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Amending croplands with forest residues may help in restoring soil properties in fields subject to intensive land management. Despite their known benefits when applied separately, co-application of wood biochar with paper mill biosolids (PB) has seen little investigation under field conditions. A study was initiated in Québec, QC, Canada, to determine the effect of a single application of wood biochar with and without PB on the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability of two pH-neutral to alkaline loamy soils. Biochar at 0, 10, and 20 Mg dry weight·ha−1 and PB at 30 Mg wet weight·ha−1 were applied before planting of corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in 2018. Residual effect of this co-application was determined under soybean and corn in the subsequent year. In both years, corn received supplemental N and P from mineral fertilizers according to local agronomic recommendations. Co-applying biochar and PB reduced soil NO3-N availability in the year of application and decreased corn yield by 1.0 Mg·ha−1 compared with biochar or PB applied alone, but these amendments did not affect soybean yields. In the following year, the previous biochar addition increased soybean yield by 0.6 Mg·ha−1 but had little effect on corn. For both years, biochar addition induced a large increase in soil Mehlich-3 P. This study revealed that wood biochar positively impacted P status of these soils but was not a source of N to crops even when co-applied with PB.

This position paper summarises the results from the work carried out in the third MAP (Multi-Actor Platform) Cycle by three MAPs in Tuscany (Italy). The reason for selecting ‘Sustainable value chains’ as a topic in all three MAPs is the strong interest in, and/or long experience of, this topic by the MAPs members. This position paper is based on desk-based research carried out by the MAPs’ monitor and facilitator, as well as on stakeholder engagement activities carried out in the MAPs.

This position paper summarises the results from the work carried out in the third MAP (Multi-Actor Platform) Cycle by three MAPs in Tuscany (Italy). The reason for selecting ‘Sustainable value chains’ as a topic in all three MAPs is the strong interest in, and/or long experience of, this topic by the MAPs members. This position paper is based on desk-based research carried out by the MAPs’ monitor and facilitator, as well as on stakeholder engagement activities carried out in the MAPs.

This Position Paper written by the Multi-Actor Platform Climate-Friendly Village(CFV) is focused on finding the causes and possibilities of changes at the level of municipalities, regions and states in landscape management in the Czech Republic.

TheMulti-Actor Platform Climate proof ruralities'position paper reflects the results of three regional MAP dialogues for North Limburg, the Achterhoek, and of interviews and literature review for the region of Schouwen-Duiveland. Within the SHERPA topic of ‘Land use in the context of Climate Change’, thisMAP has focussed on the topic of climate adaptation within an area-oriented approach. This topic and the role of rural areas is less covered by the Long-term Vision for Rural areas of the European Commission (EC) and the national Network of Large Rural Municipalities (P10)wants to highlight the contribution rural areas make to the climate challenges. In this document, the MAP pints outpolicy and research recommendations on how the European Commission can support areas to be able to undertake choices that fit with societal challenges at the same time as the ambitions and identity of the area.

This Position Paper provides a consiçolidated overview of challenges and recommendations emerged by the discussions of the Multi-Actor Platform (MAP) PACA Sud's members on land use and climate change. The aim of this document is to re-specify and prioritise the main issues of climate change for the rural territories of the Southern region.

Climate change poses challenges to land use that cumulate with other non-climate related challenges, such as population growth, increasing demand on limited resources by diverse actors, and land degradation. Moreover, improper land-use management and unsustainable urban development can intensify hazards including flooding and heat stress, hence intensifying the exposure of communities to such hazards. In this Position Paper, the HungarianMulti-Actor Platform Land-use planning for climate neutrality gathersome recommendations for future rural policies.&nbsp

This position paper is the results of the work carried out by the DanishMulti-Actor Platform, which reflected onthe issue of land use in the light of climate change. In this position paper, the members of the MAP, from different backgrounds,wish to jointly highlight a number of important themes and key messages in relation to land use in Denmark, which politicians, civil servants, planners and local developers, amongst others, should take on board and act upon to the greatest possible extent in order to support and promote a green and sustainable transition, in which land use is central.Four themes have been highlighted in the document: renewable energy, food production and lowland set-aside, land ownership, and public governance and stakeholder consultation.

This position paper is the results of the work carried out by theItalian Multi-Actor Platform of the Emilia-Romagna region.The documentidentifies few priorities for what concerns land use and water management, and provides specific recommendations to policy and research in regards to the challenges this region face.&nbsp

In a move toward the integration of social and ecological goals in land management, landscape approaches are now a part of mainstream conservation and development policy discourses worldwide. Policies for integrated landscape management in Mesoamerica have long promoted biological corridors as a way to enhance biodiversity conservation and habitat connectivity while improving livelihoods in the surrounding landscape matrix. Recently, though, the policy focus throughout the region has shifted toward landscape restoration, which subsumes and expands upon the former approach to respond more explicitly to concerns about climate change. However, the limited success and challenges of translating corridors from paper into practice raise questions about the potential of landscape restoration policies to achieve intended outcomes. Centering on the experience of El Salvador, this paper draws on policy and document analysis and interviews with professionals to compare the two approaches and explore the implications of the transition toward landscape restoration based on lessons learned from past corridor implementation challenges. The paper argues that while the two approaches share many core components and objectives, landscape restoration has different spatial and distributional implications in terms of priority-setting, distribution of resources and benefits, and the promotion of conservation management strategies and alternatives. Nevertheless, unresolved challenges of integrated landscape management revealed by decades of unsuccessful corridor implementation must be addressed if restoration policies are to make headway. Through a critical analysis of shifting policy frameworks in El Salvador, the research offers crucial insight into the limitations and possibilities of integrated landscape management in Mesoamerica and globally.

A synthesis was carried out to examine Alaska’s boreal forest fire regime. During the 2000s, an average of 767 000 ha·year–1 burned, 50% higher than in any previous decade since the 1940s. Over the past 60 years, there was a decrease in the number of lightning-ignited fires, an increase in extreme lightning-ignited fire events, an increase in human-ignited fires, and a decrease in the number of extreme human-ignited fire events. The fraction of area burned from human-ignited fires fell from 26% for the 1950s and 1960s to 5% for the 1990s and 2000s, a result from the change in fire policy that gave the highest suppression priorities to fire events that occurred near human settlements. The amount of area burned during late-season fires increased over the past two decades. Deeper burning of surface organic layers in black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) forests occurred during late-growing-season fires and on more well-drained sites. These trends all point to black spruce forests becoming increasingly vulnerable to the combined changes of key characteristics of Alaska’s fire regime, except on poorly drained sites, which are resistant to deep burning. The implications of these fire regime changes to the vulnerability and resilience of Alaska’s boreal forests and land and fire management are discussed.

Many Dutch ecosystems, whether terrestrial, aquatic or sediment-based, are diffusely polluted by mixtures of contaminants, whose concentrations often exceed regulatory Safe Values or other generic quality criteria. This situation has unclear consequences, especially when local authorities are confronted with such pollution. Water managers are frequently in doubt whether their water systems satisfy the criteria for 'Good Ecological Status' as defined in the EU's Water Framework Directive. In case of soils, soil users may wonder whether the soil is 'fit for use'. In case of nature conservation, the problem is that protected species might suffer from toxic stress. Official regulations in these cases call for appropriate action, but it is unclear whether the diffuse exposure causes adverse effects, and what the action should be. This paper proposes and discusses a site-oriented approach in the risk assessment of diffusely contaminated sites that can be used in addition to the compound-oriented policies from which the abovementioned generic quality criteria were derived. The site-oriented approach can be of help in reducing site-specific risks of diffuse contamination. Reflecting on the results of a large Dutch research effort in systems-oriented ecotoxicological effects, the conclusion is drawn that exposure and effects of diffuse pollution are site-specific in kind and magnitude, determined by the local combination of source-pathway-receptor issues, and often not clearly detectable (though often present). To assist in risk management, higher-tier methods can address various aspects, like addressing local mixture composition, bioavailability, and sensitivity of local species groups. Higher-tier risk assessment methods have as yet been developed mainly for cases of serious contamination, like for pesticide management and Risk-Based Land Management. For diffuse pollution, site-specific information can also be used to obtain site-specific exposure and impact information, while practical and ecology-based approaches can be introduced to obtain an integrated overview of the meaning of site contamination and to derive options for managing and reducing the local risks. These issues are discussed against the background of current major policy shifts, in The Netherlands and elsewhere, from a pollutant-oriented assessment to an additional ecological and site-oriented assessment. The latter is most clearly represented in the Good Ecological Status aim of the EU-Water Framework Directive. The paper assesses, integrates and discusses the results of the Dutch research effort in this policy context. © 2008.

There is a need for accurate estimation of Australian woody vegetation parameters. State and Commonwealth land management agencies are mandated to report about forest condition every five years. The CRCSI 2.07 “Australian woody vegetation landscape feature generation from multi-source airborne and space-borne imaging and ranging data” aims at producing ready-to-use methods to report forest condition based on remote sensing data. The first efforts have focus on field data techniques and canopy structure characterization using LiDAR data. Results demonstrate canopy profile can be accurately estimated using Weibull probability density functions at 30×30m pixel size. Moreover different field techniques to measure vegetation fractional cover has been tested and compare finding differences up to 15%.

Agribusiness is a vital segment of US commerce, a critical part of American infrastructure, and an often overshadowed component of our national security strategy. Its importance to the US has been likened to that of oil to the Middle East. History demonstrates that a nation able to feed its own citizens is inherently stronger and thus able to provide a safer and more secure society. US agribusiness leads the world, yet faces continued competition in an environment of technological change and global agribusiness consolidation. This report assesses the entire industry while focusing on four key areas: water use, land management, grains and fibers, and food safety and security.

Fred Blackburn and Roy Williamson provide a rather enjoyable, if narrowly focused, history of Basketmaker archae­ology in Cowboys and Cave Dwellers. Basketmaker Archaeology in Utah's Grand Gulch (1995). In this, the School of American Research Press has produced an aesthetically pleasing, popular treatment of early North American archaeology, of the same genre as Melinda Elliott's (1995) Great Excavations. Archaeologists who find the journalstic prose, paucity of data, and lack of citations in such popular accounts unsettling should turn to Anasazi Basketmaker: Papers From the 1990 Wetherill - Grand Gulch Symposium (Bureau of Land Management 1993). This predecessor yet companion volume contains the detail, background, and contextual information necessary to criti­cally evaluate the significant scholarly contributions of the Wetherill - Grand Gulch Research Project (1986 - 1990). Given that most readers of the Bulletin would like to see more than the popular account can offer, I have taken the liberty of reviewing both volumes.