A dried soil layer (DSL) formed in the soil profile is a typical indication of soil drought caused by climate change and/or poor land management. The responses of a soil to drought conditions in water-limited systems and the impacts of plant characteristics on these processes are seldom known due to the lack of comparative data on soil water content (SWC) in the soil profile. The occurrence of DSLs can interfere in the water cycle in soil–plant–atmosphere systems by preventing water interchanges between upper soil layers and groundwater.

Environmental targets are often used in planning for sustainable agricultural landscapes but their impacts are rarely known. In this paper we introduce landscape futures analysis as a method which combines linear programming optimisation with scenario analysis in quantifying the environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with achieving environmental targets, on a landscape scale. We applied the technique in the Lower Murray in southern Australia.

This study developed three scenarios of future land use/land cover on a local level for the Kyung-An River Basin and its vicinity in South Korea at a 30-m resolution based on the two scenario families of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report Emissions Scenarios (SRES): A2 and B1, as well as a business-as-usual scenario. The IPCC SRES A2 and B1 were used to define future local development patterns and associated land use change.

Climate change is predicted to have widespread impacts on freshwater lake and reservoir nutrient budgets by altering both hypolimnetic hypoxia and runoff, which will in turn alter the magnitude of internal and external nutrient loads. To examine the effects of these potential climate scenarios on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) budgets, we conducted a whole-catchment manipulation of hypolimnetic oxygen conditions and external loads to Falling Creek Reservoir (FCR), an old, eutrophic reservoir in a reforested catchment with a history of agricultural land use.

For the past 160 years, the prior appropriation system of the Western United States has adapted to changing water uses and shifting societal priorities. This paper argues that prior appropriation creates sufficient certainty to allow for economic development and facilitate water markets, yet is flexible enough to adapt to changing priorities and water supplies. Because it possesses both flexibility and certainty, it is a strong enough framework for the Western United States to weather the possible effects of climate change on water supply.

An attempt is made here to shed light on how water legislation could address the climate change challenge. Although climate change legislation provides a framework for the integration of climate change issues into government policies on several topics, it does not cover water resources as such. Therefore, water legislation must provide for such integration. The challenge is to find a balance between well-defined water rights, duties and administrative functions on the one hand and, on the other, the flexibility required to respond to the vagaries of a changing climate.

The government of Indonesia allocated state land to private companies to establish forest plantations. However, ownership of this land was contested by some Sumatran communities. The plantation company, endorsed by the government, quickly developed a partnership to resolve the conflict, but this was unclear and inequitable. Action research was carried out to facilitate communication among stakeholders. This communicative action changed some perceptions and shared values began to emerge. A forum was established, which contributed to equitability producing a better partnership.

Dutch peatlands have been subsiding due to peat decomposition, shrinkage and compression, since their reclamation in the 11th century. Currently, subsidence amounts to 1–2 cm/year. Water management in these areas is complex and costly, greenhouse gases are being emitted, and surface water quality is relatively poor. Regional and local authorities and landowners responsible for peatland management have recognized these problems. In addition, the Netherlands Royal Meteorological Institute predicts higher temperatures and drier summers, which both are expected to enhance peat decomposition.

Much concern has been raised about how multifactor global change has affected food security and carbon sequestration capacity in China.

Due to impacts of albedo on climate change, benefits of afforestation/reforestation regimes are under debate. In this paper we investigate how to incorporate albedo changes in a carbon accounting tool to show the net effect of land use change on the climate. Using a study area in southern Europe, albedo and carbon sequestration modelling results are linked to determine the combined radiative forcing balance.

Many studies have done econometric estimates of how climate alters crop yields and or land rents in an effort to gain information on potential effects of climate change. However, an important related factor, the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, and in fact a driver of climate change is ignored. This means the prior econometric estimates are biased as they infer what will happen under climate change from observations in the recent past, but without consideration of CO2 effects.

We present a new indicator taxa approach to the prediction of climate change effects on biodiversity at the national level in Switzerland. As indicators, we select a set of the most widely distributed species that account for 95% of geographical variation in sampled species richness of birds, butterflies, and vascular plants. Species data come from a national program designed to monitor spatial and temporal trends in species richness. We examine some opportunities and limitations in using these data.