European agricultural landscapes, common agricultural policy and ecosystem services: a review

Since the 1950s, intensification and scale enlargement of agriculture have changed agricultural landscapes across Europe. The intensification and scale enlargement of farming was initially driven by the large-scale application of synthetic fertilizers, mechanization and subsidies of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Then, after the 1990s, a further intensification and scale enlargement, and land abandonment in less favored areas was caused by globalization of commodity markets and CAP reforms. The landscape changes during the past six decades have changed the flows and values of ecosystem services. Here, we have reviewed the literature on agricultural policies and management, landscape structure and composition, and the contribution of ecosystem services to regional competitiveness. The objective was to define an analytical framework to determine and assess ecosystem services at the landscape scale. In contrast to natural ecosystems, ecosystem service flows and values in agricultural landscapes are often a result of interactions between agricultural management and ecological structures. We describe how land management by farmers and other land managers relates to landscape structure and composition. We also examine the influence of commodity markets and policies on the behavior of land managers. Additionally, we studied the influence of consumer demand on flows and values of the ecosystem services that originate from the agricultural landscape

Electrochemical oxidation of succinic acid in aqueous solutions using boron doped diamond anodes

In this work, the electrochemical oxidation of succinic acid on boron-doped diamond (BDD) anodes was investigated. Voltammetric study had shown that no peaks appeared in the region of electrolyte stability which indicates that succinic acid oxidation can take place at a potential close to the potential region of electrolyte oxidation. Galvanostatic electrolyses achieved total chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals and high mineralization yields under different operating conditions (initial COD, current density and nature of supporting electrolyte). Oxalic, glycolic and formic acids were the main intermediates detected during anodic oxidation of succinic acid on BDD electrode and carbon dioxide as the final product. The mean oxidation state of carbon reached the value of 4 at the end of electrolysis which is indicative of mineralization of almost all organics present in aqueous solution. The exponential profile of COD versus specific electrical charge has shown that mass transfer is the limiting factor for the kinetics of electrochemical process. A simple mechanism was proposed for the mineralization of succinic acid. First, hydroxyl radicals attack of succinic acid leading to formation of glycolic, glyoxylic, fumaric and maleic acids. Then, theses acids undergo rapid and non-selective oxidation by hydroxyl radicals to be transformed into oxalic and formic acids which leads to further oxidation steps to mineralize these acids into carbon dioxide and water

EU‐Wide Impacts of the 2013 CAP Direct Payments Reform: A Farm‐Level Analysis

This paper analyzes the microeconomic effects of the 2013 reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This is done using the EU-wide individual farm model (IFM-CAP). Simulation results show that although the reform succeeded to partially harmonize direct payments (DP) among farms and Member States, relatively strong differences in the distribution still remain in place. Around 62% of the farms increase their income, whereas the remaining 38% lose from the reform. The reform benefits small farms, while large farms lose out. As measured by the Gini coefficient, the 2013-CAP reform only partially reduces the disparity in the distribution of DP and farm income among farms. The Gini decomposition shows that subsidies (in particular decoupled payments) contribute to a decrease in the inequality of total farm income. The future CAP reform needs to have a stronger overhaul of the DP system in order to achieve a substantial reduction in inequality in the distribution of payments among farms and regions in EU