There is ample evidence that continuously existing forests and afforestations on previously agricultural land differ with regard to ecosystem functions and services such as carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and biodiversity. However, no studies have so far been conducted on possible long-term (>100 years) impacts on tree growth caused by differences in the ecological continuity of forest s...

Marton (Argillic Perched-gley Pallic, Typic Endoaqualf), Ohakune (Typic Orthic Allophanic, Typic Hapludand), and Westmere (Mottled Mafic Melanic, Mollic Hapludalf) soils with differing structural vulnerability were compared at matched sites under different land uses. Topsoil samples (0-10 cm) from indigenous forest (>50 yr), permanent pasture (>50 yr), pine plantation (>20 yr), or arable croppi...

China is a populous agricultural country, the arable land is the most basic resources which is needed for agricultural production, the quality of arable land has a direct impact on the entire agricultural production and development ,so to carry out the Evaluation of Farmland is a very important foundation work which is advantage to know china’s arable land resources and to improve the efficienc...

Restoration of species-rich grasslands on ex-arable land can help the conservation of biodiversity but faces three big challenges: absence of target plant propagules, high residual soil fertility and restoration of soil communities. Seed additions and top soil removal can solve some of these constraints, but restoring beneficial biotic soil conditions remains a challenge. Here we test the hypot...

Rapid industrial development and urbanization transfer more and more land away from agricultural production, threatening China’s capability to feed itself. This paper analyzes the determinants of land use by modeling arable land and sown area separately. An inverse U-shaped relationship between land use intensity and industrialization is explored both theoretically and empirically. The findings...

Carabid beetles and ground-dwelling spiders inhabiting agroecosystems are beneficial organisms with a potential to control pest species. Intensification of agricultural management and reduction of areas covered by non-crop vegetation during recent decades in some areas has led to many potentially serious environmental problems including a decline in the diversity and abundance of beneficial art...

Acquiring multi-temporal spatial information on vegetation condition at scales appropriate for site-specific agricultural management is often complicated by the need for meticulous field measurements. Understanding spatial/temporal crop cover heterogeneity within irrigated croplands may support sustainable land use, specifically in areas affected by land degradation due to secondary soil salini...

Although arable landscapes have a long history, environmental problems have accelerated in recent decades. The effects of these changes are usually externalized, being greater for society as a whole than for the farms on which they operate, and incentives to correct them are therefore largely lacking. Arable landscapes are valued by society beyond the farming community, but increased mechanizat...

Since the Land Administration Bureau was established in 1986, China has carried out the national land-use planning twice, of which the first was focused on "serving for social and economic development", and the second converted to “protecting arable land". At present a new round of land-use planning is ongoing (2005-2020), but the aims and requirements are even more and higher(Zheng Weiyuan,200...

China is experiencing a drastic loss of arable land as a result of the continuing process of rapid urbanization. This loss could have an adverse impact not only on China’s sustainable development but also on the world food market. To provide a robust and economical tool for evaluating the impact of this process, we developed an IHS (Intensity, Hue, Saturation)-based approach for detecting the c...