This study was aimed to investigate the direction and magnitude of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and the underlying mechanisms following agricultural abandonment in a subtropical karst area, southwest China. Two post-agriculture succession sequences including grassland (~10 years), shrubland (~29 years), secondary forest (~59 years) and primary forest with cropland as reference were select...

Soil fertility is important factors for growth and productivity of vegetation. The relationship between vegetation and soil fertility deserves attention due to its scientific importance and practical applications. However, the effects of soil fertility on vegetation development and succession are poorly documented. Here we study soil fertility in Yanhe watershed at northern Shaanxi on five diff...

Experiments with potted plants and removed understories have indicated that understory vegetation often affects the chemical and microbial properties of soil. In this study, we examined the mechanism and extent of the influence of understory vegetation on the chemical and microbial properties of soil in plantation forests. The relationships between the vegetational structure (diversity for diff...

Wildfires are a major environmental issue that have an impact on land degradation. Remote sensing spectral indices provide valuable information for short-term mitigation and rehabilitation after wildfires. A study area in the Centre inland of Portugal occupied with Maritime pine Eucalypts forests affected by wildfires 2003, 2017 2020 was used. The aims were twofold: (1) to compute Normalized Di...

Abstract In the tropics, smallholder farming characterizes some of world's most biodiverse landscapes. Agroecology as a pathway to sustainable agriculture has been proposed and implemented in sub‐Saharan Africa, but effects agricultural practices on biodiversity ecosystem services are understudied. Similarly, contribution different landscape elements, such shrubland or grassland cover, fields r...

Foraging behaviours of the Damascus, Mamber and Boer goat breeds were compared on the South Carmel mountain ridge in Israel. Dietary choice was determined for a group of 10 or 11 yearling animals of each breed, housed and grazed separately to prevent social facilitation, during a total of 4 (Mamber) or 5 (Damascus and Boer) 4-day periods in the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005. The proportions o...

In Southern France, where most wildfires occur, the fire size has never exceeded 6 744 ha since 1991, whereas mega-fires have burned huge areas in other Mediterranean countries such as Spain and Portugal. It was interesting to find out what main factors drove the ignition of the largest fires that had occurred in this region of France. The study was carried out using the forest fires database P...

Vast dryland regions around the world are affected by the encroachment of woody vegetation, with important environmental and economical implications. Grassland-to-shrubland conversions are often triggered by disturbance of grassland vegetation, and the consequent formation of barren areas prone to erosion-induced nutrient losses. Inhibition of encroachment by erosion-induced depletion of soil n...

An autonomous system for field land surface temperature (LST) measurements taken at different observation angles was developed to be deployed easily at any conventional meteorological tower station. The system permits ground-truth data to be acquired on a continuous basis, and angularly scans land and sky hemispheres with a single thermal-infrared (TIR) radiometer. This paper describes the auto...