Soil Mapping and Processes Modeling for Sustainable Land Management
Soil maps and models are indispensable tools in sustainable land management. The sustainable land use of our territory is fundamental to providing long-term socio-economic and environmental benefits. The risk of land degradation and corresponding declines in ecosystem services depends on the type of land use. Soil restoration can be extremely expensive, more than the implementation of sustainable land use practices. This is especially important in the context of climate change and the increasing pressure that a growing population places on soil resources, which is a global phenomenon. The objective of this chapter is to show the advantages of using soil mapping and modeling in sustainable l…
Soil Mapping and Processes Models for Sustainable Land Management Applied to Modern Challenges
Abstract In the context of growing population and global change, increasing demands for food production are an enormous challenge that we face in the modern world. At the same time the need to prevent land degradation, restore lands that are already degraded, and maintain soil quality and health is critical to a sustainable use of land resources. Accurate maps and adequate models are indispensable tools to assist managers, scientists, and decision makers in addressing these challenges. In this chapter, we outline the main impacts of climate change on soils, key adaptation, and mitigation strategies and provide an overview of key issues in sustainable agricultural production as well as land …
Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover
Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-28T19:52:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-03-18 Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied am…
Modelling soil organic carbon stocks in global change scenarios: a CarboSOIL application
Abstract. Global climate change, as a consequence of the increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 concentration, may significantly affect both soil organic C storage and soil capacity for C sequestration. CarboSOIL is an empirical model based on regression techniques and developed as a geographical information system tool to predict soil organic carbon (SOC) contents at different depths. This model is a new component of the agro-ecological decision support system for land evaluation MicroLEIS, which assists decision-makers in facing specific agro-ecological problems, particularly in Mediterranean regions. In this study, the CarboSOIL model was used to study the effects of climate change on SOC …
Spatial Gradients of Intensity and Persistence of Soil Water Repellency Under Different Forest Types in Central Mexico
Organic residues release hydrophobic compounds to the soil that may induce soil water repellency (WR), which may inhibit infiltration and increase runoff and soil loss rates. Although there are many studies on soil WR through the world, very few investigations have been conducted in Mexican areas. This paper studies the natural background of soil WR in soils from central Mexico under representative forest types, analyzing the spatial distribution of soil WR in relation with tree canopy, vegetation cover and main soil chemical (pH, CaCO3, organic C content and exchangeable cations) and physical properties (texture). The water drop penetration time and the ethanol tests were used to assess pe…
Historical Perspectives on Soil Mapping and Process Modeling for Sustainable Land Use Management
Basic soil management goes back to the earliest days of agricultural practices, approximately 9000 BCE. Through time humans developed soil management techniques of ever increasing complexity, including plows, contour tillage, terracing, and irrigation. Spatial soil patterns were being recognized as early as 3000 BCE, but the first soil maps did not appear until the 1700s and the first soil models finally arrived in the 1880s. The beginning of the 20th century saw an increase in standardization in many soil science methods and wide-spread soil mapping in many parts of the world, particularly in developed countries. However, the classification systems used, mapping scale, and national coverag…
Assessment of soil suitability for improvement of soil factors and agricultural management
The dramatic growth of the world&rsquo