Climate change impacts on agriculture could arguably be most critical for developing countries in tropical regions: their populations rely importantly on agriculture and climate-dependant resources, poverty limits their capacity to anticipate and adapt to climate change, and population increase already poses a serious challenge to food security in those regions. Current projections of climate change impacts on tropical crop yields, even though on average negative, remain largely uncertain: there is need for more consistent, large-scale, quantitative assessments.

Mongolia, a vast and sparsely populated semi-arid country, has very little formal road infrastructure. Since the 1990s, private ownership and usage of vehicles has been increasing, which has created a web of dirt track corridors due to the communal land tenure and unobstructed terrain, with some of these corridors reaching over 4 km in width. This practice aids wind- and water-aided erosion and desertification, causing enormous negative environmental effects.

Over the last century, natural resource management on forest lands has shifted from a singular focus on resource extraction to many foci, such as recreation, tourism, conservation, view-scapes, cultural and spiritual values, sustainability, and other values. As a result, the information needs of land managers must now include social and cultural values. In addition, the public's interest in having greater participation in land management decisions and in generating scientific knowledge has never been greater.