Spatial Assessment of Land Degradation Risk for the Okavango River Catchment,Southern Africa

The Okavango catchment in southern Africa is subject to environmental as well as socio‐economic transformation processes such as population growth and climate change. The degradation of soil and vegetation by deforestation and overgrazing is one of the downsides of this development, reducing the capacity of the land to provide ecosystem functions and services. In this study, climate simulations are brought together with secondary socioeconomic, pedologic and remote‐sensing data in a GIS‐based assessment of the factors commonly associated with land degradation risk. A high resolution overview is provided for decision‐makers and stakeholders in the region by identifying priority intervention areas where a long‐term decline in ecosystem function and land productivity is most likely to occur. The approach combines 19 risk factors into seven individual ratings for topography, landcover, soil, demography, infrastructure, livestock pressure and climate. These ratings are then weighted and combined into an integrated degradation risk index (DRI). The results show that the land degradation risk is quite heterogeneously distributed in the study area and caused by different factors. Three hot‐spots are identified and compared, one of which is in the far northwestern part of the catchment, one around the local center Rundu and one on the outskirts of the Okavango Delta. We conclude that the approach is suitable to give an overview on degradation risk in the study area, although the classification process is a crucial procedure that should be standardized for further research. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards a Pan‐European Assessment of Land Susceptibility to Wind Erosion

Understanding spatial and temporal patterns in land susceptibility to wind erosion is essential to design effective management strategies to control land degradation. The knowledge about the land surface susceptible to wind erosion in European contexts shows significant gaps. The lack of researches, particularly at the landscape to regional scales, prevents national and European institutions from taking actions aimed at an effective mitigating of land degradation. This study provides a preliminary pan‐European assessment that delineates the spatial patterns of land susceptibility to wind erosion and lays the groundwork for future modelling activities. An Index of Land Susceptibility to Wind Erosion (ILSWE) was created by combining spatiotemporal variations of the most influential wind erosion factors (i.e. climatic erosivity, soil erodibility, vegetation cover and landscape roughness). The sensitivity of each input factor was ranked according to fuzzy logic techniques. State‐of‐the‐art findings within the literature on soil erodibility and land susceptibility were used to evaluate the outcomes of the proposed modelling activity. Results show that the approach is suitable for integrating wind erosion information and environmental factors. Within the 34 European countries under investigation, moderate and high levels of land susceptibility to wind erosion were predicted, ranging from 25·8 to 13·0 M ha, respectively (corresponding to 5·3 and 2·9% of total area). New insights into the geography of wind erosion susceptibility in Europe were obtained and provide a solid basis for further investigations into the spatial variability and susceptibility of land to wind erosion across Europe. © 2014 The Authors. Land Degradation and Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of Land use and Land Cover Changes in the Coastal Area of Bangladesh using Landsat Imagery

Coastal land use across the globe has experienced remarkable rapid change over the recent decades because of extraordinary anthropogenic pressure and climate variability and change. Therefore, quantitative information about coastal land use change is imperative for effective management and planning resources for sustainable development. We analysed the quantitative land use and land cover changes during 1989–2000–2010 periods in three important agroecological zones of the most vulnerable coastal region of Bangladesh using Landsat images (Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus). In the Ganges Tidal Floodplain, the area under shrimp cultivation greatly increased at the rate of 2·05% per annum. The majority of the shrimp area gained from conversion of single cropland. In the Meghna Estuarine Floodplain, decreased mudflat and water bodies were observed, which was predominantly converted into cropland. In Chittagong Coastal Plain, salt pan–shrimp area increased with the expense of single and/or double cropland. In all the study areas, settlement area considerably increased over time. The dynamics of land use change have been attributed to low and unstable food production in the coastal region. The approach adopted in study and the results obtained from the study would likely be useful for policy making and identifying direction for future studies on the coastal land use in Bangladesh. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nursery‐Box Total Fertilization Technology (NBTF) Application for Increasing Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Chinese Irrigated Riceland: N–Soil Interactions

High N fertilizer and flooding irrigation applied to rice in anthropogenic‐alluvial soil often result in N leaching and low use efficiency of applied fertilizer N from the rice field in Ningxia irrigation region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Sound N management practices need to be established to improve N use efficiency while sustaining high grain yield levels and minimize fertilizer N loss to the environment. We investigated the effects of Nursery Box Total Fertilization technology (NBTF) on N leaching at different rice growing stages, N use efficiency and rice yield in 2010 and 2011. The four fertilizer N treatments were 300 kg N ha⁻¹ (CU, Conventional treatment of urea at 300 kg N ha⁻¹), 120 kg N ha⁻¹ (NBTF120, NBTF treatment of controlled‐release N fertilizer at 120 kg N ha⁻¹), 80 kgN ha⁻¹ (NBTF80, NBTF treatment of controlled‐release N fertilizer at 80 kg N ha⁻¹) and no N fertilizer application treatment (CK). The results showed that the NBTF120 treatment increased N use efficiency, maintained crop yields and substantially reduced N losses to the environment. Under the CU treatment, the rice yield was 9634 and 7098 kg ha⁻¹, the N use efficiency was 31·6% and 34·8% and the leaching losses of TN were 44·51 and 39·89 kg ha⁻¹; NH₄⁺‐N was 5·26 and 5·49 kg ha⁻¹, and NO₃⁻‐N was 27·94 and 26·22 kg ha⁻¹ during the rice whole growing period in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Compared with CU, NBTF120 significantly increased the N use efficiency and decreased the N losses from the paddy field. Under NBTF120, the N use efficiency was 56·3% and 51·4%, which was 24·7% and 16·6% higher than that of CU, and the conventional fertilizer application rate could be reduced by 60% without lowering the rice yield while decreasing the leaching losses of TN by 16·27 and 14·36 kg ha⁻¹, NH₄⁺‐N by 0·90 and 1·84 kg ha⁻¹, NO₃⁻‐N by 110·6 and 10·14 kg ha⁻¹ in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Our results indicate that the CU treatment resulted in relatively high N leaching losses, and that alternative practice of NBTF which synchronized fertilizer application with crop demand substantially reduced these losses. We therefore suggest the NBTF120 be a fertilizer application alternative which leads to high food production but low environmental impact. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Static and Dynamic Indicators to Evaluate Soil Physical Quality in a Sicilian Area

Both capacitive indicators derived from the water retention curve and dynamic measurements of the flow‐weighted mean pore radius, R₀, were used to assess the soil physical quality of two agricultural areas (cropland and olive orchard) and two natural areas (grassland and managed woodlot plantation) potentially subject to soil degradation. The overall idea of the study was to investigate whether a dynamic indicator quantitatively derived from hydraulic conductivity measurements could be used to supplement the traditionally applied capacitive indicators retrieved from water retention measurements. According to the available criteria, only the surface layer of the cropland site showed optimal soil physical quality. In the grassland and woodlot sites, the physical quality was deteriorated also as a consequence of compaction because of grazing. Overall, the physical quality was better in tilled than nontilled soils. The optimal soil in terms of capacitive indicators had hydraulic conductivity close to saturation that was intermediate among the different land uses, and it remained 1·3–1·9 times higher than that observed in the natural sites even when the largest pores emptied. A depth effect on R₀ was observed only when larger macropores were activated. It was suggested that water transmission parameters are more affected by changes in large pore domain. The plant available water content and Dexter's S‐index showed inverse statistically significant regressions with R₀. The empirical relationships were physically convincing given that, at increasing R₀, the contribution of macropores increases, water is transmitted faster below the root zone and the soil's ability to store water is reduced. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Land Cover Transition in Northern Tanzania

Land conversion in sub‐Saharan Africa has profound biophysical, ecological, political and social consequences for human well‐being and ecosystem services. Understanding the process of land cover changes and transitions is essential for good ecosystem management policy that would lead to improved agricultural production, human well‐being and ecosystems health. This study aimed to assess land cover transitions in a typical semi‐arid degraded agro‐ecosystems environment within the Pangani river basin in northern Tanzania. Three Landsat images spanning over 30 years were used to detect random and systematic patterns of land cover transition in a landscape dominated by crop and livestock farming. Results revealed that current land cover transition is driven by a systematic process of change dominated by the following: (i) transition from degraded land to sparse bushland (10·8%); (ii) conversion from sparse bushland to dense bushland in lowland areas (6·0%); (iii) conversion from bushland to forest (4·8%); and (iv) conversion from dense bushland to cropland in the highlands (4·5%). Agricultural lands under water harvesting technology adoption show a high degree of persistence (60–80%) between time slices. This suggests that there is a trend in land‐use change towards vegetation improvement in the catchment with a continuous increase in the adoption of water harvesting technologies for crop and livestock farming. This can be interpreted as a sign of agricultural intensification and vegetation regrowth in the catchment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recultivation of Agricultural Land Impaired by Construction of a Hydropower Plant on the Sava River,Slovenia

Hydropower plants on the lower river Sava, Slovenia, were developed without sealing the underground upstream. As a consequence, without the countermeasures of elevating and recultivating, the agricultural land on the river banks would be inundated because of the water‐table increase of the river. To remedy this, the fields were elevated and recultivated. The goal of this study was to assess soil quality and production potential after land raising and recultivation and to answer the question whether it is possible to recover soil quality and crop yield after large‐scale mass manipulation, such as land raising. After recultivation and after the second year of land reuse for the two cultures grass–clover mixture and corn on two sites, Middle Pijavsko and Lower Pijavsko, soil physical and chemical characteristics and crop yields were evaluated. Mixing of topsoil with the second horizon during removal and during backfill with filling material resulted in uneven soil fertility, plant growth and decreased yield. Driving on the refilled second layer with heavy machinery caused soil compaction in the Middle Pijavsko in spite of favourable soil texture (loam, 38·7% sand). On the areas with very high sand content (over 55%) and low clay content (10%), soil compaction was not as severe or persistent. Recultivation measures restored the agricultural land almost to the production potential prior to powerplant construction. Immediate intensive land use (corn) showed less favourable effect on soil characteristics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

苗期不同滴灌方式对东北春玉米产量和水分利用效率的影响

春旱是东北玉米产量增长的主要障碍因素之一,滴灌可有效缓解其对玉米生产的不利影响,不同滴灌方式的效果具有差异性。本文以常规雨养玉米为对照(CK),研究了传统滴灌(采用内嵌迷宫式滴灌管)和新型滴灌(采用自流插入式滴灌管)2种方式与不同埋管深度(0 cm、5 cm和10 cm)对玉米生长发育、产量和水分利用效率的影响。与对照相比,滴灌显著增产,增幅达9.5%~20.1%。传统滴灌不同埋管深度处理间产量差异不显著,而新型滴灌埋深5 cm产量显著高于地表滴灌,增幅为4.4%。同一埋深不同滴灌方式之间,新型滴灌埋深5 cm比传统滴灌增产8.8%,其他埋深差异不显著。与对照相比,滴灌处理出苗率提高11.3%,收获期穗数增加13.3%。新型滴灌埋深5 cm产量高于其他处理的原因是生殖生长期叶面积指数下降慢,显著提高收获期干物质重。与对照相比,滴灌处理水分利用效率提高8.1%~10.9%,其中新型滴灌埋深5 cm处理水分利用效率最高。因此,埋深5 cm新型滴灌是有效提高玉米产量和水分利用效率的灌溉方式。     

Formalizing agro-ecological engineering for future-oriented land use studies

Agriculture faces an array of interrelated problems that call for development of new and revision of existing cropping systems towards the multiple needs of the 21st century. Agro-ecological engineering approaches aimed at design and exploration of alternative land use systems at various scales may support the identification of appropriate land use options. Engineering approaches are based on mathematical representations of well-founded agro-ecological principles while taking into account available resources and prevailing land-related objectives. The goal of this paper is to contribute to the development of a formalized approach to engineer cropping systems at the land unit level that can be used as building blocks for systematic explorations of land use options at farm or regional scale. The approach for engineering cropping systems at the land unit level consists of three steps: (i) goal-driven design of cropping systems, (ii) quantification of biophysical production targets and (iii) definition of the optimal mix of inputs required to realize production targets. This paper describes the approach and illustrates it with examples from the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Mali. Explicit attention is paid to the required numerical tools and their application to analyze consequences of uncertainty in the performance of engineered cropping systems. Using numerical tools, uncertainty is made explicit with the aim to better manage or reduce it. Identification of uncertainty at the designer's desk allows taking uncertainty into account before applying engineered land use systems in regional model studies or testing such systems in practice. Problems related to the application of numerical tools are discussed, including the future role of agro-ecological engineering as independent discipline within agricultural science.     

氮肥运筹对超级杂交粳稻产量、品质及氦素利用率的影响

在高产施氮量条件下（225kghm^-2），按基蘖肥、穗肥不同施氮比例且穗肥依不同叶龄期追氮共设计了20种施氮模式，研究了其对超级杂交粳稻常优1号产量、氮素利用率及主要米质性状的影响。结果表明：氮肥运筹对常优1号产量影响极大，基蘖肥与穗肥施氮比例为58．34：41．66，穗肥以叶龄余数4、2叶等量施氮时，产量最高；产量与总吸氮量、氮肥农学利用率、氮肥表观利用率、生理利用率呈极显著正相关关系，氮收获指数和百千克籽粒需氮量与产量呈二次曲线关系；随着穗肥施氮比例的下降，稻米整精米率、蛋白质含量、垩白率、垩白度逐渐下降；胶稠度、直链淀粉含量呈直线上升趋势；穗肥随追肥叶龄期推迟，整精米率、蛋白质含量提高，而直链淀粉含量下降。胶稠度、外观品质因基蘖肥施氮比例的不同而异。综合来看，基蘖肥、穗肥施氮比例为6：4，穗肥以倒4、2叶期追肥可使该品种超高产、优质、高效得到较好的协调统一。