Belgrade’s Urban Green Areas Current Soil State and Its Way to Sustainability

Urban forests are important part of cities’ green infrastructure, especially in cities with great anthropogenic pressure as Belgrade is. Urban green areas enable people to connect with nature and contribute to livability in cities, but some studies reported soil pollution particularly with heavy metals. Due to that, soil samples from Avala Mt,. and Byford’s and Zvezdara Forests were collected from 15 sites and three depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-40 cm), making a total of 45 analyzed samples. Among all analysis, content of microelements was measured for the purposes of this research. No significant changes were observed comparing sites or depths and among all measured elements Zn was the most and Hg the least abundant. Analysis of microelements in soil showed that sustainable soil quality Ni levels are exceeded in all samples, while Cr, Cd and Co levels only in some. All of these results can be explained by forests’ age, geological origin and anthropogenic origin and influence. Even though due to Serbian Soil Quality Regulation no remediation is required for now, in the light of predicted climate change, regular monitoring and assessment should be done to display soil quality and to maintain or improve urban forests sustainability

Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas,

Not AvailableAgroforestry provides a unique opportunity to achieve the objectives of enhancing the productivity and improving the soil quality. Tree systems can also play an important role towards adapting to the climate variability and important carbon sinks which helps to decrease the pressure on natural forests. Realizing the importance of the agroforestry in meeting the twin objectives of mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as making rainfed agriculture more climate resilient, the ICAR-CRIDA has taken up the challenge in pursuance of National Agroforestry Policy 2014, in preparing a book on Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas at ICAR-CRIDA to sharpen the skills of all stakeholders at national, state and district level in rainfed areas to increase agricultural productivity in response to climate changeNot Availabl

Book of abstracts, 4th World Congress on Agroforestry

International audienc

INTEGRATING MULTI-SOURCE DATA TO QUANTIFY CHANGES IN BIOMASS AND SOIL ORGANIC CARBON DUE TO LAND-USE CHANGE IN THE BOREAL PLAINS ECOZONE, CANADA

Land use and cover change (LUCCs) is the second largest source of global carbon emission and there has been a growing interest in LUCCs to mitigate climate change effects. Global land-use change associated with cropland expansion, which is a major carbon source, was dominant in the last century. Abandoned cropland typically is a carbon sink and was observed in many regions in the recent decades. However, there has been little research on carbon balance resulting from LUCCs in agricultural landscapes, especially under abandoned cropland in Canada. Information on carbon balance resulting from LUCCs is necessary for national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories as well as emission mitigation options. The primary objective of the study is to quantify carbon stocks and dynamics as consequences of LUCCs in the Boreal Plains Ecozone, Canada. Field measurement on carbon stocks in abandoned cropland was assessed at field sites in Saskatchewan. Vegetation C ranged from 7.6 to 90.1 Mg C ha-1 and increased linearly with stand age. Ecosystem C increased from 74.2 to 137.6 Mg C ha-1 after 41 years of abandonment (or net C sink of 1.9 Mg C ha-1 yr-1). In the agriculture region of the Boreal Plains Ecozone, land-use change accounted for 6.5% of the total area during the 1990-2000 period. Forest to cropland conversion was dominant on well-drained Chernozemic and Luvisolic soil orders. Abandoned cropland occurred mainly on poorly drained and acidic parent materials. LUCCs in agriculture region was estimated to be a net C sink of 0.76 ±0.3 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 during this period. In the agriculture-forest transition region of the Boreal Plains Ecozone, substantial land-use changes occurred in pasture (+76%) and summer fallow (-87.8%) over a 27-year period (1984 - 2011). The shrub and forest area was reduced -31.6% and -16.4%, respectively. Forest disturbances occurred mainly during 2005 – 2011. Substantial changes of summer fallow to annual cropland took place on the higher soil capability land and annual cropland to pasture conversion was more likely on lower capability soil classes. We estimated that LUCCs in the region was a net C source of approximately 552.7 Gg C across the research period or 0.07 Mg C ha-1 yr-1

National Institute for Global Environmental Change, July 1, 1994-- June 30, 1995

This document contains the report from the National Institute for Global Environmental Change for the period July 1, 1994 to June 30, 1995. Separate sections for the Great Plains, Midwestern, Norhteast, South Central, Southeast and Western regions are present. Each section contains project descriptions and abstracts for projects managed by the respective regional offices

Forest landscapes and global change. New frontiers in management, conservation and restoration. Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference

This volume contains the contributions of numerous participants at the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference, which took place in Bragança, Portugal, from 21 to 24 of September 2010. The conference was dedicated to the theme Forest Landscapes and Global Change - New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration. The 128 papers included in this book follow the structure and topics of the conference. Sections 1 to 8 include papers relative to presentations in 18 thematic oral and two poster sessions. Section 9 is devoted to a wide-range of landscape ecology fields covered in the 12 symposia of the conference. The Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference register the growth of scientific interest in forest landscape patterns and processes, and the recognition of the role of landscape ecology in the advancement of science and management, particularly within the context of emerging physical, social and political drivers of change, which influence forest systems and the services they provide. We believe that these papers, together with the presentations and debate which took place during the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference – Bragança 2010, will definitively contribute to the advancement of landscape ecology and science in general. For their additional effort and commitment, we thank all the participants in the conference for leaving this record of their work, thoughts and science

Afforestation and Reforestation: Drivers, Dynamics, and Impacts

Afforestation/reforestation (or forestation) has been implemented worldwide as an effective measure towards sustainable ecosystem services and addresses global environmental problems such as climate change. The conversion of grasslands, croplands, shrublands, or bare lands to forests can dramatically alter forest water, energy, and carbon cycles and, thus, ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil erosion control, and water quality improvement). Large-scale afforestation/reforestation is typically driven by policies and, in turn, can also have substantial socioeconomic impacts. To enable success, forestation endeavors require novel approaches that involve a series of complex processes and interdisciplinary sciences. For example, exotic or fast-growing tree species are often used to improve soil conditions of degraded lands or maximize productivity, and it often takes a long time to understand and quantify the consequences of such practices at watershed or regional scales. Maintaining the sustainability of man-made forests is becoming increasingly challenging under a changing environment and disturbance regime changes such as wildland fires, urbanization, drought, air pollution, climate change, and socioeconomic change. Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on case studies of the drivers, dynamics, and impacts of afforestation/reforestation at regional, national, or global scales. These new studies provide an update on the scientific advances related to forestation. This information is urgently needed by land managers and policy makers to better manage forest resources in today’s rapidly changing environments

Modeling the contribution of ecological agriculture for climate change mitigation in cote d'Ivoire

The use of crop models is motivated by the prediction of crop production under climate change and for the evaluation of climate risk adaptation strategies. Therefore, in the present study the performance of DSSAT 4.6 was evaluated in a cropping system involving integrated soil fertility management options that are being promoted as ways of adapting agricultural systems to improve both crop yield and carbon sequestration on highly degraded soils encountered throughout middle Côte d’Ivoire. Experimental data encompassed two seasons in the Guinea savanna zone. Residues from the preceding vegetation were left to dry on plots like mulch on an experimental design that comprised the following treatments: (i) herbaceous savanna-maize, (ii)10 year-old of the shrub Chromolaena odorata fallow-maize (iii) 1 or 2 year-old Lalab pupureus stand-rotation, (iv) the legume L. pupureus -maize rotation; (v) continuous maize crop fertilized with urea; (vi) continuous maize crop fertilized with triple superphosphate; (vii) continuous maize crop, fertilized with both urea and triple superphosphate (TSP); (viii) continuous maize cultivation. The model’s sensitivity analysis was run to figure out how uncertainty of stable organic carbon (SOM3) can generate variation in the prediction of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics during the monitoring period of two years, within the first soil layer and to estimate the most suitable value. The observed variations were of 0.05 % in total SOC within the short-term and acceptable dynamics of changes were obtained for 0.80% of SOM3. The DSSAT model was calibrated using data from the 2007-2008 season and validated against independent data sets of yield of 2008-2009 to 2011-2012 cropping seasons. After the default values for SOM3 used in the model was substituted by the estimated one from sensitivity analysis, the model predicted average maize yields of 1 454 kg ha-1 across the sites versus an observed average value of 1 736 kg ha-1, R2 of 0.72 and RMSE of 597 kg ha-1. The impact of fallow residues and cropping sequence on maize yield was simulated and compared to conventional fertilizer and control data using historical climate scenarios over 12 years. Improving soil fertility through conservation agriculture cannot maintain grain yield in the same way as conventional urea inputs, although there is better yield stability against high climate variability according to our results