Ecological restoration projects have significantly contributed to the global increase in vegetation cover and the reduction of soil erosion. However, the impact of lithology in the karst ecosystem on changes in soil erosion characteristics during vegetation restoration remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the soil erosion characteristics of hillslopes under different vegetation restoration strategies in the fragile karst areas composed of limestone and dolomite. The restoration strategies mainly include arbor forest (AF), orchard (OC), and grassland (GL), with cropland (CR) as the control. Soil physical-chemical properties and soil erodibility factors (K EPIC, K NOMO) were used to evaluate soil erosion characteristics. The results showed that, in comparison to cropland, both limestone and dolomite in restoration strategies exhibited lower soil bulk density (BD) and soil erodibility K values, as well as higher capillary porosity (CP) and soil water-stable aggregates (WSA). However, the K value of limestone (17.9%) was significantly higher compared to dolomite. Additionally, limestone exhibited significant changes ( p < 0.05) in soil properties, such as BD, organic matter content (OMC), CP, and WSA. Conversely, dolomite did not show significant changes in these soil properties. These findings indicate that vegetation restoration was effective in improving soil structure and erosion resistance, and dolomite exhibit higher stability compared to limestone. Through redundancy analysis, it was observed that soil texture, represented by silt content, was the primary parameter indicating changes in soil erosion characteristics following vegetation modification. The silt content explained 84.4% and 78.2% of the variation in K values for limestone and dolomite, respectively. Moreover, the changes in K values for dolomite were also controlled by OMC, whereas limestone was solely controlled by soil texture. These findings suggest that the interactions between soil properties contribute to the improvement of stability in dolomite. Accordingly, vegetation restoration enhances soil erosion resistance; however, the effectiveness of restoration was controlled by the lithology in the southwestern karst region.

Snow avalanches are a major component of the mountain cryosphere that frequently create a menace for the road network. Deposit characteristics determine the extent of damage and disruption to communication networks, but the factors controlling snow-deposit volumes remain largely unknown. This study investigates the influence of meteorological and snowpack conditions on snow-avalanche deposits and road-network vulnerability based on 1986 deposit volumes from 182 paths located in two regions of the French Alps between 2003 and 2017: Guil and Haute-Maurienne valleys. During the period, 195 avalanches impacted the road network in these areas, leading to major disruptions. In Haute-Maurienne, correlations between deposit volumes and meteorological and snowpack conditions are high in winter. However, the relationships differ with path elevation and orientation. Results do not show any significant relationship between volumes and meteorological or snowpack conditions for the spring season. Focusing on deposits that disturbed the road network, winter and spring reveal a distinct influence of meteorological and snow variables compared to the overall data set, with snowfall intensity as the predominant control variable of deposit volumes leading to road cuts. When the same analysis is conducted by considering Guil valley separately or by aggregating Haute-Maurienne with Guil valley area data, results do not show any significant relationship, highlighting the specific regional nature of relations between deposit volumes and meteorological and snowpack conditions.

Global food demand is expected to increase in the next decades pushing agricultural expansion and deforestation. However, food production in agricultural lands is just one dimension of food security, to which forest goods and services also contribute. In this paper, we aimed to explore the relationship between forest cover and food security. We hypothesised that food security is improved by both human-made and green infrastructure combined. To test this relationship, we explore the relationships between forest cover and a multidimensional index of food security that included both socioeconomic and natural variables taken from Brazilian official databases for 1,141 municipalities of the Brazilian Caatinga (a seasonally tropical dry forest). The index was formed by 12 principal components axes (12 PCs) and we found that financial poverty (PC 1) and economic inequality (PC 2) were the main determinants of food insecurity in Caatinga. We found that lowest food security values were found in two contrasting contexts: one is represented by poor and unequal municipalities with high forest cover while the other refers to poor and less unequal municipalities but with little forest cover. Municipalities with intermediate levels of forest cover had slightly higher food security, a consistent pattern across time (2006 and 2017). Win-win scenarios where both forest cover and food security increased with time were almost as common as lose-lose situations (25% and 22% respectively). This suggests a sort of balance between forests and human-made land uses and reinforces that natural capital contributes to food security. Zero-hunger is a main issue for sustainable development goals and our results adds to the notion that both sustainable use of forests and socioeconomic improvements must coexist rather than being treated as antagonistic policies.

In the light of the current climate crisis, one of the most serious ecological threats is the increase of desertification. In this context, restoration projects are necessary for reverting land degradation, and nature-based solutions could help them. The Cocoon™ has been designed as a new ecotechnology for improving seedling establishment. The Cocoon consists of a donut-shaped container made out of recycled cardboard that provides water and shelter to the seedling, at least during its first year, which is the most critical for plant establishment. The Cocoon was tested on a variety of soils, Mediterranean mesoclimates, vegetation and land uses that allowed testing the effectiveness of this ecotechnology under different conditions. Six planting trials, five of them in Spain (Canary Islands, Almería, Catalonia and two in Valencia), and one in Ptolemais (Greece), were performed. With the objective of studying its functionality, the survival of the seedlings, their vigor and growth were monitored along two years. In general, the Cocoon has proven its effectiveness by increasing seedling survival compared to the conventional planting system, especially under dry growing conditions (low rainfall, soils with low water holding capacity). The Cocoon also allowed for higher growth of some species (olive trees, olm oaks and Aleppo pines). Moreover, a positive correlation between the rainfall on the site and the degradation degree of the Cocoon device was observed. Overall, the Cocoon becomes more efficient the more arid the climate or the more difficult the growing conditions are.

The paper overviews and summarizes the results of the developing a methodology for the land degradation neutrality (LDN) assessment basing on LDN-based studies at national, regional and local levels in Russia. The review of more one hundred available publications in Russian language over the past 6-7 years allowed for analysis on the following areas: development of LDN terminology, LDN assessment at the different levels, adapting transition matrix; application of global and national LDN indicators; using the LDN concept for economic valuation of land, estimating LDN baseline, and using LDN as an integral indicator for sustainable land management. With the LDN concept the issue of land degradation (LD) has gone beyond the limited scope of desertification and drylands, and enlarged the concept of “rational” or “effective” land use and land management dominated in Russia. The LDN concept has been broadened with the introduction of the LDN Index proposed to evaluate the rate of LDN achievement; proposal on reconstructing transition matrices and adding specific land cover sub-categories; approach of integrating traditional national sectoral systems for assessing land quality with an LDN add-on; justification for using additional and specific LDN indicators at national and subnational level (soil erosion, aridity, soil salinity, soil depletion, etc.); importance of factoring natural background trends like climate change, natural succession cycles linked with geological and geomorphological processes; need for using different site-specific LDN baselines, not only those time-based; approaches for LDN-based economic valuation of lands; and the LDN-based typology of SLM practices and models.

Tropical forest and swidden agriculture are declining, while commercial plantation is continuously expanding. However, little is known about the mechanisms, processes and trends of the tropical forest-swidden-plantation (FSP) nexus. Global ongoing initiatives including the UN-REDD Programme, not only have repeatedly emphasized the significance of conserving forests, reforestation and afforestation, but re-pushed swidden agriculture to the forefront of a long-standing international debate of climate changes and biodiversity. Many facets limit our understanding of swidden agriculture. The lack of geographic and demographic data and their dynamics across the tropics undoubtedly further aggravate this situation since the first appeal of eradication of shifting cultivation by the FAO. Although recent studies have enriched significantly our knowledge of forest loss and plantation expansion, previous research has proceeded separately and has yet to be integrated under the umbrella of sustainable swidden agriculture. Efforts are needed to investigate the dynamics of the FSP nexus for sake of a synergetic goal of climate mitigation and poverty alleviation.

Shrub encroachment (SE) has been occurring and studied worldwide over the last century. What remains to be investigated is how soil and vegetation characteristics vary under canopy of different species of shrubs for restoration goals. Thus, this study aimed to compare the effect of three shrub species (Amygdalus scoparia, Ebenus stellata, and Daphne mezereum) on soil and vegetation characteristics under their canopies in semiarid rangelands in Iran for restoration purposes of degraded areas. Fifteen sites were randomly selected in such three shrub species which were found close to each other in each site. Soil and vegetation characteristics were measured under the three shrubs, comparing with outside the shrub canopies (control). One-way ANOVA and non-metric dimensional scaling were used to clarify the differences of the effects of different shrub species on sub-canopy soil and plants. The results indicated that the effect of different species of shrubs on soil properties was not equal, more pronounced by A. scoparia. Similarly, the highest value of herbaceous Shannon-Wiener diversity index was recorded under A. scoparia (2.07) as compared with D. mezerum (1.76), E. stellata (1.41). The highest and lowest values of Menhinick richness index were observed under A. scoparia (3.43) and E. stellata (1.46), respectively. Compared with two other shrubs, a taller canopy in A. scoparia (3.50m vs. 2.60m and 1.83m) probably led to greater litter input by the shrub. Different effects of different species of shrubs on sub-canopy soil and vegetation should be considered in the restoration projects of degraded semiarid rangelands.

Planted vegetation is considered one of the most important soil-forming factors in the reclamation of degraded post-mining lands for forestry. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of N-fixing tree species and non-N-fixing species on the organic phosphorus (P org) forms in technosols developing from various substrates. Samples were taken from the uppermost layer (depth 0 – 5 cm) of technosols afforested with black locust ( Robinia pseudoaccaccia), black alder ( Alnus glutinosa), silver birch ( Betula pendula) and Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris). Samples of the tree foliage and the O horizons were taken as well. The studied technosols developed from Quaternary sands (Sands), fly ashes after lignite combustion (Ashes) and Miocene clays (Clays). The soil samples were measured for the contents of labile (P Olab) and moderately labile organic phosphorus (P Omod), phosphorus contained in fulvic and humic acids (P fulv and P hum, respectively) and residual organic phosphorus (P Ores). The foliage and O horizon samples were measured for the concentrations of C, N and P. The N-fixing trees had higher P concentration in the foliage than non-N-fixing species. However, in the O horizon the highest P concentration was determined under birch and not under N-fixers. The effect of tree species on the organic P (P org) concentrations in the mineral soil was limited with significantly lower P org concentrations under pine. Soil under this species contained less P fulv, P hum and P Ores. However, the percentages of P Olab, P Omod, P fulv, P hum and P Ores in soil P org were nearly the same under all tree species. The largest effect on the P org concentration and on the contents of particular P org fractions was from the substrate type. Sands contained much less P org than the Clays and Ashes but their percentage of P Olab in P org was much higher than in two other substrates. We conclude that N-fixing trees do not affect the concentration of labile organic P and the major factor controlling this P org fraction is the soil substrate quality.

This article seeks to analyze relevant federal public policies in Brazil related to soil and water conservation in order to extract the key lessons learned upon its implementation to support the participatory formulation of the National Plan for Soil and Water Sustainable Management. The policy analysis was made based on six strategic axis: Legislation, Prevention, Conservation, Recovery, Monitoring and Integration. These analyzes results aim to contribute to subsidize the Plan construction and identify instruments to increase the use of soil and water resources efficiency in agricultural production according to the different environmental, social and economic conditions of the country’s regions. Seven public policies were selected, characterized and analyzed. The results showed that none of the analyzed public policies are taking enough actions to accomplish with the six strategic axis for soil and water sustainability. These gaps were detected and described as opportunities to be considered under the new national policy framework. The needs for greater involvement of civil society and other relevant stakeholders on policy design and decision making as well as integration among federal ministries were also identified. In conclusion, it is suggested that the new Plan should be designed under a decentralized and participatory process to effectively gather engagement and stronger commitment from governments and other strategic stakeholders in public decisions towards soil and water sustainable management in the agriculture, thus contributing to sustainable rural development.

Decomposition of forest litter plays a major role in nitrogen (N) dynamics in soil. But to which extent that forest litter affects soil N and how much soil N is derived from the new litter remains unknown. An in-situ soil column experiment with 14-month litter decomposition was conducted to examine the effect of litter retention on soil N dynamics in a typical forest of subtropical China in 2018. Litter removal in the soil column was used as a control treatment, while natural litter or identical amount of 15N labeled litter was added to soil columns as litter retention treatment. The results showed that litter removal caused a continuous decrease in concentration of soil soluble organic nitrogen (SON) in the first 5 months, and then SON began to accumulate and its concentration went up in spring showing obvious seasonal change. Litter retention accelerated the reduction of soil SON concentration in the first 2 months, while maintained a high concentration after that period. Soil NH4+-N derived from litter was nitrified rapidly, and newly formed NO3–N was quickly immobilized or lost. Only 1.8% of soil SON came from litter N and 98.2% from indigenous soil N under the decomposition of labeled litter. Litter provided supplementation N to form new soil SON continuously, however, only a small part of SON was relatively stable, and SON played the role of reserve and regulatory pool. Soil SON and TN were formed after long-term litter accumulation and decomposition.

The present study attempts to understand land use dynamics in an area subjected to opencast and underground coal mining for the last few decades in Kotma Coalmines of Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh, India through geospatial techniques. Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change detection analysis was performed digitally classifying Landsat 5 (2001) as well as Landsat 8 (2020) satellite data using maximum likelihood algorithm. Results revealed that area under Dense native vegetation decreased drastically (13.74 sq. km) with the gradual and consistent expansion in the activities of coal mines which showed the highest increase in area over time (15.84 sq. km). Bivariate regression analysis showed the positive empirical relationships between vegetation indices and soil physico-chemical parameters. Studies suggested soil and vegetation is degraded over the large mining areas consistently over a long time period. Despite the continuous reforestation activities on mined areas, the decline area under dense vegetation and sparse vegetation over the twenty-year time-scale indicates that the reclamation activities are still in its’ infancy. Land Degradation Vulnerability Index (LDVI) map was generated to understand the extent of decadal land degradation trends and it shows that 8.60 % of the area is highly vulnerable to degradation. The LDI inputs will help the planners to develop alternate strategies to tackle vulnerability zones for safe mining. Monthly estimation of various meteorological parameters was also recorded to generate heat plots for the period 2001-2020. The study concludes that monitoring and assessment of fragile ecosystems are indispensable for holistic environmental management.

Exploring the driving factors of ecosystem services (ESs) trade-offs/synergies is crucial for ecosystem management, especially in ecological conservation red line (ECRL) areas that maintain regional and national ecological security. Soil conservation (SC), water yield (WY) and carbon sequestration (CS) were simulated in the Beijing ECRL areas. Geographical weighted regression was used to explore the trade-offs/synergies, and the geographical detector was applied to quantitatively identify their driving factors. Results show that (1) the SC and CS show marked synergy which characterized more than 80% of each ECRL area; the proportion of the space area of trade-off and synergy between SC and WY, and WY and CS was roughly 3 to 7 and 4 to 6 in each ECRL area, respectively. (2) The synergy of the three pairs of ESs was most sensitive to terrain factors. The precipitation erodibility of soil and its necessity for vegetation make it a determinant of the trade-off between SC and CS; temperature was the determinant in the trade-off between WY and CS, with an explanatory power of 32.8%; potential evapotranspiration was best able to explain the spatial distribution of the trade-off between SC and WY. (3) The interaction between precipitation and other factors had the greatest explanatory power on the spatial relationship between SC and WY. Precipitation and relief amplitude are the main interactive factors respectively affecting the spatial trade-off and synergy between SC and CS. The trade-off and synergy between WY and CS were most sensitive to the interaction between climate factors and terrain factors.

Afforestation; Soil ecoenzymatic C: N: P; Specific enzyme activities; Soil C and N contents.

The establishment of biological soil crusts is widely perceived as a main method to control ecological environment in arid and semi-arid regions. However, artificial biocrusts are insufficient to face with some stress from environment by using traditional established methods. Hence in this study, kaolin, a common clay mineral, was introduced as a stabilizer by mixing with Microcoleus steenstruppi of different mass ratios for inoculating onto sand to establish artificial biocrust. The results showed that the addition of kaolin exhibited a significantly positive effect on promoting biocrust formation, and accelerating the biocrust development. Moreover, the artificial biocrust from 1:500 (algae:kaolin) inoculant achieved the best performances with coverage of 98%, and thickness of 5.62 mm after 86 days of incubation. The highest contents of chlorophyll a, exopolysaccharides, and soluble protein were also observed in 1:500 mass ratio of algae:kaolin throughout the biocrust development process. As for the water retention performances, the results of contact angle, water drop penetration time (WDPT), and repellency index (RI) illustrated that biocrusts improve water utilization in kaolin-treated groups by delaying the time of water infiltration, especially in 1:500 group. After 86 days post inoculation, a series of common bacteria appeared in the biocrusts such as actinobacteria and acidobacteria and decomposed metabolites from cyanobacteria as energy source to supply their own life activities. This study gains new insights on clay minerals on biocrust development and puts forward a new approach for rapid artificial biocrust establishment to reverse desertification.

Understanding vegetation evaluation is critical for exploring changes in terrestrial ecosystems and identifying upcoming challenges. However, analyses that simultaneously examine abrupt changes in vegetation greenness at the national, regional, biome and pixel scales in China are still rare. Using long-term (1982–2015) satellite time series data in conjunction with the Breaks for Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) technique, we identified breakpoints in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in China. Results showed that the annual mean NDVI gradually increased during the 34-year period. 68.8% of the vegetated area exhibited upward trends in NDVI, most of which was distributed in Southeast China and the Loess Plateau. Changes in NDVI trends occurred in 78.7% of the total vegetated areas, while hotspots were concentrated in Northwest and North China. A rapid increase in breakpoints was detected after 1999, mainly concentrated in North and Northwest China, and corresponding to the times and areas with the highest ecological engineering efforts. Positive shifts in NDVI trends were more common and generally distributed on the eastern side of the Hu Huanyong line, while browning (negative) shifts were mainly distributed on the western side and were gradually expanding, indicating a possible tendency towards environmental degradation. Although unstable vegetation areas had higher frequencies of breakpoints, the proportion of stable vegetation experiencing NDVI trend shifts was higher after 2000, probably because human intervention buffered external disturbances in unstable areas. Identifying hotspot areas of shifts in vegetation greenness can provide scientific reference for sustainable land development and carbon neutrality target achievements.

There is limited understanding about agricultural land dynamic across global drylands and the impacts of different agricultural land transitions on ecosystem productivity changes. This study attempted to fill this gap by examining the agricultural land changes and net primary productivity responses in drylands. A data-driven assessment of the effects on the ecosystem productivity of individual agricultural land displacement was carried out using three methods: the mean difference method, a newly introduced ridge-regression method, and a proposed method based on actual change excluding climate impact. Increases in productivity were accompanied by agricultural land transitions from natural land covers, expected forests. The agriculture expansion mainly replaced sparse vegetation and grassland, and increased the overall productivity of the dryland ecosystem. Mean difference method and ridge-regression method over overestimated the NPP increase caused by agricultural land expansion. Land use change contributed more than 70% to increase in net primary productivity in new agricultural area. But land use change effects less on total productivity in drylands than climate change. Monitoring agricultural land dynamics and distinguishing productivity changes caused by different agricultural land transitions is helpful to the targeted management and sustainable development of agriculture in drylands.

Understanding the interactions among soil microbial species and how they respond to land reclamation is essential to evaluate the success of ecological restoration actions in disturbed mining soil. In this study, we strived to reveal the interactions among soil bacterial communities along the reclamation timeline of a coal mine in Zoucheng, China. To do so, we investigated changes in the composition of soil bacterial over time and constructed molecular ecological networks (i.e. microbial network) following mining soil reclamation into agricultural land. The relationships between microbial networks and selected soil attributes (i.e. soil pH, electric conductivity, organic matter, soil nutrients and enzymatic activities) were also analyzed. The results showed that the composition of soil bacteria changed significantly along the reclamation timeline. The microbial network profile revealed that Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes and Proteobacteria were the key microbial populations. Soil pH, soil organic matter content, soil dehydrogenase and urease activities were significantly correlated (0.001 ≤ P < 0.05) with the microbial network structure, suggesting that the microbial networks found influenced the provision of relevant soil ecological functions after reclamation. The variation in complexity of the microbial networks along the reclamation timeline revealed that microbial development was promoted by the shift in land use from mining into agriculture. Overall, our findings shed light on how soil microbial communities and networks change following mine reclamation into agricultural land. The results presented herein will undoubtedly aid in the establishment of success indicators of ecological restoration activities in disturbed mining soil.

The overarching goal of this study is to test innovative monitoring strategies for agricultural properties at watershed towards effectively locating erosions and correcting them, through the implementation of changes in soil management strategies. The purpose is to recover and restore degraded areas, and promote conservation agriculture. The results are, assessed by remote sensing and water quality indicators. In 2019, twelve years were completed of inspection/monitoring at Rio do Peixe watershed. From 2007 to 2017, 14,076 ha, were inspected at Vera Cruz sector, using the Conventional CDA methodology, with 94 properties having been notified. In Ocauçu, a total of 82 properties were notified, in a total surface of 9,027 ha. In Marília, the Innovative CDA Methodology was used, which allowed the inspection and rehabilitation of 52 properties, across 27,775 ha, from 2017 to 2018. After the notifications, the owners presented the conservationist technical projects for each property, which were, implemented using conservation practices, such as: improvement of vegetation cover and crop rotation, to control laminar erosion; and agricultural terracing, divergent channels and containment basin, to control gullies erosions. This work promoted a transformation from degrading agriculture to conservation agriculture, with degraded pastures having been altered into agricultural areas, with the implementation of the No-tillage. Pastures were recovered through the Integrated Crop-Livestock System, and occupancy rate was increased by 31%. This work has demonstrated to benefit Watershed farmers, by increasing their productivity and consequently the profit, as well as the local communities, improving the quality of water that supplies the region.