Landscape management could contribute to sustainable pest control. Landscape composition, in particular, could either directly impact a pest abundance by affecting its dispersal, mortality or reproduction, or indirectly by affecting its natural enemies. We performed an analysis of the scientific literature to assess how the proportion of different land covers at the landscape level is related to the abundance of pests or to their control by natural enemies. Of 72 independent case studies, 45 reported an effect of landscape composition.

Although the importance of science, in both desertification control and other types of environmental governance, has been emphasized by many studies, little is known about how science influences institutional changes. Based on a method combining surveys, interviews, observation, and a meta-analysis of the literature, this study explored the roles of science in institutional changes associated with desertification control in northern China.

The paper analyses the land use behaviour of Scottish land managers and the factors influencing it in the current context of the EU rural land use policies. The analysis employs a frequently used behavioural economics method, namely structural equation modelling (SEM). Central to the empirical analysis in this paper is a cross-section database containing data collected in May to June 2009 through telephone interviews of 600 land managers in Scotland.

Despite the fact that urban farming is widespread in many African cities there is not yet a clearly defined view on how to deal with these activities in urban planning and management. On the basis of field interviews in the rapidly expanding metropolitan area of Kampala (Uganda) three different urban farming types were identified: subsistence farming, garden farming and commercial farming. These three urban farming types have their own spatial organisation logic and each interact in a specific way with urban expansion.

In many developed countries, abandoned (derelict or underused) industrial areas often occupy important parts of the cities. This raises issues about the possibilities of reusing these areas as well as on the conservation of industrial heritage they often entail. Conjoint Analysis (CA) can shed light on these issues as it can elicit the preferences of inhabitants for different scenarios of reuse. So far, only a limited number of applications of CA have been made on this topic.

This contribution outlines the potential of the category of gender in critical analyses of land use policy and the perspectives it offers for the development of conceptual strategies for sustainable land management. It illustrates gender mainstreaming in urban development approaches, thus showing the potential for enhancing the quality of planning and the reduction of land consumption. The paper goes on to discuss the potential for extended and differentiated communication and participation within participative planning support systems.

Integration of the Russian Federation in the international community, to find the most effective ways to implement the military and land reforms require a comprehensive study. The paper identifies the main problems that hinder the effective implementation of the reform of the conversion, the ways of their solutions, including use of the experience of the advanced countries of the European Union. Identified military objects to be conversion, shown combining them into groups according to various criteria. Proposed a typology of ex-military territories.

Relationships between land use/cover (LUC) and stream water quality have been well-documented in many environments and at a range of spatial scales. From these analyses, reduced in-stream biological integrity and habitat quality are commonly associated with increasing amounts of anthropogenic LUC. However, very few studies have examined the influence of landscape condition, relative to studies using LUC, on water quality parameters. Landscape condition indices use remote sensing-based data to quantify biophysical land surface condition.

In developing countries across the globe the impact of livestock on deforestation levels has
been profound. This paper explores the role of the cattle industry in household decision
making for small landholders in the Brazilian Amazon. Important inquiries raised in the
literature are addressed, including the determinants of the co-evolution of deforestation and cattle herds, the possibility of production specialization, and the role of cattle in household livelihoods. Panel data suggest that households have changed focus from crop