Search results for "Land-use"

Impacts of oak deforestation and rainfed cultivation on soil redistribution processes across hillslopes using 137Cs techniques

2021

Abstract Background As one of the main components of land-use change, deforestation is considered the greatest threat to global environmental diversity with possible irreversible environmental consequences. Specifically, one example could be the impacts of land-use changes from oak forests into agricultural ecosystems, which may have detrimental impacts on soil mobilization across hillslopes. However, to date, scarce studies are assessing these impacts at different slope positions and soil depths, shedding light on key geomorphological processes. Methods In this research, the Caesium-137 (137Cs) technique was applied to evaluate soil redistribution and soil erosion rates due to the effects …

Local Equalization and Wide Areas Land Planning in Syracuse

2016

Abstract The implementation process of the Syracuse's Master Plan is characterized by the widespread use of “urban negotiation”. The Municipality has drawn up a protocol aimed at obtaining areas for facilities and public infrastructure in different areas basing on the rule of the transfer of a portion of land in return for the building permission for the remaining part. Since these areas are variously characterized, the negotiation process may not be fair to Municipality or convenient to land owners. Basing on an equalization pattern, this study provides, for each area, the indexes of fairness and convenience, and, more specifically, the difference between the market value of the areas achi…

The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

2016

Abstract. In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet th…

Geo-visual analytics for urban design in the context of future Internet

2009

The internet, where much of the information has reference to location, together with the latest generation of geographical web services, represent a very large information space that can be used for planning and design. The wealth of information accessible, which requires new forms of interaction and management of the data available, has brought in recent year to the growth of the domain of visual analytics. In addition, the availability of 3D geobrowsers provides the technological means for interactive 3D environments which can be used to access large-scale geographical information. This technological scenario is paving the way to 3D web-based, geo-visual analytics tools for land planning …

Land use functions — a multifunctionality approach to assess the impact of land use changes on land use sustainability

2008

Part 5. Regional and local evaluation - 17; International audience; The dramatic changes in land use observed in Europe in the last fifty years have generally resulted in improvement of human welfare and economic development. On the other hand, they have caused serious environmental problems. There is therefore a need for approaches that help to understand in an integrative way the economic, environmental and societal impacts that land use changes have on sustainability. Sustainability Impact Assessment(SIA), which assesses the impact of policies on sustainability, addresses this challenge. SIA partly builds on the concept of the multifunctionality of land which helps to deal with the compl…

Differential Responses of Nitrate Reducer Community Size, Structure, and Activity to Tillage Systems

2009

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to determine how the size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community were affected by adoption of a conservative tillage system as an alternative to conventional tillage. The experimental field, established in Madagascar in 1991, consists of plots subjected to conventional tillage or direct-seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DM), both amended with three different fertilization regimes. Comparisons of size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community in samples collected from the top layer in 2005 and 2006 revealed that all characteristics of this functional community were affected by the tillage system, with increa…

The Urban Exposome during Pregnancy and Its Socioeconomic Determinants

2018

Background: The urban exposome is the set of environmental factors that are experienced in the outdoor urban environment and that may influence child development. Objective: The authors’ goal was to describe the urban exposome among European pregnant women and understand its socioeconomic determinants. Methods: Using geographic information systems, remote sensing and spatio-temporal modeling we estimated exposure during pregnancy to 28 environmental indicators in almost 30,000 women from six population-based birth cohorts, in nine urban areas from across Europe. Exposures included meteorological factors, air pollutants, traffic noise, traffic indicators, natural space, the built environment…

Linking traffic and noise models to explore spatio-temporal distribution of noise pollution: an example in Besançon (France)

2012

International audience; Road transportation is one of the major environmental noise sources in urban areas, which is characterized by an important temporal and spatial variation. Therefore, linking mobility and traffic model with noise model each representing spatial and temporal dimensions is a great interest. An integrated and original approach was developed to explore noise pollution in urban areas with a spatiotemporal and prospective point of view. An agent-based Land-Use and Transport Integrated (LUTI) model - MobiSim- was used to assess traffic modulation by simulating hourly flows and mobility. Individual choices of agents (representing the city's inhabitants) were transformed to fl…

Ecologie des bactéries dénitrifiantes du sol en relation avec les émissions de N2O

2014

Harnessing the biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland

2015

A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low‐intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species‐rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively ti…