Importance of meteorological and land use parameters for insect diversity in agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
pp. 148159
Author(s):  
Jakub Horák ◽  
Patrik Rada ◽  
Ludwig Lettenmaier ◽  
Michal Andreas ◽  
Petr Bogusch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Insect Diversity

scholarly journals Toward a Dualistic Growth? Population Increase and Land-Use Change in Rome, Italy

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 749
Author(s):  
Leonardo Bianchini ◽  
Gianluca Egidi ◽  
Ahmed Alhuseen ◽  
Adele Sateriano ◽  
Sirio Cividino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Per Capita

The spatial mismatch between population growth and settlement expansion is at the base of current models of urban growth. Empirical evidence is increasingly required to inform planning measures promoting urban containment in the context of a stable (or declining) population. In these regards, per-capita indicators of land-use change can be adopted with the aim at evaluating long-term sustainability of urbanization processes. The present study assesses spatial variations in per-capita indicators of land-use change in Rome, Central Italy, at five years (1949, 1974, 1999, 2008, and 2016) with the final objective of quantifying the mismatch between urban expansion and population growth. Originally specialized in agricultural productions, Rome’s metropolitan area is a paradigmatic example of dispersed urban expansion in the Mediterranean basin. By considering multiple land-use dynamics, per-capita indicators of landscape change delineated three distinctive waves of growth corresponding with urbanization, suburbanization, and a more mixed stage with counter-urbanization and re-urbanization impulses. By reflecting different socioeconomic contexts on a local scale, urban fabric and forests were identified as the ‘winner’ classes, expanding homogeneously over time at the expense of cropland. Agricultural landscapes experienced a more heterogeneous trend with arable land and pastures declining systematically and more fragmented land classes (e.g., vineyards and olive groves) displaying stable (or slightly increasing) trends. The continuous reduction of per-capita surface area of cropland that’s supports a reduced production base, which is now insufficient to satisfy the rising demand for fresh food at the metropolitan scale, indicates the unsustainability of the current development in Rome and more generally in the whole Mediterranean basin, a region specialized traditionally in (proximity) agricultural productions.

scholarly journals Analysis of spatiotemporal changes of agricultural land after the Second World War in Czechia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vít Zelinka ◽  
Johana Zacharová ◽  
Jan Skaloš
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
German Population ◽  
World War ◽  
Landscape Type ◽  
Second World

AbstractThe term Sudetenland refers to large regions of the former Czechoslovakia that had been dominated by Germans. German population was expelled directly after the Second World War, between 1945 and 1947. Almost three million people left large areas in less than two years. This population change led to a break in the relationship between the people and the landscape. The aim of the study is to compare the trajectories of these changes in agricultural landscapes in lower and higher altitudes, both in depopulated areas and areas with preserved populations. This study included ten sites in the region of Northern Bohemia in Czechia (18,000 ha in total). Five of these sites represent depopulated areas, and the other five areas where populations remained preserved. Changes in the landscape were assessed through a bi-temporal analysis of land use change by using aerial photograph data from time hoirzons of 2018 and 1953. Land use changes from the 1950s to the present are corroborated in the studied depopulated and preserved areas mainly by the trajectory of agricultural land to forest. The results prove that both population displacement and landscape type are important factors that affect landscape changes, especially in agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Land-Use Effect on Olive Groves Pest Prays oleae and on Its Potential Biocontrol Agent Chrysoperla carnea

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
João Frederico Alves ◽  
Sara Mendes ◽  
António Alves da Silva ◽  
José Paulo Sousa ◽  
Daniel Paredes
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Biological Control Agent ◽  
Control Agent ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Chrysoperla Carnea ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Prays Oleae ◽  
Potential Biocontrol Agent ◽  
Olive Groves

Olive growing has been intensified through the simplification of agricultural landscapes. In order to rethink the environmental drawbacks of these practices, conservation biological control techniques have been examined. In this work, Prays oleae and its natural enemy Chrysoperla carnea were monitored to account for the effects of the amount and diversity of different land-uses. We found that C. carnea showed an attraction to areas with high abundances of P. oleae but this predator did not display any affection by the different land-uses. Inversely, P. oleae abundance was lower in diverse landscapes and higher in simplified ones. Importantly, higher abundances of C. carnea were related to lower infestation levels of P. oleae in the late part of the season. These results corroborate the attraction of C. carnea to the olive moth, highlighting the potential of C. carnea as a biological control agent of this pest, assert that the promotion of land-use diversity can reduce P. oleae and confirm that landscapes dominated by olive groves can promote this pest. The present study aims at contributing to the discussion about the management of agricultural ecosystems by providing farmers with sustainable alternatives that do not have harmful effects on the environment and public health.

scholarly journals Aquatic Bacterial Communities Associated With Land Use and Environmental Factors in Agricultural Landscapes Using a Metabarcoding Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Chen ◽  
Graham Wilkes ◽  
Izhar U. H. Khan ◽  
Katarina D. M. Pintar ◽  
Janis L. Thomas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes

scholarly journals ORGANIZATION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL LAND USE BASED ON LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-348
Author(s):  
Vladimir TATARINTSEV ◽  
◽  
Leonid TATARINTSEV ◽  
Alex MATSYURA ◽  
Andrei BONDAROVICH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Analysis ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Lands ◽  
Rational Use ◽  
Erosion Processes

The aim of the work was the landscape analysis of agricultural geographical landscapes in the Altai Territory and elaboration of measures aimed at the rational use of agricultural lands. Environmental and landscape (landscape) approach became the main method of scientific research used in the analysis of modern agricultural landscapes. The cartographic method, using GIS-technologies, made it possible to digitize the obtained materials. Synthesized maps of agro-ecological, natural and other zoning of territories are based on topographic, soil, geobotanical and other thematic maps made during land surveying during the field survey. Retrospective analysis, induction and deduction methods,analysis and synthesis, as well as the abstract-logic method were also used in the work. Our main result was the analysis of land use territory for agricultural enterprise in municipal district of Altai Krai. Exploration of lands indicates a pronounced plant-growing specialization of JSC “Pobeda” with a developed animal breeding direction. Limiting factors affecting the rational use of land are natural and climatic conditions, terrain,unsystematic anthropogenic activity and, as a result, the development of erosion processes. The degree of eroded and deflated arable land is more than 50%, hay and pasture lands are also very unstable. Landscapes have been typified, based on which eleven types of land have been identified and their geomorphological description has been carried out. The first five types of land can be used for agricultural production with limitations compensated by crop technology and erosion control measures, the sixth and seventh types require grassing and, in some cases,conservation, the eighth and ninth types can be partially used for pasture and area valorization; the remaining two are not suitable for agricultural use but should be potentially used for planting and forest management. As a result of the presented transformation of agricultural lands, the structure of cultivated areas has changed. The area of arable land decreased by 877 ha, and of pastures by 365 ha,while the area under hayfields, fallow lands, and forest lands increased by 295, 191, and 875 ha respectively. Low-productive lands were withdrawn from agriculture. We suggested that the sustainability of agricultural land use was mainly caused by the reduction of anthropogenic load and increase in ecological equilibrium of the territory.

scholarly journals Catchworks: A Historical Water-Distribution System on Mountain Meadows in Central Slovakia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1107
Author(s):  
Martina Slámová ◽  
Juraj Hreško ◽  
František Petrovič ◽  
Henrich Grežo
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Digital Terrain Model ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Narrow Channels

Water meadows or flooded meadows are known from many European countries. A historical irrigation system—catchworks—was identified in only one locality in Slovakia. This article brings a methodical approach to the identification of catchworks on mountain slopes. The main aim was to delineate catchworks using terrain and land use geospatial data intended to supplement existing data on catchworks from the field survey. The identification of shallow and narrow channels in the field is difficult, and their detection in a digital terrain model (DTM) and orthomosaic photos is also challenging. A detailed DTM elaborated from laser scanning data was not available. Therefore, we employed break lines of a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) model created by EUROSENSE Ltd. 2017, Bratislava, Slovakia. to determine microtopographic features on mountain slopes. Orthomosaics with adjusted red (R) green (G) and blue (B) band thresholds (digital numbers) in a time sequence of 16 years (2002–2018) and the Normalized Green-Red Difference Index (NGRDI) (2018) determined vital herbaceous vegetation and higher biomass. In both cases, the vegetation inside wet functional catchworks was differently coloured from the surroundings. In the case of dry catchworks, the identification relied only on microtopography features. The length of catchworks mapped in the field (1939.12 m; 2013) was supplied with potential catchworks detected from geospatial data (2877.18; 2018) and their total length in the study area increased above 59.74% (4816.30 m). Real and potential catchworks predominantly occupied historical grassland (meadows and pastures) (1952–1957) (4430.31; 91.99%). This result corresponds with the findings of foreign studies referring that catchworks on mountain slopes were related to livestock activities. They are important elements of sustainable land use with a water retention function in traditional agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Woodlot farming by smallholder farmers in Ganderbal district of Kashmir, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 752-759
Author(s):  
Azeem Raja ◽  
M. A. Islam ◽  
T. H. Masoodi ◽  
P. A. Khan ◽  
A. A. Wani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Growing Stock

Forest degradation and deforestation are serious threats to resource conservation, subsistence livelihoods and rural income diversification. Woodlot farming on farms has been established as a potential option to increase forest resources from agricultural landscapes and remove human pressure from forests. The study investigated the land-use and landholding pattern, woodlots types and species preference and extent of spatial distribution, land allocation and growing stock of woodlots in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir. Multistage random sampling technique was employed to select 349 farm woodlots from 12 sample villages. Secondary sources were used to collect village-level data on land-use and landholding pattern. Primary data concerning the trees were collected through farm woodlot inventories. The data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. Results revealed that the total land area in the sample villages is 888.60 ha; 521.60 ha (58.70%) is cultivated land, which is mostly (80.78%) occupied by 1244 marginal farmers. The prevalent woodlots established were plantations of Populus, Salix, Robinia or mixed species. The farm woodlots (61.59 ha) contributed 11.81% of cultivated land and 6.93% of the total geographical area. The average growing stocks of woodlots were estimated to be 204.05 m3/ha for Populus, 191.77 m3/ha for Salix, 109.51 m3/ha for Robinia and 62.31 m3/ha for Mixed. The findings suggested that woodlot farming is the key alternative for forest resource production, livelihood resilience and socioeconomic improvement; hence, the policy must be implicated towards the promotion of woodlot farming by re-orienting the land use through farmer’s motivation and technical, financial and farming input assistance.

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