Search results for "Forestry"
showing 10 items of 1998 documents
Elinympäristöjen tilan edistämisen priorisoinnin periaatteet ja menetelmä
2016
New national and regional bryophyte records, 33
2012
WOS: 000313348700006
Impact Assessment of Skidding Extraction: Effects on Physical and Chemical Properties of Forest Soils and on Maple Seedling Growing along the Skid Tr…
2019
Several studies investigated soil disturbances caused on skid trails by forest logging. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the severity and the distance of disturbances along both sides from the trails. The aims of this study were: i) to investigate the changes in physical and chemical properties of soil along the sides of skidding trails
Farmland abandonment in Europe: Identification of drivers and indicators, and development of a composite indicator of risk
2015
Accounting for more than half of the European Union's (EU) territory, agriculture ensures food production, manages important natural resources and supports socio-economic development of rural areas. Moreover, it is estimated that 50% of all plant and animal species (including some of that are listed in the EU Habitat Directive) depend on agricultural practices. The continuation of appropriate agricultural land management is essential to ensure these primary functions. Avoidance of farmland abandonment is therefore an important rationale for the EU's Common Agricultural Policy which requires improved knowledge of this phenomenon at the European level. This study assesses the risk of farmland…
Eco-efficiency assessment of olive farms in Andalusia
2012
Abstract Olive farming represents an important source of income and employment in the rural areas of Andalusia (Spain), which is the most important olive oil-producing region in the world. Unfortunately, it also exerts significant environmental pressures with regard to soil erosion, use of polluting inputs, excessive water consumption and biodiversity reduction. This paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques and pressure distance functions to contribute a farm-level assessment of the eco-efficiency of a sample of 292 Andalusian olive farmers. We distinguish between managerial eco-efficiency and program eco-efficiency, the latter being associated to the different natural conditio…
Farming Efficiency and the Survival of Valuable Agro-Ecosystems: A Case Study of Rice Farming in European Mediterranean Wetlands
2009
Beyond the conventional role of providing food, rice farming in European Mediterranean wetlands performs a valuable non-marketable function related to the provision of environmental services. Rice and biodiversity are jointly produced, so that provision of flooded-rice-fields based environmental services depends crucially on private profitability of rice farming. Recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and increasing access of third party countries to the domestic European market are challenging the competitiveness of European rice growers. This paper combines conventional competitiveness indicators and non-parametric efficiency analysis to ascertain the economic profitabilit…
Economic assessment of Eucalyptus (spp.) for biomass production as alternative crop in Southern Italy
2015
The increase in energy prices and the stagnation of sales prices of the main agricultural commodities required a rethinking of farm production strategies. Since during the last years, thanks to a series of policies aimed at promoting renewable sources it has been a rapid diffusion of lignocellulosic biomass species, this paper aimed at evaluating the economic feasibility of the introduction of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) as energy crop for farmers of Southern Italy, by comparing it with traditional crop rotations. In particular, economic analysis has been carried out in a representative case study located in the Sicilian hilly hinterland where, in 2013, it has been built a biomass plant fo…
Climate Change Effects on Agricultural Insect Pests in Europe
2015
Abstract In this chapter, we will discuss observations of climate change effects on agricultural pests in Europe, the possible mechanisms behind these observed effects and finally delve into more detail through some relatively well studied model species (the Colorado potato beetle and the rape beetle). Direct effects of climate change on agricultural pests in Europe are difficult to dissect from all the human-induced changes that have taken place in parallel with an increased mean annual temperature. During the past decade, agriculture has become more professionalized in terms of land use, crop cultivation techniques and pest management strategies. We review the effect of climate change on …
A New Wireless Device for Real-Time Mechanical Impact Evaluation in a Citrus Packing Line
2020
Abstract. Postharvest handling of fresh fruit is a potential source of bruising and damage, with significant consequences for fruit quality and marketability. In the last 30 years, different types of impact-recording devices (also called electronic fruits or pseudo-fruits) have been developed with the aim of measuring the impacts experienced by fruits during postharvest operations. The aim of this study was to develop and test a novel wireless instrumented sphere to study the critical points in a citrus packing line by measuring the impacts experienced by fruits in real-time. The non-commercial device was based on a MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) sensor node with a sensing range fro…