In order to understand the genetic diversity of wild Ussurian pears in China, chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of 186 wild accessions from 12 populations in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces and 51 Chinese and European pear cultivars including Pyrus ussuriensis, Pyrus pyrifolia, Pyrus bretschneideri, Pyrus sinkiangensis and Pyrus communis were investigated. Each accession was classified into one of three types (types A, B and C) based on two large deletions in the hypervariable regions between the accD–psaI and rps16–trnQ genes.

Faecal Coliform (FC) bacteria were used as Faecal Indicator Organisms (FIOs) for assessment of microbiological pollution risk in two large, mixed land use catchments in Scotland. FC counts varied spatially in relation to land use and human population and resulting trophic status. These were highest in catchments with a high cover of improved pasture (which was assumed to be a proxy for cattle and sheep grazing densities) and significant human populations. FC counts were lowest in oligotrophic upland areas, where domesticated animal populations were low.

Most of the current global land cover datasets and global scale land-use models use a classification of land cover based on the dominant land cover type within a distinct region or pixel. Such a classification disregards the diversity and intensity of human influence on land systems. In this paper we propose a novel way of classification and modeling land-use using a classification based on land-use systems (LUSs) that represent specific combinations of human-environment interactions. A cluster analysis was used to identify and map these LUSs.

Traditional methods in agricultural economics and agricultural engineering have yielded mixed results when specifying the costs of an unfavourable parcel structure. Concepts related to travel costs and the production function are frequently applied when the costs of farming distant parcels are examined. However, farmers’ perspective regarding preferences for land use is ignored or partly overlapped by predictions made by researchers.

In course of the research there was studied the problem of efficiency of land usage in the conditions of the Republic of Belarus. The question of an estimation of land management efficiency was widely concerned in the special literature. However, the common opinion in the decision of the given question was absent. Besides, authors did not consider influence of the radio ecological factor on conditions of a life of the population, production and land usage caused by radioactive pollution of extensive agricultural territories of the Republic of Belarus.

Soil erosion and contamination are two main desertification indices or land degradation agents in agricultural areas. Global climate change consequence is a priority to predict global environmental change impacts on these degradation risks. This agro-ecological approach can be especially useful when formulating soil specific agricultural practices based on the spatial variability of soils and related resources to reverse environmental degradation.

Among the main effects of human activities on the environment are land use and resulting land cover changes. Such changes impact the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services to the human society. This supply of multiple goods and services by nature should match the demands of the society, if self-sustaining human–environmental systems and a sustainable utilization of natural capital are to be achieved. To describe respective states and dynamics, appropriate indicators and data for their quantification, including quantitative and qualitative assessments, are needed.

Attitude surveys among affected groups are established tools for integrating actors into decision-making concerning wildlife management. However, the complexity of attitudes and the fact that general attitudes toward wildlife may differ from those toward specific management measures reveal the risk of misinterpreting the data obtained. This article explores these problems based on a quantitative survey of hunters and landowners living close to the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany.

Human‐induced land use and land cover (LUC) changes threaten the ecosystem services of the vulnerable tropical afro‐alpine vegetation. Several LUC change studies are available for the Ethiopian highlands, but relatively little is known about LUC change in the afro‐alpine zones. In this study, LUC changes between 1964 and 2012 were mapped for the afro‐alpine zone of Lib Amba Mountain, part of the Abune Yosef Mountains in North Ethiopia. Historical LUC was derived from georeferenced aerial photographs of 1964 and 1982, and the present LUC (2012) from Bing Map satellite imagery.

The soil erodibility factor of RUSLE is one of the important indicators of land degradation. It can be measured either directly under natural or simulated rainfall condition or indirectly estimated by empirical models. A geospatial variation of this factor is essential for prioritization of reclamation measures. However, geospatial upscaling of soil erodibility factor is very uncertain because of its dynamic nature and dependent on the parameters used in the model.