -sharing approach, are discussed. Full article

Swidden agriculture or shifting cultivation is still being widely practiced in tropical developing countries and Laos has spared no effort to eradicate it since the mid-1990s. So far, the development of swidden agriculture in this land-locked mountainous country during the 2000–2020 bi-decade remains poorly examined. Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series products have shown potential in monitoring vegetative status; however, only extremely limited cases of remote sensing of swidden agriculture landscapes have been reported. Taking northern Laos as a study area and using 2001–2020 MODIS vegetation indices products, the Savitzky–Golay filter, the Mann–Kendall trend test and a threshold method were employed to delineate and monitor annual patterns and dynamics of swidden agriculture landscape at the village level. The results showed that: MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series perform better in delineating the temporal development of swidden agriculture. The swidden agriculture landscape has shown a general descending trend in the past decades, especially in the 2010s, with an annual average of 14.70 × 10⁴ ha. The total number of swidden-practicing villages (or districts) also displayed a declining trend and there were 957 villages or 91 districts practicing it continuously between 2001 and 2020. An average of 32 villages per year or two districts per decade highlights the difficulty in ending swidden agriculture in Laos, although the government of Laos has established a number of policies for the eradication of swidden agriculture by 2020. This study provides a necessary methodological reference for monitoring a two-decade evolution and transformation of swidden agriculture in the tropics. Full article

Macau’s urban development model has many unique characteristics, including expansion of the city through sea reclamation, increasing population mainly through immigration, and economic development driven by the gaming industry. Based on data from the Macau Statistics and Census Service, this study uses the Error Correction representation of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL-ECM) to analyze the impact of urban development on the trends of immigration and labor migration in Macau between 1992 and 2019. Results show that both land area and wage level have positive effects on the number of migrant workers and negative effects on the number of immigrants, indicating that Macau is over-dependent on short-term migrant workers. Macau’s land and human resources are tilted towards the gaming industry, resulting in a decreasing living environment and resident carrying capacity as the city develops. Therefore, this paper suggests that Macau should reduce the cost of city expansion and improve economic diversity through strengthening cooperation with neighboring mainland cities, hence sparing resources to absorb non-local talent and ensuring sustainable urban development. Full article

Urban Agriculture (UA) is the widespread practice of food production within available city space using non-commercial, commercial and hybrid production technologies. The economic viability of UA remains a concern among UA practitioners. To investigate UA’s viability; land, labour and distribution cost are analyzed, and margin and benefit–cost ratio (BCR) under vacant lot, rooftop/backyard and discretionary labour UA are calculated. We present a straightforward approach to gauge the economic viability of UA taking examples from 40 distinct locations of two divergent development contexts of Adelaide, South Australia and Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. UA seems potentially viable by selecting high-value crops in Adelaide but showed little chance of viability under low-value crop scenarios in both contexts. The high cost of land is shown to be the primary driver of cost for UA. Labour cost appears to be a critical difference between the two cities, being an important constraint for the economic viability in Adelaide, where the wage rate is high. To improve economic viability, the respective governments and planners should consider better ways to avail subsidised land through policy intervention and volunteer or subsidised labour arrangement mechanisms. Home food gardens accessing available land and labour as a discretionary/spare time activity with zero distribution cost may represent the best way to produce food without exceeding market costs in cities. Full article