Mediterranean-type ecosystems constitute one of the rarest terrestrial biomes and yet they are extraordinarily biodiverse. Home to over 250 million people, the five regions where these ecosystems are found have climate and coastal conditions that make them highly desirable human habitats. The current conservation landscape does not reflect the mediterranean biome's rarity and its importance for...

Decentralizing natural resource management to local people, especially in tropical countries, has become a trend. We review recent evidence for the impacts of decentralization on the biodiversity values of forests and forested landscapes, which encompass most of the biodiversity of the tropics. Few studies document the impact of decentralized management on biodiversity. We conclude that there m...

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 ...