Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important and manageable property of soils that impacts on multiple ecosystem services through its effect on soil processes such as nitrogen (N) cycling and soil physical properties. There is considerable interest in increasing SOC concentration in agro-ecosystems worldwide. In some agro-ecosystems, increased SOC has been found to enhance the provision of ecosyst...

1 Ph.D., post-doctoral studies at Department of Agro-industrial Management and Technology-FCA/UNESP-Botucatu e-mail: [email protected] 2 Professor, Department of Animal Production – FMVZ/ UNESP-Botucatu 3 Professor, Department of Agro-industrial Management and Technology FCA/ UNESP-Botucatu 4 Ph.D. student in Animal Science FMVZ/ UNESP-Botucatu 5 Department of Agro-industrial Managemen...

Carbon dioxide production during composting of agro-waste can be taken as the indicator of rate, progress and termination of compost phenomenon and stabilization of organic matter, leading to a balanced compromise between complexity of mathematical model and extensive experimentation. Modeling and simulation of composting of agro-wastes based on experimentally measured carbon dioxide production...

The alkaline-tolerant marine-derived fungus Chaetomium globosum was tested for the production of enhanced levels of cellulases and free phenolics under highly alkaline conditions using agro wastes (cotton seed, sugar cane bagasse) as substrates under solid state fermentation (SSF) processes. In both the agro wastes used, an increase in cellulases (β-endoglucanase, β-Glucosidase, and β-exoglucan...

The two major conservation issues for drylands of Africa are habitat loss or degradation and habitat fragmentation, largely from agriculture, charcoal production, and infrastructural development. A key question for management is how these landscapes can retain their critical ecological functions and services, while simultaneously supporting resilient livelihoods. It is a clear nexus question in...

Introduction North Ghana can be characterised as the southernmost area with Sahel features. A period of drought may result in major problems, similar to that during the early years of the 1980s. Moreover, parts of North Ghana (particularly Upper East Region) are very densely populated, with marked poverty and the long accumulation of worsening environmental conditions. To study the significance...

Traditional agrosilvopastoral systems have been an important component of the farming systems and livelihoods of thousands of ethnic minority people in the uplands of Mainland Southeast Asia. Drawing on a combination of qualitative and participatory inquiries in nine ethnic minority communities, this study emphasizes the complex articulation of local farmers’ knowledge which has been so far exc...

This paper argues against what we call ‘the local trap’, in which development researchers and practitioners falsely assume that localized decision-making is inherently more socially just or ecologically sustainable. The local trap constrains research on a range of topics in development research, including productive conservation networks, agro-forestry, communitybased natural resource managemen...

C. A. Bates, Georgia Forestry Commission, Statesboro, GA 30461; S. W. Fraedrich, U.S. Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Athens, GA 30602; T. C. Harrington, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University, Ames 50011; R. S. Cameron, Georgia Forestry Commission, Statesboro, GA 30461; R. D. Menard, U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, Pineville, LA 71360...

Lihu Dong 1, Lianjun Zhang 2 and Fengri Li 1,* 1 Department of Forest Management, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China; [email protected] 2 Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), One Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA; [email protected] * Correspondenc...