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Five of the top ten problems facing humanity (http://cnst.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=246) over the next 50 years (food, water, energy, environment and poverty) are directly related to the health of soil resources. Several different factors, including: (a) excessive tillage; (b) inappropriate crop rotations; (c) excessive grazing or crop residue removal; (d) deforestation; (e) mining and/or fracking; and (f) construction or urban sprawl, have contributed to the global problem of soil degradation. Understanding and implementing sustainable agricultural and land management practices that improve soil health is essential for mitigating and reversing these trends, if we are to successfully meet the needs of more than 9.5 billion people who will be sharing our fragile planet by the middle of the 21st century. The overall focus for this Special Issue was on agricultural factors contributing to soil degradation and suggested strategies for mitigating and reversing those trends. The discussion was anchored by invited contributions reflecting perspectives from Africa, Australia, China, Eastern Europe, India, Latin America, North America, Russia, and Western Europe. Voluntary contributions were evaluated, and incorporated into the issue to provide a global perspective on soil degradation and strategies to mitigate its devastating effects. This Special Issue draws upon published literature addressing soil quality and/or soil health, soil and crop management strategies to mitigate soil degradation, and future research needs and strategies that will steadily improve the fragile layer that lies between us and starvation. Your participation and contributions to this important endeavor were most welcome.

visual soil assessment --- soil resource management --- soil quality --- landscape management --- soil health --- soil degradation --- soil security --- sustainable agriculture --- conservation agriculture

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"This reference emphasizes the importance of land, soil, water, foliage, and wildlife conservation efforts and management, focusing on sustainability solutions and methods for preserving the natural environment"--Provided by publisher.

Natural resources --- Land use --- Water-supply --- Wildlife conservation. --- Management. --- Biodiversity --- Climate change --- Conservation agriculture --- Deforestation --- Endangered species --- Environmental conservation --- Food security --- Natural gas --- Resource conservation --- Water resources management

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L’agriculture biologique et agroécologique est une pratique de plus en plus courante. L’attraction du grand public pour les produits bio et les nombreuses interdictions de produits phytosanitaires par l’Union européenne influencent certainement cette tendance. Dans ces pratiques agricoles, il est important de connaître les différents services écosystémiques qu’offre la biodiversité en milieu agricole. De fait, cette biodiversité peut soustraire certains usages agricoles néfastes aux organismes comme l’utilisation de pesticides, le labour, etc. Un exemple est l’utilisation de Carabidae dont certaines espèces sont des prédateurs naturels des ravageurs de cultures, pour réduire l’utilisation d’insecticide dans les champs. De plus, l’agriculture conventionnelle est la cause d’une perte en biodiversité importante dans les milieux agricoles (diminution de 75 % d’espèces d’oiseaux, disparition d’espèces d’arthropodes notamment en carabides).Cette étude tient à montrer la liaison possible entre conservation et agriculture. En effet, cet arthropode est considéré par de nombreuses études comme un bioindicateur satisfaisant et un prédateur intéressant dans les cultures. Dans ce TFE, l’observation de l’abondance et des communautés en Carabidae et en limaces est effectuée dans trois parcelles de blé avec des pratiques agricoles différentes : agroécologique, conventionnelle et en agriculture de conservation. Les résultats montrent une relation entre les conditions météorologiques et l’abondance des organismes ainsi qu’un lien entre les pratiques agricoles et les communautés présentes. En effet, les parcelles avec des techniques agricoles plus durables ont une abondance d’espèces rares ou peu communes plus élevée que la parcelle intensive. La parcelle agroécologique montre un intérêt avec ces bandes enherbées, il y a un effet de bande. L’abondance en carabe et en espèce est plus élevée à proximité et dans les bandes. La parcelle en conventionnelle est très abondante en organismes, mais sont surtout des espèces communes. Quant à la parcelle de conservation, elle est la parcelle avec le plus de potentiel vu son histoire (10 ans de dépièrement et de traitement avant de passer en agriculture de conservation). Elle présente des espèces rares voire peu communes : Carabus nemoralis, Carabus problematicus, Carabus auratus. Ces espèces plutôt forestières peuvent être liées à la présence d’un bois autour de la parcelle. Au niveau de l’abondance des limaces, il y a une évolution du stade de développement entre avril et mai. L’agriculture agroécologique possède peu de limace due à un dépièrement récent des cultures qui peut fausser les résultats. Un lien a été mis en évidence entre l’abondance des carabes et des limaces dans les parcelles étudiées. Cependant, la variation de l’abondance entre les deux populations est due à des facteurs externes (conditions climatiques, traitements agricoles).

agroécologie, agriculture de conservation, agriculture conventionnelle, biodiversité, Carabidae, limace. --- Sciences du vivant > Entomologie & lutte antiravageur --- Sciences du vivant > Sciences de l'environnement & écologie

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Sustainable Life on Land, the fifteenth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 15), calls for the protection, restoration and promotion of the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Among others, it requires societies to sustainably manage forests, halt and reverse land degradation, combat desertification, and halt biodiversity loss. Despite the fact that protection of terrestrial ecosystems is on the rise worldwide and forest loss has slowed, the recent IPBES report concluded that “nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history”. Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly recently declared 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. There is no doubt that the current global responses are far from sufficient and significant transformative changes of societies are needed to restore and protect nature and ecosystems. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land presents reviews, original research, and practical experiences from different disciplines with a focus on: theoretical and empirical reflection about the necessary transformation of values, institutions, markets, firms and policies, reviews and research on protection, restoration and sustainable use of diverse terrestrial ecosystems, analyses and reporting of encouraging local, regional, national, and global initiatives. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land is part of MDPI's new Open Access book series Transitioning to Sustainability. With this series, MDPI pursues environmentally and socially relevant research which contributes to efforts toward a sustainable world. Transitioning to Sustainability aims to add to the conversation about regional and global sustainable development according to the 17 SDGs. Set to be published in 2020/2021, the book series is intended to reach beyond disciplinary, even academic boundaries.

Research & information: general --- Biology, life sciences --- Technology, engineering, agriculture --- biodiversity --- economics and governance --- valuation and ethics --- justice and sufficiency --- zero net loss --- cultivated landscapes --- ecosystem restoration --- conservation agriculture --- agroforestry --- peatland --- land consolidation --- land tenure --- land ownership

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Changes in land use and land cover can have many drivers, including population growth, urbanization, agriculture, demand for food, evolution of socio-economic structure, policy regulations, and climate variability. The impacts of these changes on water resources range from changes in water availability (due to changes in losses of water to evapotranspiration and recharge) to degradation of water quality (increased erosion, salinity, chemical loadings, and pathogens). The impacts are manifested through complex hydro-bio-geo-climate characteristics, which underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches to understand the impacts of landscape change on water resources. Several techniques, such as field studies, long-term monitoring, remote sensing technologies, and advanced modeling studies, have contributed to better understanding the modes and mechanisms by which landscape changes impact water resources. Such research studies can help unlock the complex interconnected influences of landscape on water resources in terms of quantity and quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this Special Issue, we published a set of eight peer-reviewed articles elaborating on some of the specific topics of landscape changes and associated impacts on water resources.

LID practices --- watershed scale --- impervious area --- peak flow --- surface runoff --- shallow subsurface runoff and infiltration --- evapotranspiration --- stream temperature --- SWAT --- Marys River watershed --- soil temperature --- solar energy --- watershed model --- landscape scale --- VELMA --- bank erosion --- landscape metrics --- diversity --- Sajó River --- UAV --- spatial configuration units --- best management practices (BMPs) --- spatial optimization --- hydrologic response units (HRUs) --- hydrologically connected fields --- slope positions --- watershed process simulation --- DMMF --- landscape configuration --- landscape ecology --- hydrology --- scaling-up conservation agriculture --- drip irrigation --- groundwater potential --- sustainable intensification --- Ethiopia --- flood analysis --- hydrologic modeling --- hydrodynamic modeling --- HEC-RAS --- flood zone delineation --- landscape change --- water resources analysis --- water modeling --- impact assessment