Search Results (34,487)

Smallholder agricultural systems in tropical and subtropical regions are threatened by climate change. This systematic review of 218 peer-reviewed studies (2000–2024) synthesizes evidence on agroforestry’s role as a climate-smart economic strategy across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Using a PRISMA-guided approach, we evaluated carbon sequestration pathways, biophysical adaptation benefits, and socioeconomic outcomes. Findings indicate that agroforestry systems can sequester 0.5–5 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in biomass and soils. The results show that agroforestry has the potential to improve above- and below-ground carbon stocks, moderate microclimates, decrease erosion and improve functional biodiversity. The results, however, differ greatly depending on the type of system, ecology and practice. The socioeconomic advantages can be diversification of income and stability of the yield, and adoption is limited due to barriers related to the economy, lack of security in tenure, information asymmetry, and insufficient policy encouragement. We find that agroforestry is a multifunctional and climate resistant land-use approach, but the potential that agroforestry has cannot be fulfilled without context-specific policies, better extension services and inclusive carbon financing schemes. Full article

Aerosol microphysical and optical properties play a crucial role in cloud microphysics, precipitation physics, and flood formation over areas characterized by complex monsoon regimes. This research presents a multi-source data integration approach to analyzing the spatio-temporal interaction between precipitation, aerosols, and flooding in the state of Kerala, incorporating an air mass trajectory analysis to examine its potential contribution to flooding. The results show that the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values were high in the coastal districts (>0.8) in the La Niña year (2021) but low in the El Niño year (2015). On the precipitation side, 2018 and 2021 were both years with a high degree of anomalies, resulting in heavy rainfall that led to widespread flooding in the Thrissur district, among others. The trajectory analysis revealed that the Indian Ocean controls the precipitation during the southwest monsoon and the pre-monsoon. The post-monsoon precipitation is mainly sourced from the Arabian Peninsula and Arabian Sea, transferring marine aerosols along with desert aerosols. The overall study shows that the variability in aerosols and precipitation is more subject to change by the meteorological dynamics, as well as influenced by the regional changes in land use and land cover, causing fluxes in the land–atmosphere interactions. In conclusion, the present study highlights the possible interactive functions of atmospheric dynamics and anthropogenic land use modifications in generating a flood hazard. It provides essential information for land management policies and disaster risk reduction. Full article

This study investigates the crucial role energy leaders play in driving strategic energy management (SEM) and accelerating cost savings within a manufacturing organization and consequently, the industrial sector. Whereas energy efficiency can be seen as an innovative business practice with irrefutable cost benefits, its effective implementation requires strategic leadership and a structured approach. This research analyzes data collected from 120 participants representing 71 companies attending the Energy Bootcamp events organized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Plants program. The collected data focused on the state of SEM implementation, the presence and responsibilities of energy leaders, and the formation and function of energy teams. The findings reveal a significant gap between the perceived importance of SEM and its actual adoption, highlighting the need for strong leadership to drive behavioral changes by championing energy efficiency initiatives. Results indicate that effective energy leaders possess a diverse skill set, including the ability to secure top management buy-in, foster a culture of energy consciousness, and collaborate across departments. This study emphasizes the importance of empowering energy leaders with clearly defined roles and responsibilities as well as the authority to build and lead cross-functional energy teams. Furthermore, integrating energy management into existing organizational structures and leveraging readily available resources are identified as key factors for successful implementation. This research underscores how dedicated leadership and effective SEM practices help achieve industrial energy efficiency goals, providing practical insights for organizations seeking to improve performance and contribute to a resilient future. Full article

This paper examines how colonial and neoliberal logics have influenced the ideas of self-management, democracy, and participation and how a decolonial perspective might reinterpret them. Although democracy and participation are celebrated in mainstream development discourse, they frequently serve as technologies of control that uphold market rationalities and dependency. The paper presents a conceptual model for comprehending how political and organisational practices in the Global South are both resisted by and limited by these dynamics, drawing on the framework of the colonial matrix of power. With reference to grassroots movements like Abahlali base Mjondolo, which represent alternative democratic logics based on collective self-management and epistemic justice, South Africa is used as a focal case. How gaps in the global architecture of dominance create opportunities for pluriversal futures is further demonstrated by comparative observations from Latin America and other Global South contexts. By (i) exposing the limitations of institutionalised participatory frameworks, (ii) highlighting radical democracy at the grassroots level, and (iii) describing the structural and epistemic prerequisites for significant change, the paper adds to discussions on decolonial political economy. By doing this, it reinterprets participation as a fight for liberating alternatives outside of colonial modernity rather than as inclusion within the status quo. Full article

Bump feeding is a nutritional management strategy in swine production that involves increasing feed allowance and/or dietary nutrient density during the final weeks of gestation, usually from day 90 to farrowing, to support rapid fetal growth and prepare sows for lactation. This strategy is widely applied to improve piglet birth weight, neonatal viability, and subsequent reproductive performance. This review synthesizes current evidence on the effects of increased maternal feed intake during late gestation on sow body condition and feeding-related behavioral responses, and farrowing outcomes. Available studies suggest that increasing feed allowance during late gestation can influence litter characteristics, piglet survival at birth, and sow energy reserves, as reflected by changes in backfat thickness (BFT) and body condition score (BCS). The nutritional composition of bump-feeding diets, including dietary energy and amino acid balance, is critically evaluated in relation to pregnancy maintenance, farrowing duration, and early lactation performance. In addition, the roles of parity and feeding behavior during late gestation are examined, with particular emphasis on their associations with sow activity patterns, restlessness around parturition, and farrowing efficiency. Despite these reported effects, findings across studies remain inconsistent, particularly regarding the balance between improved reproductive outcomes and the risk of excessive fat deposition in sows. This review highlights key knowledge gaps and underscores the need for optimized, parity-specific bump-feeding strategies that integrate nutritional management with feeding behavior to enhance farrowing performance, piglet survival, sow welfare, and economic sustainability in modern pig production. Full article

The western corn rootworm (WCR) and northern corn rootworm (NCR) are the two major belowground insect pests of corn in the U.S. Corn Belt. These species coexist in the same habitat, where their larvae feed on corn roots, increasing the risk of lodging and yield loss. Understanding larval competition between WCR and NCR is crucial for effective insect resistance management and integrated pest management. To assess interspecific larval competition between WCR and NCR, two independent greenhouse trials were conducted. We infested non-Bt corn plants with varying egg ratios of diapause and non-diapause populations of both species and counted the number of adults of each species recovered from each plant. Results showed that WCR consistently exhibited higher emergence rates than NCR, regardless of the initial egg infestation ratio. The observed ratio of NCR to WCR in both diapause and non-diapause groups was significantly lower than expected, suggesting that WCR is more competitive than NCR. The competitive dominance of WCR, coupled with climate warming, may facilitate its northward expansion across the U.S. This could potentially affect local NCR populations and further spread Bt and rotation resistance. Such changes could exacerbate pest management challenges in corn production systems. Integrating knowledge of corn rootworm competition, biology, resistance development, and climate change will be critical for developing informed management strategies to mitigate corn rootworm damage in agroecosystems effectively. Full article

Tea (Camellia sinensis) cultivation is a major global industry that faces sustainability challenges due to soil degradation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from intensive management. Biochar—charcoal designed and used as a soil amendment—has emerged as a potential tool to improve soil health, enhance carbon sequestration, and mitigate GHG fluxes in agroecosystems. However, field-scale evidence of its effects on GHG dynamics in woody crops like tea remains limited, particularly regarding methane (CH₄). Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first field assessment of biochar impacts on CO₂, CH₄, and H₂O vapour fluxes in a subtropical tea agroforestry system with and without shade trees in northeastern Bangladesh. Using a closed dynamic chamber and real-time gas analysis, we found that biochar application (at 7.5 t·ha⁻¹) significantly enhanced average soil methane (CH₄) uptake by 84%, while soil respiration (CO₂ efflux) rose modestly (+18%) and water-vapour fluxes showed a marginal increase. Canopy conditions modulated these effects: biochar strongly enhanced CH₄ uptake under both shaded and open canopies, whereas biochar effects on water-vapour flux were detectable only when biochar was combined with a shade-tree canopy. Structural equation modelling suggests that CH₄ flux was primarily governed by biochar-induced changes in soil pH, moisture, nutrient status, and temperature, while CO₂ and H₂O fluxes were shaped by organic matter availability, temperature, and phosphorus dynamics. These findings demonstrate that biochar can promote CH₄ uptake and alter soil carbon–water interactions during the dry season in tea plantation systems and support operational biochar use in combination with shade-tree agroforestry. Full article

Argania spinosa L. Skeels is an ecological pillar of the arid zones of South-West Morocco, currently threatened by the drastic climate change. This study investigates the effect of the combined application of compost (C) and subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) on field performances of one-(1Y) and two-year-old (2Y) argan seedlings. A randomized field trial was performed with four treatments: Control, C, SWRT, and C + SWRT. We evaluated soil properties, growth, and physiology, alongside biochemical parameters including stress markers, compatible solutes, antioxidant enzyme activities, and secondary metabolites. The results reveal the significant effect of C and/or SWRT on argan seedlings performances, particularly in 1Y subjects. The C + SWRT strongly stimulated stem elongation (246% vs. 163%), stomatal conductance (75% vs. 99%), photosynthetic efficiency (18% vs. 11%), and chlorophyll a content (80% vs. 65%) in 1Y and 2Y seedlings, respectively, compared to their corresponding controls. Under the same treatment, malondialdehyde levels were significantly reduced by 37% in 1Y seedlings and 23% in 2Y seedlings. In addition, catalase activity and soluble sugar, protein, and polyphenol content increased by 38, 43, 26, and 21%, respectively, in the younger seedlings and by 53, 51, 18, and 19%, respectively, in the elder seedlings. In terms of soil health, C + SWRT significantly enhanced total organic carbon and matter, available phosphorus, and reduced electrical conductivity. In summary, the C + SWRT application significantly improved argan plant performances, with a particularly marked effect on 1Y seedlings, which makes this combination an alternative solution to enhance the resilience of the argan tree in the era of climate change and promote the success of the reforestation program. Full article

Biogas production from agricultural residues is a promising solution for renewable energy production, improved waste management, and beneficial impact on climate change mitigation. The aim of this study is to assess the actual use and theoretical potential of agricultural biogas produced from animal manure in Poland at the local level. The potential and actual use of agricultural biogas are presented regionally (16 voivodeships) and locally (314 districts). The theoretical potential of agricultural biogas was estimated based on data from the Agricultural Census conducted by the Central Statistical Office in Poland in 2020. Actual biogas production is based on data from the Register of Agricultural Biogas Producers maintained by the National Support Center for Agriculture. The study shows that Poland is only tapping into the existing potential for agricultural biogas production to a limited extent. Furthermore, both actual agricultural biogas production and the identified theoretical potential vary spatially (greater potential in the northern part of the country, significantly lower in the southern part). This situation is attributed to existing barriers that hinder the utilization of existing potential. Therefore, it is crucial to seek new solutions to reduce existing barriers of an organizational, legal, technical, economic, environmental, spatial, and social nature. Full article

Water distribution pipe systems (WDPSs) are critical for delivering irrigation water in an irrigation district. Ensuring the WDPS operates with good operational performance has become a key focus for irrigation water management. Assessing the operational performance of WDPS from both water delivery capacity and pressure changes is compatible with the system, but such an approach has rare been proposed systematically. This paper establishes an integrated framework to assess the performance of WDPS by combining a performance indicator system with a simulation model. The performance indicator system encompasses Adequacy, Efficiency, Equity, and Pressure Reliability, capturing both water delivery capacity and pressure changes. The simulation model is established for providing required data for calculating the performance indicators. Applied to a case study, the framework demonstrates its applicability. Under the specified conditions of the case study, the overall assessment results of WDPS are Adequacy (0.99), Efficiency (0.993), Equity (0.0484), and Pressure Reliability (0.82). Meanwhile, the assessment results at different outlet nodes of the WDPS indicate that there may be insufficient pressure and excessive water supply at some outlet nodes of the WDPS. Further interpretation of the results indicates that the proposed method has the potential to be beneficial for irrigation water management, as it enables strategic assessment of the future operational performance of water distribution pipe systems (WDPSs) and provides effective management guidance for irrigation district managers. Full article

To clarify the spatial–temporal evolution patterns and climate-driven mechanisms of carbon sinks of forest ecosystems under climate change, we calculated the net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of forests in the Guangxi region using remote sensing and meteorological data from 2000 to 2023. By employing trend analysis, spatial clustering, the Hurst index, and climate contribution evaluation, we analyzed the spatial and temporal changes, sustainability, and the relative contribution of climate impacts on forest carbon sinks. The results are as follows: The carbon sink capacity of forests in Guangxi increased continuously from 2000 to 2023, at a rate of 3.57 g C·m⁻²·a⁻¹, reaching 39.19% higher in 2023 than in 2000. The carbon sink capacity was higher in the southwest and lower in the northeast, with hotspots mainly located in evergreen/deciduous broad-leaved forest areas. The Hurst index indicates that 84.44% of regions are likely to maintain this increasing trend, suggesting stability in forest carbon sink function. The climate contribution rate to forest carbon sinks was moderate, with significant temporal fluctuations. Temperature governed annual variation in forest carbon sinks, influencing up to 36.37% of the area. The annual average contribution rate of climate change to forest carbon sinks was 30.28%, but there were temporal fluctuations and spatial heterogeneity. Over time, climate contributions had a positive driving impact; however, extreme climate events tended to produce a negative effect. The pattern of forest carbon sinks in Guangxi showed a “heat sink-coupling” phenomenon, with 16.23% of the hotspots of forest carbon sinks coinciding with temperature control zones, highlighting the enhancing effect of temperature rise on carbon sinks against a background of water and heat synergy. This study provides a scientific basis for the assessment of forest carbon sink potential and climate suitability management in Guangxi. Full article

Wildfires are one of the main natural hazards around the world, and are becoming increasingly important in the current context of climate change. To limit the impacts of fires, policies are implemented following various phases of risk management. These concern prevention (risk communication and information, forest monitoring, fuel management, the installation of firewalls, etc.) and suppression (firefighting interventions) measures. This article presents a systematic literature review analyzed through the prism of climate change and policy. It is carried out using a textometric approach. The corpus is composed of 720 articles published from 1997. A marked increase is evident from 2021. The analysis enables the clustering of the main issues. Six main themes were revealed by Reinert Clustering: Health issues, Disaster risk management, Natural environment, Management of the natural environment, Fire characteristics, and Fire modeling. These themes are composed of 36 sub-themes. In addition, the article shows that some issues (anthropogenic health and management/governance issues, and natural environment issues around fire and natural environment characterization) remain constant over time while others increase/decrease in importance (air quality, carbon storage and CO₂ emissions, ecosystems and biodiversity, and the effects of fires on the natural environment at the expense of anthropogenic issues). Full article

Carbon sequestration and oxygen release (CSOR) are core regulating functions of terrestrial ecosystems. However, regional assessments often fail to (i) separate scale-driven high supply from per-area efficiency, (ii) detect structural instability and degradation risk from long-term trajectories, and (iii) provide evidence that is comparable across units for management prioritization. Using Minnesota, USA, we integrated satellite-derived net primary productivity (NPP; 1998–2021) with a Quantity–Intensity–Structure (Q–I–S) framework to quantify CSOR, detect trends and change points (Mann–Kendall and Pettitt tests), map spatial clustering and degradation risk (Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, ESDA), and attribute natural and human drivers (principal component regression and GeoDetector). CSOR increased overall from 1998 to 2021, with a marked shift around 2013 from a slight, variable decline to sustained recovery. Spatially, CSOR showed a persistent north–south gradient, with higher and improving services in northern Minnesota and lower, more degraded services in the south; persistent degradation was concentrated in a central high-risk belt. The Q–I–S framework also revealed inconsistencies between total supply and condition, identifying high-supply yet degrading areas and low-supply areas with recovery potential that are not evident from the totals alone. Climate variables primarily controlled CSOR quantity and structure, whereas human factors more strongly influenced intensity; the interactions of the two further shaped observed patterns. These results provide an interpretable and transferable basis for diagnosing degradation and prioritizing restoration under long-term environmental change. Full article

Globally, grasslands, savannas, and wetlands are degrading rapidly and increasingly being replaced by woody vegetation. Woody Plant Encroachment (WPE) disrupts natural landscapes and has significant consequences for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and key ecosystem services. This review synthesizes findings from 159 peer-reviewed studies identified through a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review to evaluate the drivers of WPE, its ecological impacts, and the remote sensing (RS) approaches used to monitor it. The drivers of WPE are multifaceted, involving interactions among climate variability, topographic and edaphic conditions, hydrological change, land use transitions, and altered fire and grazing regimes, while its impacts are similarly diverse, influencing land cover structure, water and nutrient cycles, carbon and nitrogen dynamics, and broader implications for ecosystem resilience. Over the past two decades, RS has become central to WPE monitoring, with studies employing classification techniques, spectral mixture analysis, object-based image analysis, change detection, thresholding, landscape pattern and fragmentation metrics, and increasingly, machine learning and deep learning methods. Looking forward, emerging advances such as multi-sensor fusion (optical– synthetic aperture radar (SAR), Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)–hyperspectral), cloud-based platforms including Google Earth Engine, Microsoft Planetary Computer, and Digital Earth, and geospatial foundation models offer new opportunities for scalable, automated, and long-term monitoring. Despite these innovations, challenges remain in detecting early-stage encroachment, subcanopy woody growth, and species-specific patterns across heterogeneous landscapes. Key knowledge gaps highlighted in this review include the need for long-term monitoring frameworks, improved socio-ecological integration, species- and ecosystem-specific RS approaches, better utilization of SAR, and broader adoption of analysis-ready data and open-source platforms. Addressing these gaps will enable more effective, context-specific strategies to monitor, manage, and mitigate WPE in rapidly changing environments. Full article

Light, as one of the most crucial environmental factors, plays an essential role in the growth, physiology, and evolutionary survival of fish. To cope with diverse light conditions in aquatic environments, fish adapt through photosensory systems composed of both visual and non-visual pathways. The retina is a key component of the visual system of fish, capable of converting external optical signals into neural electrical signals, making it crucial for visual formation. During the process of visual signal transduction, opsins serve as the molecular foundation for vision formation. They can be divided into two major categories: visual opsins and non-visual opsins. Among these, melanopsin, as a member of the non-visual opsin family, acts as a key upstream factor in the circadian phototransduction pathway of fish. In this review, we review the adaptability of fish retinal structures to light reception and introduce in detail the gene diversity and relative expression levels of fish opsins. At the same time, we comprehensively describe the molecular mechanism by which fish adapt to changes in the underwater light environment. We also concluded that melanopsin, as a non-imaging photoreceptor, possesses not only core light-sensing functions but also non-imaging visual functions such as circadian rhythm regulation, body coloration changes, and hormone secretion. This review suggests that future research should not only elucidate the physiological functions of melanopsin in fish but also comprehensively reveal the mechanisms underlying the multi-adaptive nature of fish vision across varying light environments. Through these studies, researchers can have a deeper understanding of the physiological regulation mechanism of fish in complex light environments, and then formulate fish light environment management strategies, optimize aquaculture practices, improve economic returns, and promote the development of related fields. Full article