Search results for " land"

From ‘no dogs here!’ to ‘beware of the dog!’ : restricting dog signs as a reflection of social norms

2019

Signs in public space reflect ‘normalcy’ in a community. The authors ask what restricting signs tell us about a society? In order to explore the system and variation in the ways dog signs manifest different norms and control, they compare two different data sets: dog signs in a Northern European town, Jyväskylä in Finland, and two Eastern European villages in Romania. They apply a qualitative methodology based on visual communication, geosemiotics and linguistic landscape studies. The focus of the article is on the resources of addressing and the visual semiotics of the image. The investigated communities seem to create a complementary distribution of what they regulate that is also displa…

Transformations Accompanying a Shift from Surface to Drip Irrigation in the Cànyoles Watershed, Valencia, Spain

2017

Drip irrigation is widely promoted in Spain to increase agricultural production and to save water. In the Cànyoles watershed, Valencia, we analysed the consequences of change from surface irrigation to drip irrigation over the past 25 years. There were a number of transformations resulting from, or accelerated by, this change including the 1) intensification of well construction causing a redistribution in access to groundwater, water shortages and a lowering of the groundwater table; 2) expansion of irrigation into former rain-dependent uphill areas resulting in increased water use; 3) shift to higher- value monoculture fruit crops, but with associated higher crop water requirements; 4) in…

Essential oil crops for sustainable agriculture - A review

2009

Multifunctionality and diversification of farming systems, integration of agricultural practices both inter se and with the non-agricultural productive systems operating on the territory, biodiversity safeguards, and reduction in off-farm inputs, are key factors for all modern development strategies in agricultural areas. Such issues are valid worldwide, but are especially true in areas in which the cultivation of the more widespread and “classical” crops is constrained by factors of varying degree and importance. In Mediterranean areas, where many environmental and economic factors often reduce rural areas to marginal conditions, the search for new crop opportunities has become one of the …

The MIMOSE Approach to Support Sustainable Forest Management Planning at Regional Scale in Mediterranean Contexts

2017

In recent decades, Mediterranean landscapes have been affected by human-induced drivers, such as land use and climate change. Forest ecosystems and landscapes have been particularly affected in mountainous regions due to limited management and stewardship, especially in remote areas. Therefore, there is a need to set up new strategies to enhance ecosystem services in forested areas which, in turn, will benefit local communities and economies. In this study, we implemented a new approach—Multiscale Mapping of Ecosystem Services (MIMOSE)—to assess ecosystem services in Mediterranean forests located in a mountainous region of Italy. We spatially assessed timber provision and carbon sequestrati…

Wpływ nawożenia mineralnego oraz zastosowania osadów ściekowych na wybrane właściwości zwałowisk po eksploatacji wapieni

2006

The study, conducted in years 1998-2002, was aimed to define the optimal way of land reclamation and development o f the area of the opencast limestone mine by low-cost methods of proved efficiency. Four experimental plots, differ in respect of the soil fertilization method, were assigned within the area of the Silesian Lime Industry Works in Tarnów Opolski. Results o f physical and chemical analyses revealed that the use o f sewage sludge was not dangerous for soil properties and plants. Its uniform application on the whole land surface was more favorable than the point application by the hole treatment.

Long-term changes in pigmentation of arctic Daphnia provide potential for reconstructing aquatic UV exposure

2016

Abstract Despite the biologically damaging impacts of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) in nature, little is known about its natural variability, forcing mechanisms, and long-term effects on ecosystems and organisms. Arctic zooplankton, for example the aquatic keystone genus Daphnia (Crustacea, Cladocera) responds to biologically damaging UV by utilizing photoprotective strategies, including pigmentation. We examined the preservation and content of UV-screening pigments in fossil Daphnia remains (ephippia) in two arctic lake sediment cores from Cornwallis Island (Lake R1), Canada, and Spitsbergen (Lake Fugledammen), Svalbard. The aims were to document changes in the degree of UV-protective p…

Ģeogrāfiskās ainavas Salacas baseina teritorijā

1955

Landscape-ecological and social aspects of natural afforestation of abandoned agricultural land

2013

Anda Ruskule LAUKSAIMNIECĪBAS ZEMJU AIZAUGŠANAS AINAVU EKOLOĢISKIE UN SOCIĀLIE ASPEKTI Anotācija Promocijas darbā raksturots neizmantoto lauksaimniecības zemju apmežošanās process Vidzemē, aplūkoti to ietekmējošie faktori, kā arī integrēti izvērtēti šī procesa ainavu ekoloģiskie un sociālie aspekti. Pirmo reizi Latvijā analizētas ainavas telpiskās struktūras izmaiņas, kas radušās, aizaugot lauksaimniecības zemēm. Pētījumā ir identificēti telpiskā rakstura un sugu sastāva ziņā atšķirīgi aizaugšanas tipi un izvērtēta to saistība ar dažādiem vides apstākļiem. Apzināts iedzīvotāju un ekspertu viedoklis par apmežošanās procesu, tā ietekmi uz ainavas un dabas daudzveidību, kā arī turpmākām izmant…

Less is future: landscape as the key element for the “milieux” renaissance in the former East Germany

2013

Twenty-two years ago, Germany was reunified as a single state. Waste land, pollution and empty buildings are some of the problems that the people had to face, along with radical and painful political reorganization. The strong collective reaction to these environmental and social disasters was heart-warming. Hundreds of coordinated and collective actions of renovation in open spaces were carried out. People were involved in each level of the design process in order to decide the best way to improve and promote the heritage and identity of their landscape. Halle, Dessau, Leipzig, and Berlin are some examples explained in this paper which demonstrate that these successful massive actions are …

The “genetic erosion” of the soil ecosystem

2013

Abstract This paper takes into consideration the influence of human activities on the loss of pedodiversity in a Mediterranean area due to large scale farming. In particular it examines the quantitative and qualitative soil changes in a period of 53 years (from 1955 to 2008) evaluating the loss of soil diversity at soil subgroups level of the USDA Soil Taxonomy system. The following indices were used: richness; Shannon’s diversity index; Simpson diversity index; Shannon’s evenness index; Simpson’s evenness index. In this case study, considering what we observed in time, the human intervention in soil transformation could increase the diversity in the landscape in an initial phase, but forwa…