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Showing items 1 through 9 of 19.
  1. Library Resource

    Sustainability

    Peer-reviewed publication
    January, 2015
    Italy

    Land degradation has expanded in the Mediterranean region as a result of a variety of factors, including economic and population growth, land-use changes and climate variations. The level of land vulnerability to degradation and its growth over time are distributed heterogeneously over space, concentrating on landscapes exposed to high human pressure.

  2. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Montenegro

    To study the magnitude of land degradation, desertification or resilience in Montenegro throughout the 20th and early‐21st centuries, we rephotographed the landscapes recorded on 48 historical photographs dating back to between 1890 and 1985, and analysed in a semi‐quantitative way the land use and cover changes that had occurred using an expert rating system (six correspondents). Time‐series of hydrology and population density were analysed for the period since 1948 and were compared with the changes observed using repeat photography.

  3. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Romania, Eastern Europe

    Central and Eastern Europe is experiencing significant land degradation, at the same time as social, economic and political transformation, and within the broader context of global climate change. This paper uses satellite data, primary field data and secondary information on Romania's social, political and economic dynamics, in a mixed‐method case study analysis of the drivers of, and responses to, environmental change and land degradation over the period 1984–2007.

  4. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Italy

    Land degradation is a process negatively affecting environmental sustainability and requires permanent monitoring for understanding its nonlinear trajectories of change over time and space. Environmental sustainability is linked to a theoretical definition of dynamic balance among various components contributing to the ecosystem quality and functioning.

  5. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Germany, Belgium, Europe

    Hydrological extremes are major weather related disasters, but little is known about their long‐term patterns in the context of environmental change. Better understanding of damaging rainfall (e.g. rainfall‐erosivity events) occurring at different time‐scales has important implications for hydrological and land degradation management. The study of the interdecadal variations may help in understanding some of the consequences of abrupt environmental changes over long time periods.

  6. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Russia

    The LADA methodology (land degradation assessment in drylands) is first used to assess land degradation at the local level for test sites in Russia. The results of the tested methodology are in general positive and, at the same time, indicate the need to adapt it for the assessment of erosion processes, the detailing of mapping categories, and the use of the soil alkalinity indicator. The corresponding recommendations are suggested.

  7. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Greece

    Rapid urbanization together with policy ineffectiveness in controlling urban growth is often associated to soil and land degradation in both the developing and developed world. The present study analyses the relationship between urban expansion and soil degradation in an arid Mediterranean region (Attica, Greece) where the compact settlement pattern has been replaced by low‐density urban development. The study area is one of the most densely populated areas in the Mediterranean basin that has experienced an impressive growth in population during the last 60� yr.

  8. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Italy

    In the last decades, due to climate changes, soil deterioration and land use/land cover (LULC) changes, land degradation (LD) has become one of the most important issues at the global, regional and local scale. In concrete terms, LD determines a reduction in the productivity of a territory and in its capacity of providing ecosystem goods and services. “Syndromes” of LD can be assessed in the past, and scenarios, conversely, can be developed for the future, as information baselines for sustainable land management strategies and interventions.

  9. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Ethiopia, Italy

    Land use practices and vegetation cover distribution are considered to be the most important dynamic factors that influence the land degradation or the soil erosion of a region. In this study, a Soil Protection Index (SPI) is defined as a function of land use practices and intensity of vegetation cover. This index is used to map the relative degree of protection of topsoil from being eroded by external effects such as rainfall and overland flow. A fuzzy rule‐based model integrated within ArcGIS® has been set‐up and tested with the aim to develop SPI maps.

  10. Library Resource
    Journal Articles & Books
    December, 2014
    Eastern Europe, Africa, Central America, Asia, South America

    An approach to derive relationships for defining land degradation and desertification risk and developing appropriate tools for assessing the effectiveness of the various land management practices using indicators is presented in the present paper. In order to investigate which indicators are most effective in assessing the level of desertification risk, a total of 70 candidate indicators was selected providing information for the biophysical environment, socio-economic conditions, and land management characteristics.

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