road network (rn) can affect patterns and distribution of land uses and covers. road network expansion has both direct and indirect impacts on land uses and covers changes. agricultural land conversions (alcs) are especially known as one of the main important types of land use changes. the purpose of this paper, in addition to estimation of the direct impact of rn expansion on alcs, is to evalu...

With intensifying demands for food and biofuels, a critical threat to biodiversity is agricultural expansion into native tropical ecosystems. Tropical agriculture, particularly intensive agriculture, often supports few native organisms, and consequently has been largely overlooked in conservation planning; yet, recent work in the Neotropics demonstrates that tropical agriculture with certain fe...

The recycling of rural and urban organic waste materials onto agricultural land provides a challenge to the producers and end-users who both have a 'duty-of-care' to ensure the method of disposal is managed in a sustainable way. Careful management means that soil and water resources are not contaminated, the agricultural production system remains stable, and land use alternatives remain availab...

Sustainable food production system is the key to sustainable development especially for hill communities where agriculture is the mainstay of economy. History shows that human societies that can protect their livelihood-based natural resources are able to sustain themselves. So even today we find several indigenous communities obtaining sustained and adequate income/returns from their agricultu...

Much of the biodiversity-related climate change impacts research has focused on the direct effects to species and ecosystems. Far less attention has been paid to the potential ecological consequences of human efforts to address the effects of climate change, which may equal or exceed the direct effects of climate change on biodiversity. One of the most significant human responses is likely to b...

A sink for atmospheric carbon (i.e., CO2) in soils may derive from the application of conservation tillage and the regrowth of native vegetation on abandoned agricultural land. Accumulations of soil organic matter on these lands could offset emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, in the context of the Kyoto protocol. The rate of accumulation of soil organic matter is often higher on fert...

Soil salinity is one of the problems threatening agricultural lands. Parts of this phenomenon are related to geologic formations and saltpans, while some major factors are resulted from irrelevant agricultural activities, issue of irrigation, and improper cultivation systems which lead to increase in soil salinity. To avoid such consequences that would end up with ecosystem degradation, suitabl...

Arid and semi-arid lands constitute a large proportion of available agricultural and rangeland in the world. These lands are characterised by low and unreliable rainfall, low land productivity, and low socioeconomic status of the inhabitants. Livestock plays a very significant role in their economies. Leguminous trees and shrubs, which dominate the natural rangelands, are often higher in crude ...

The main purpose of the present study was to assess the ecological capability of agricultural soils using geographic information system (GIS). This research was conducted during 2014 in Hamedan Province, Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted mapping the 10 factors of soil characteristics (texture, depth, erosion, and aggregation, percentage of slope, direction of slope, height, soil salin...