The lesser kestrel is a Globally Threatened Species which large decline has been related to recent agricultural changes in European pseudo-steppes. Irrigation is considered as one of the major threats for this and other steppe birds, but the actual effects of irrigation on foraging habitat selection have been scarcely examined. We studied the selection of traditional dry cereal farming and irri...

to investigate the effects of supplementary irrigation and application of different compost levels on morphological traits, yield and yield components of two chickpea cultivars under dry land conditions, a field experiment was conducted at the research field in khoramabad, iran in 2009-2010. the experiment was split split plot based on randomized complete block design with four levels of irriga...

1. introduction the meaning of sustainability is an effort to reach the best results in human and environmental programs which are considered to be for present and future. zayandeh-rud is the most important and vital river in esfahan area which is used in agriculture, industry, providing drinking water and all other economic sectors. this river is originated from the zagros mountains – zardkooh...

The paper analyses various forms of direct payments using the spatial and dynamic model AgriPoliS. In AgriPoliS farms are represented as agents which act and interact individually. This allows for endogenous structural change. The model is fitted to the agricultural region 'Hohenlohe' in Baden-Württemberg which is characterised by intensive livestock farming. The policy simulations show that th...

Forest cover transitions in the developing tropics are conditioned by agricultural change. The expansion, intensification, and diversification of agricultural land uses are tied to regional economic/environmental regimes and decisions of local farming households. Land changescienceandagrariansystems research sharean interest in the drivers of household strategies, land use impacts, and typologi...

The proper use of natural resources can preserve these valuable assets. In line with the management of natural resources, land use optimization can be highly useful. The aim of the present study is to propose an appropriate integrative model for optimized allocation of lands for surface runoff and sediment load minimization and net income maximization in Bayg watershed, Iran. In this study, fiv...

This paper aims to build up a preference function to evaluate the public benefits of the type of agricultural farming, biodiversity, water provisions, land use type, ecotourism modes, and a monetary attribute (willingness to pay and willingness to work) associated with an ecosystem service and land use program in a forest park. This study used choice experiments to build a random utility model,...

IN THEIR REPORT “SOIL FERTILITY AND BIOdiversity in organic farming,” P. Mäder et al. (31 May, p. 1694) downplay two factors in their discussion of the relative merits of organic and conventional farming. First, because organic farming yields (per unit of land) were 20% lower than those from conventional farming, 25% more land would be required to produce the same amount of crop biomass, offset...