Viable Land Use Research Articles

An assessment of local community engagement in wildlife conservation: A case study of the Save Valley Conservancy, South Eastern Zimbabwe

AbstractIn southern Africa, human and wildlife interactions have significantly increased over the past decade, resulting in complex conservation conflicts. As humans and wildlife share space, stakeholder engagement becomes a critical component of wildlife management and transformative conservation. We analysed the conservation conflicts in the Save Valley Conservancy (SVC) in south‐eastern Zimbabwe. Data were collected between April and May 2020 through focus group discussions and interviews with purposively sampled informants. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were adopted in this study. The results revealed that the absence of an effective, inclusive, integrated multi‐cross‐sectional stakeholder engagement plan is a primary contributing factor to conservation conflicts in the SVC. In conclusion, our study found that community participation in land use decision‐making is limited within the SVC, and this is a general lack of consensus among the community members on viable land use options. This study proposes an integrated, cross‐sectional stakeholder working framework that not only informs conservation practitioners but also fully addresses the prevailing conservation conflict scenarios. These conflicts emanate from the exclusion of humans from protected areas and the encroachment of wildlife in human settlements.

Production in peatlands: Comparing ecosystem services of different land use options following conventional farming

Majority of Dutch peatlands are drained and used intensively as grasslands for dairy farming. This delivers high productivity but causes severe damage to ecosystem services supply. Peatland rewetting is the best way to reverse the damage, but high water levels do not fit with intensive dairy production. Paludiculture, defined as crop production under wet conditions, provides viable land use alternatives. However, performance of paludiculture is rarely compared to drainage-based agriculture. Here, we compared the performances of six land use options on peatland following a gradient of low, medium, and high water levels, including conventional and organic drainage-based dairy farming, low-input grasslands for grazing and mowing, and high-input paludiculture with reed and Sphagnum cultivation. For each land use option, we conducted environmental system analysis on model farm system defined by a literature based inventory analysis. The analysis used five ecosystem services as indicators of environmental impacts with a functional unit of 1-ha peat soil. Ecosystem services included biomass provisioning, climate, water, and nutrient regulation, and maintenance of habitat. Results showed that drainage-based dairy farming systems support high provisioning services but low regulation and maintenance services. Organic farming provides higher climate and nutrient regulation services than its conventional counterpart, but limited overall improvement due to the persistent drainage. Low-intensity grassland and paludiculture systems have high regulation and maintenance services value, but do not supply biomass provisioning comparable to the drainage-based systems. Without capitalizing the co-benefits of regulation and maintenance services, and accounting for the societal costs from ecosystem disservices including greenhouse gas emission and nitrogen pollution, it is not likely that the farmers will be incentivized to change the current farming system towards the wetter alternatives. Sustainable use of peatlands urges fundamental changes in land and water management along with the financial and policy support required.

Does Arid Land Agroforestry Contribute to Achieving the Saudi Green Initiative Goals? A Review

Aims: Most of the land area of Saudi Arabia is either arid or hyper-arid. In the past decades, many efforts have been exerted to increase the green cover in Saudi Arabia, the most recent of which is the Saudi Green Initiative (S.G.I.), launched in 2021. S.G.I.’s main objectives are to increase the green land surface area and decrease carbon emissions. In this paper, the role of dryland agroforestry in mitigating the effects of climate change was reviewed, and its contribution to fulfilling S.G.I. was discussed.
 Methodology: Previously published literature, scholarly research articles, and conference proceeding papers, on agroforestry systems (A.F.S), carbon sequestration and nutrient dynamics under A.F.S over the past 34 years were critically reviewed, examined, and analysed to find various applications of AFS for climate change mitigation and carbon sinks with focus on arid land.
 Results: Forests are a vital source for climate change mitigation and adaptation and play a vital role as carbon sinks. A.F.S, eco-friendly and environmentally viable land use and management, provide immense potential to sequester carbon (C). A.F.S. is a reliable tool for increasing C sequestration. As a result of the worth granted to non-timber products, the application of A.F.S. could likewise reduce C emissions to the air by reducing the odds of concrete cutting of trees. Moreover, tree components are a source of C for the soil by means of root and leave decomposition.
 Conclusion: In the perspective of the high threat facing humanity paused the climate variability and climate change, many nations and countries have taken various measures to tackle it which included protecting natural forests, afforestation, managed the natural regeneration of green cover. A.F.S leads to better land-use efficiency, increases the green cover, and thus helps in mitigating climate change.

SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-USE LAND COVER WITH SOIL EROSION IN THE NARMADA BASIN USING SENTINEL 2 IMAGE: ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF RF MACHINE LEARNING CLASSIFIER

In the past decades, increasing demand for cultivable soil, deforestation and land conversion in the region has led to severe soil and natural resources exhaustion. The grade and rate of the soil and land-use land-capacity connection has been determined using soil parameter data together with geographic information systems, utilizing machine learning methods (random forest).The analysis shows high and substantial land coverage over Grass Land area with 52,330.59 sq. km/54.5 percent, with an Urban growth of 19,255.36 sq.km/20.0 percent, 12,400.51 sq.km/12.9 percent for Agriculture, Forest land with 8,828.67 sq.km/9.2 percent, 1,970.382 sq.km/2.0 percent for water and the smallest land cover among the classes was cropland with 1,337.51 sq.km/1.4 percent area coverage. Random forest algorithms show that soil erosion for the whole Upper catchment was lower compared to the bottom catchment region and high soil erosion in line with the land conversation of natural vegetation. This analysis includes extra significant information and differences between kinds of land use soil erosion with a major and very severe area 38.337.55 sq.km/39.9 percent; the severely eroded soil covers 29.346.59 sq.km/30.5 percent; the modest soil erosion area (15.372.16 sq.km/16.00 percent); the lowest or slightest soil erosion zone was 13066.73 sq.km/13.6 percent. To strengthen the status and use of the collected resources as a result of sustainable land use activities that benefit local rural life, inclusive and viable land use is needed immediately. The area where very severe soil erosion and the land cover has been correlated to determine the relationship with the existing land covers in the area, decreases of soil erosion indicates the change in the land uses. The correlation between the LULC and the soil erosion was 0.53, with an RMSE of 0.033 and a p-value of 0.000063.

Modelling soil erosion by water under future climate change: Addressing methodological gaps

Soil erosion by water from arable land poses a serious threat to on-field agricultural productivity and the wider environment through off-site damage. Multiple studies show that climate change will worsen the impacts of soil erosion in various regions. However, these studies are limited by (1) the lack of any thorough evaluation process in applying climate scenarios to drive soil erosion models, and (2) the failure to consider the role of changing land use under future climate change, despite the evidence that it is more important than rainfall changes in driving increased erosion. Using the WEPP soil erosion model, these methodological gaps are addressed in this study for a small catchment in Belgium that is both heavily impacted by soil erosion and boasting an extensive array of mitigation measures. We develop a novel and comprehensive methodology to rigorously and efficiently select suitable climate models specifically for simulating soil erosion by water, and examine the impact of a range of environmentally and economically viable land use choices on soil erosion. The main findings reveal that our climate model selection methodology is successful in generating the widest range of likely future scenarios from a small number of models, compared with other selection methods. Our novel methodology reveals that the magnitude and frequency of soil erosion events will increase considerably under the mean of all scenarios between 2041 and 2100 with existing land management. Winter wheat represents the most economically and environmentally viable land use choice to effectively mitigate future soil erosion when compared to other land use alternatives under the full range of likely future climate scenarios. This research illuminates the importance of carefully tuned climate model selection and land use changes for modelling future soil erosion by water so the best- and worst-case scenarios can be adequately prepared for under a changing climate.

Farmers’ perceptions and spatial statistical modeling of most systematic LULC transitions: Drivers and livelihood implications in Awash Basin, Ethiopia

LULC studies have produced many methodological approaches that quantify and describe LULC change patterns and drivers. This study was conducted to quantify the major LULC transition and its drivers through the combination of a spatial statistical model with surveying the local understanding of possible drivers of LULC changes driving forces in the Awash-Awash River Sub-Basin. Landsat data from 1986 to 2018 were analyzed to understand the various magnitudes of LULC transitions. The study revealed that the LULC in the sub-basin is under a considerable change in pattern, structure, and extent. The amount of LULC that experienced loss and gains over the period indicates that the gains throughout a sub-basin's bare land, cultivated land, and water bodies are related to the loss in shrub and bushland, forest, and woodland. The study revealed that about 52% of the area experienced different forms of LULC transition and the remaining 48% of the area was persistent. The transition from shrub and bushland to cultivated land was identified as one of the strong signals of LULC transition in the sub-basin. The spatial explicit regression model result indicated that drivers such as elevation, the cosine of aspect, and distance to major river were significantly and positively associated with the transition from shrub and bushland to cultivated land. While, variables like slope, sine of aspect, distance to town center, major road were negatively associated with this particular LULC transition. The socio-economic survey result showed that growth in population, cultivated land expansion, deforestation and overgrazing, urbanization, infrastructure expansion, and government laws and regulations were perceived as drivers of LULC change in the study area. Therefore, it would be vital to implement cohesive and viable land use planning, that can considerably contribute to the country's broad economic development.

Potential economic impact of carbon sequestration in coffee agroforestry systems

Conventional agriculture is a significant driver of ecosystem service loss. In contrast, agroforestry is a land use option that can restore ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. Using field data from small proprieties we aimed to quantify carbon sequestration and its potential economic impact in coffee agroforestry systems (CAS) in Brazil. Allometric equations were used to estimate carbon stock and tree biomass, while net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period were used as economic feasibility parameters in a 16-year modeled scenario. Discount rate and carbon price applied was 6% and US$ 5.1 Mg CO2e-1, respectively. Total mean carbon stock in two years old and 16 years old CAS were 1.38 ± 0.63 Mg C ha-1 and 59.69 ± 32.63 Mg C ha-1, respectively. All CAS presented payback periods of two years, with a mean NPV of US$ 50,585.91 and a mean IRR of 89.93%. Carbon revenue impact on NPV and IRR was US$ 148.80 and 0.24%, respectively. Our results indicate that carbon sequestration economic impact does not encourage the adoption of coffee agroforestry systems. However, these systems can be an economically viable land use option that sequester large amounts of carbon comparable to forest patches.

Water Quality Effects of Economically Viable Land Use Change in the Mississippi River Basin under the Renewable Fuel Standard

Demand for biofuel production driven by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) has coincided with increased land in corn production and increasing nitrogen (N) loss to the Gulf of Mexico. Diversifying cropland with perennial energy crops (miscanthus and switchgrass) may reduce N loss and improve water quality. However, the extent of these benefits depends on the mix of biomass feedstocks (corn stover, perennials) incentivized by the RFS2 and the extent to which energy crops displace N-intensive row crops. We developed an integrated economic-biophysical model to quantify the water quality impacts of three potential policy scenarios that provided corn ethanol at levels before the RFS2 (RFS1 baseline); 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol (corn ethanol only); or 16 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol in addition to corn ethanol (corn + cellulosic ethanol). Our results showed that economically optimal locations for perennial energy crop production were distributed across idle cropland with lower intrinsic N loss than active cropland. We found stover removal incentivized by the RFS2 offset N loss benefits of perennial energy crops. This finding suggests that targeted incentives for N loss reduction are needed to supplement the RFS2 to induce displacement of N-intensive row crops with energy crops to reduce N losses.

Agricultural land use and the sustainability of social-ecological systems

Agricultural land expansion and intensification, driven by human consumption of agricultural goods, are among the major threats to environmental degradation and biodiversity conservation. Land degradation can ultimately hamper agricultural production through a decrease in ecosystem services. Thus, designing viable land use policies is a key sustainability challenge. We develop a model describing the coupled dynamics of human demography and landscape composition, while imposing a trade-off between agricultural expansion and intensification. We model land use strategies spanning from low-intensity agriculture and high land conversion rates per person to high-intensity agriculture and low land conversion rates per person; and explore their consequences on the long-term dynamics of the coupled human-land system. We seek to characterise the strategies’ viability in the long run; and understand the mechanisms that potentially lead to large-scale land degradation and population collapse due to resource scarcity. We show that the viability of land use strategies strongly depends on the land’s intrinsic recovery rate. We also find that socio-ecological collapses occur when agricultural intensification is not accompanied by a sufficient decrease in land conversion. Based on these findings we stress the dangers of uninformed land use planning and the importance of precautionary behaviour for land use management and land use policy design.

Jobs, game meat and profits: The benefits of wildlife ranching on marginal lands in South Africa

The private wildlife sector in South Africa must demonstrate value in the face of political pressures for economic growth, job creation and food security. Through structured survey questionnaires of landowners and managers from 276 private wildlife ranches, we describe patterns of wildlife-based land uses (WBLUs), estimate their financial and social contributions and compare these with livestock farming. We show that 46% of surveyed properties combined wildlife with livestock, 86% conducted two or more WBLUs and 80% conducted consumptive use activities. Intensive breeding was conducted on 46% of properties and covered 5.1% of their total land area. Revenues were higher on wildlife only properties than livestock farms, but we were unable to compare the profitability of wildlife and livestock due to data gaps for livestock. Profits from WBLUs were highly variable, while mean return on investment (ROI) was 0.068. Wildlife properties employed more people per unit area than livestock farms, properties conducting ecotourism employed more than twice as many people as non-ecotourism properties, and biltong hunting properties employed 50% fewer people than non-biltong hunting properties. Mean game meat production on wildlife only properties was 4.07 kg/ha, while the top producers harvested game meat at a level comparable with some extensive livestock farms. We suggest that the financial and social benefits of wildlife ranching on marginal land make this a viable land use, but that the contributions towards biodiversity conservation need to be quantified. The South African model could be a suitable option for other African countries seeking sustainable land use alternatives.

Agroforestry alters the rhizosphere soil bacterial and fungal communities of moso bamboo plantations in subtropical China

Bamboo agroforestry is currently being promoted as a viable land use option to improve the management benefits of bamboo forest. However, little is known about bamboo rhizosphere soil bacterial and fungal community structures in bamboo-based agroforestry systems. In the present study, we compared the soil bacterial and fungal community structures of the moso bamboo rhizosphere in bamboo-based agroforestry systems (moso bamboo + Paris polyphylla, BP; moso bamboo + Tetrastigma hemsleyanum, BT; moso bamboo + Bletilla striata, BB) and their adjacent bamboo plantations (Con). The results showed that intercropping with medical herbs could significantly decrease (p < 0.05) the total organic carbon (TOC) in the bamboo rhizosphere soil. Compared with those in Con, the soil pH and available nitrogen (AN) significantly increased (p < 0.05) in BP and significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in BT and BB. The available phosphorus (AP) was significantly higher in BP and BT than in Con and BB, whereas the available potassium (AK) was significantly lower in BP and BB (p < 0.05). The rhizosphere soil bacterial and fungal community structures of the bamboo forest were markedly influenced by intercropping. Based on relative abundance values, BP significantly decreased the Actinobacteria and Mucoromycota and significantly increased (p < 0.05) the Gemmatimonadetes relative to Con; Acidobacteria, AD3, WPS-2, and Gemmatimonadetes were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in BT than in Con; and BB increased (p < 0.05) Acidobacteria and WPS-2 relative to Con. The fungal phylum Mortierellomycota was significantly lower in abundance (p < 0.05) in the BT and BB treatments than in Con. The correlation analysis indicated that the TOC, AN, AP and pH were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with the bacterial community compositions, while the AK and pH were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) with the fungal community compositions. In terms of the characteristics of microbial community structures and soil properties, Paris polyphylla could be a very suitable medical herb for intercropping in pure moso bamboo forest.

Wildlife winners and losers of extensive small-livestock farming: a case study in the South African Karoo

Extensive farming is an important source of food and fibre and often the only viable land use in the more arid regions of the globe. Yet, land use transformation for livestock grazing can lead to natural habitat degradation and fragmentation, identified as the main threats to biodiversity worldwide. Understanding which species are “winners” (i.e. species with a higher relative abundance index on farmland than protected area) and “losers” (i.e. species that have been extirpated or have a lower relative abundance index on farmland) in farming landscapes is crucial for the global sustainability of food production and biodiversity conservation. We used camera traps across 332 locations, over 23,796 trap nights to compare species richness and several aspects of community diversity (evenness, dominance, functional diversity and community structure) on 22 extensive small-livestock farms and a nearby protected area in the semi-arid region of the Karoo, South Africa. Species richness was not significantly different between the two land uses, but there were important differences in community structure and composition. Large carnivores were the “losers” of extensive livestock farming. Farmland displayed a lower effective number of species and functional diversity and a higher dominance than the protected area. The latter had a positive influence on the presence of large mammals and on the relative abundance of the region’s main mesopredator, the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas). Contrary to consensus, extensive small-livestock farming may be beneficial to some species and may therefore represent an important opportunity for biodiversity conservation outside of formally protected areas.

Effect of tree spacing, organic manures and PGPR on flowering parameters of Dianthus barbatus L under Grewia optiva Drummond-based agroforestry system

The investigations were carried out to study the effect of tree spacing, organic manures and PGPR on flower parameters of Dianthus barbatus L (sweet william). It was found that flower parameters like days taken to flowering, cluster size and duration of flowering were more under the agroforestry system except number of flowers per plant. Organic manures like FYM and vermicompost enhanced the flower parameters both in open condition and within agroforestry system. Alone PGPR was not much effective with regard to the flower parameters. Study also revealed that tree-based farming system can be one of the viable alternative land use systems to prevent further degradation of land due to soil erosion and obtain production on sustainable basis.

Socioeconomic Indicators of Bamboo Use for Agroforestry Development in the Dry Semi-Deciduous Forest Zone of Ghana

Bamboo agroforestry is currently being promoted in Ghana as a viable land use option to reduce dependence on natural forest for wood fuels. To align the design and introduction of bamboo agroforestry to the needs of farmers, information on the determinants of bamboo acceptability and adoption is necessary. It is, therefore, the aim of this study to determine how socioeconomic factors, local farming practices and local knowledge on bamboo may influence its acceptability and adoption as a component of local farming systems. Data were collected from 200 farmers in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana using semi-structured questionnaire interviews. The results show that farmers’ traditional knowledge on bamboo including its use for charcoal production and leaves for fodder are influential determinants of bamboo adoption. Among the demographic characteristics of farmers, age and gender are the most significant predictors. It is also evident that the regular practice of leaving trees on farmlands and type of cropping system may influence bamboo integration into traditional farming systems.

An Interactive Strategy for Solving Multi-Criteria Decision Making of Sustainable Land Revitalization Planning Problem

Land revitalization refers to comprehensive renovation of farmland, waterways, roads, forest or villages to improve the quality of plantation, raise the productivity of the plantation area and improve agricultural production conditions and the environment. The objective of sustainable land revitalization planning is to facilitate environmentally, socially, and economically viable land use. Therefore it is reasonable to use participatory approach to fullfil the plan. This paper addresses a multicriteria decision aid to model such planning problem, then we develop an interactive approach for solving the problem.

ІНВЕНТАРИЗАЦІЯ ЗЕМЕЛЬ СІЛЬСЬКОГОСПОДАРСЬКОГО ПРИЗНАЧЕННЯ НА ОСНОВІ ВИКОРИСТАННЯ НОВІТНІХ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНИХ ТЕХНОЛОГІЙ

The article investigates the methodological apparatus of agricultural land inventory using the latest information technology. It has been established that due to irrational use of land resources on agricultural lands there is a tendency of erosion processes development, leading to loss of soil fertility. Therefore, there is a necessity of carrying out inventory of the given type of lands. In the process of research the initial data for carrying out inventory of the agricultural lands has been designated. In the course of the study, the main obstacles to carrying out an inventory of agricultural lands have been identified and their analysis has been carried out. It has been pointed out that modern requirements for the quality and promptness of inventories involve the use of highly effective and innovative technologies at all stages of the inventory. These requirements are defined by detailed development of documentation, economic and ecological evaluation of lands and organization of permanent collection of necessary information with subsequent formation of electronic databases. The analysis of legal and methodological support of the land inventory process has been carried out. The methodology of agricultural land inventory with the help of information technologies has been developed. It is indicated that in order to create a set of soil protection measures, to encourage owners and tenants of land plots to rational use, protection, effective management of land resources it is necessary to have information on their qualitative and quantitative condition and location on the geodetic map. Such information can be obtained by using the latest information technologies, in particular by combining the interactive land resources map with a single geo- information database and a three-dimensional model of agricultural land inventory. The app Mapinfo Professional should be used for this combination. In summary, it is stated that an agricultural land inventory is the starting point for land planning aimed at land development, the elimination of land deficiencies and the transition to efficient and economically viable land use.

Advances in farm animal genomic resources

The history of livestock started with the domestication of their wild ancestors: a restricted number of species allowed to be tamed and entered a symbiotic relationship with humans. In exchange for food, shelter and protection, they provided us with meat, eggs, hides, wool and draught power, thus contributing considerably to our economic and cultural development. Depending on the species, domestication took place in different areas and periods. After domestication, livestock spread over all inhabited regions of the earth, accompanying human migrations and becoming also trade objects. This required an adaptation to different climates and varying styles of husbandry and resulted in an enormous phenotypic diversity. Approximately 200 years ago, the situation started to change with the rise of the concept of breed. Animals were selected for the same visible characteristics, and crossing with different phenotypes was reduced. This resulted in the formation of different breeds, mostly genetically isolated from other populations. A few decades ago, selection pressure was increased again with intensive production focusing on a limited range of types and a subsequent loss of genetic diversity. For short-term economic reasons, farmers have abandoned traditional breeds. As a consequence, during the 20th century, at least 28% of farm animal breeds became extinct, rare or endangered. The situation is alarming in developing countries, where native breeds adapted to local environments and diseases are being replaced by industrial breeds. In the most marginal areas, farm animals are considered to be essential for viable land use and, in the developing world, a major pathway out of poverty. Historic documentation from the period before the breed formation is scarce. Thus, reconstruction of the history of livestock populations depends on archaeological, archeo-zoological and DNA analysis of extant populations. Scientific research into genetic diversity takes advantage of the rapid advances in molecular genetics. Studies of mitochondrial DNA, microsatellite DNA profiling and Y-chromosomes have revealed details on the process of domestication, on the diversity retained by breeds and on relationships between breeds. However, we only see a small part of the genetic information and the advent of new technologies is most timely in order to answer many essential questions. High-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping is about to be available for all major farm animal species. The recent development of sequencing techniques calls for new methods of data management and analysis and for new ideas for the extraction of information. To make sense of this information in practical conditions, integration of geo-environmental and socio-economic data are key elements. The study and management of farm animal genomic resources (FAnGR) is indeed a major multidisciplinary issue. The goal of the present Research Topic was to collect contributions of high scientific quality relevant to biodiversity management, and applying new methods to either new genomic and bioinformatics approaches for characterization of FAnGR, to the development of FAnGR conservation methods applied ex-situ and in-situ, to socio-economic aspects of FAnGR conservation, to transfer of lessons between wildlife and livestock biodiversity conservation, and to the contribution of FAnGR to a transition in agriculture (FAnGR and agro-ecology).

Coconut (Cocos nucifera)-based farming system: a viable land use option for small and marginal farmers in coastal Odisha

An investigation was carried out during 2012-2013 in Puri district of Odisha to study the composition, structure and role of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) based farming in 15 different holding sizes, i.e. 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 acre. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with three replications. The smaller holdings were found close to houses as homegardens and comparatively larger holdings were found little away from the houses. The composition was found very diverse consisting of perennial trees, annual crops and seasonal crops. The coconut based agroforestry systems of various sizes are playing important role for the household which include productive role, protective and ameliorative role, recreational and educational role as well as developmental role giving various kinds of tangible and intangible benefits. As the natural forest cover is less in coastal Odisha, a substantial quantity of fuel wood was found to be derived from homegarden and the contribution of fuel wood production increased with increase of holding size up to 1.2 acre. The net return varied from Rupees 5 617 to Rupees 32 850/annum showing the income level increased with increase in holding size, while the economics was calculated on acre basis, the net income ranged from Rupees 56 167 to Rupees 21 900 indicating decreasing trend towards higher holding sizes. In terms of market orientation, the smaller unit sizes were found more subsistence and less commercial than bigger holding sizes and vice versa. The coconut based agroforestry system of size 0.8 acre (perennials-coconut, siris, rain tree, eucalyptus, acacia, areca nut, mango, sissoo, teak, jackfruit, bamboo, guava, pomegranate, papaya, drumstick, bael, citrus, banana, curry leaf ; seasonals-pine apple, yam, arrowroot, turmeric, ginger, brinjal, okra, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, chilli, greens, cowpea, tomato, cauliflower, pumpkin; mushroom-paddy straw/oyster; fish- rohu, silver crap, grass crap; cattle, buffalo, goat, poultry, duck) was found to be the best among the holding sizes studied withregard to viability of landuse.

The costs of reforestation: A spatial model of the costs of establishing environmental and carbon plantings

Reforestation presents a potentially important tool for carbon abatement and reducing the impact of climate change and may also provide valuable biodiversity benefits. However, the economic returns are critical in determining whether it will be a viable land use and this is highly sensitive to assumptions around upfront establishment cost. Few studies have examined the spatial variability in establishment costs or developed spatially explicit layers that estimate these costs. Here we developed a model to predict the spatially explicit costs of establishment of monoculture tree plantations for carbon sequestration (or carbon plantings) and mixed species plantations for carbon sequestration and biodiversity benefits (or environmental plantings). Within this model we parameterised three separate methods of establishing revegetation; manual planting of tubestock, mechanical planting of tubestock and direct seeding. A decision tree was used to select between the different establishment methods based on soil and terrain parameters. We applied this model to a case study across the intensive agricultural districts of Australia. We populated the model with spatially explicit cost elements from literature and interviews with industry practitioners across Australia. For the case study, 3206km2 of carbon plantings were allocated to manual tubestock establishment and 903,127km2 were allocated to mechanical tubestock establishment with cost estimates ranging from $1763ha−1 to $6396ha−1. For environmental plantings, 326,512km2 were allocated to direct seeding, 3206km2 were allocated to manual tubestock and 576,615km2 were allocated to mechanical tubestock establishment with costs ranging from $1703ha−1 to $9097ha−1. These layers present an increasingly important tool for planning and policy development particularly for decision making around complex issues of land use and climate change.

Conservation value of forest fragments for medium-sized carnivores in a silvopastoral system in Colombia

Silvopastoral cattle ranching is seen as a viable land use management system, which unlike traditional land use systems preserve forested areas and prevent loss of important habitats for carnivores. We evaluated carnivore abundance and habitat use in a 50-year silvopastoral system located in the Cordoba department, Caribbean region of Colombia. Transects and track plots were established both in forest fragments and pastures within the silvopastoral system and were sampled for carnivore signs. Crab-eating raccoon, Crab-eating fox, and Gray fox were the most abundant species and showed higher preference for forest than pastures. Our results reflect the importance of forest cover within livestock systems and highlight the potential of these land use systems for carnivore and tropical dry forest conservation in fragmented landscapes.