Agroecosystems have traditionally been considered incompatible with biological conservation goals, and often been excluded from spatial conservation prioritization strategies. The consequences for the representativeness of identified priority areas have been little explored. Here, we evaluate these for biodiversity and carbon storage representation when agricultural land areas are excluded from...

Three soils in the Loess Plateau were selected to explore the potential of applying the decision support system for agrotechnology transfer (DSSAT) crop models in the areas and to test the CERES-Wheat model under DSSAT shell. The predicted maturity dates and grain yields were similar to the actual measured values. The manural loessial soil had the highest productivity. The loessial soil had the...

Canada’s agriculturally important lands include lands that are currently used for agricultural purposes (e.g. croplands, rangeland, pastures) as well as those that show potential for future agricultural development (e.g. natural grasslands). However, because these lands generally cover large geographical extents, their assessment by conventional ground survey techniques are often time-consuming...

In 2002. there were 88,458 fires reported on federal lands. These fires burned 6,937,584 acres and 2,381 structures costing taxpayers $1.6 billion for fire suppression. On average, 4,215,089 acres of federal lands burn annually. Forecasting wildland fire risk (occurrence and size) is important to fire managers who desire to know the risks of severe events well in advance of their happening. In ...

In 2002. there were 88,458 fires reported on federal lands. These fires burned 6,937,584 acres and 2,381 structures costing taxpayers $1.6 billion for fire suppression. On average, 4,215,089 acres of federal lands burn annually. Forecasting wildland fire risk (occurrence and size) is important to fire managers who desire to know the risks of severe events well in advance of their happening. In ...

The selling of hunting leases by private landowners has been regulated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) since 1925. However, a comprehensive examination of leasing activity and wildlife management practices used by landowners who lease lands for hunting has never been conducted. This study had three objectives: (1) to develop procedures to regularly monitor trends and changes i...

Land degradation continues to be an enormous challenge human societies, reducing food security, emitting greenhouse gases and aerosols, driving the loss of biodiversity, polluting water, undermining a wide range ecosystem services beyond supply water climate regulation. Climate change will exacerbate several processes. Investment in diverse restoration efforts, including sustainable agricultura...

In late August 2005, 80 researchers from more than 15 countries convened for a 4-day conference entitled “The Tenth Anniversary of 51 Peg b: Status and Prospects for Hot Jupiter Studies”. The meeting was held at l’Observatoire de Haute-Provence, the location of the 1.93-m telescope and ELODIE spectrograph used to discover the planetary companion to 51 Peg roughly 10 years ago. I summarize sever...