Grasslands

Global assessment of soil carbon in grasslands: from current stock estimates to sequestration potential

Improving management practices in grasslands used especially for animal grazing can enhance the capacity of soils as carbon sinks, and help countries reach their climate goals, according to this new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Soils contribute to the achievement of the UN …

Global assessment of soil carbon in grasslands: from current stock estimates to sequestration potential

Improving management practices in grasslands used especially for animal grazing can enhance the capacity of soils as carbon sinks, and help countries reach their climate goals, according to this new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Soils contribute to the achievement of the UN …

Sustainable land management in rangeland and grasslands

This participatory grassland and rangeland assessment (PRAGA) methodology was developed for the assessment of rangelands and grasslands in selected project countries. It was developed through the project 'Participatory assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management in grassland and pastoral systems', financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and executed …

Becoming #generation restoration: ecosystem restoration for people, nature and climate

To launch the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, UNEP has released this synthesis report as a call to action for anyone and everyone to join the #GenerationRestoration movement to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Becoming #Generation Restoration: Ecosystem Restoration for People, Nature and Climate synthesizes evidence …

Rangelands atlas

The Rangelands Atlas has been developed to document and raise awareness on the enormous environmental, economic and social value of rangelands as well as their different ecosystems. It highlights many of the changes taking place in rangelands due to climate change, land use and conversion trends, investments and other changes. …

Let nature help – how nature’s recovery is essential for tackling the climate crisis

Restoring degraded natural habitats such as peatland and coastal marsh is crucial if Britain is to meet its ambitious climate change targets, according to a report from the Wildlife Trusts charity. UK grasslands store 2 billion tonnes of carbon, but this is vulnerable to disturbance. Between 1990-2006, arable conversion of …

Carbon sequestration rates indicate ecosystem recovery following human disturbance in the equatorial Andes

Few studies exist that document how high-elevation Andean ecosystems recover naturally after the cessation of human activities and this can limit the implementation of cost-effective restoration actions. We assessed Andean forest (Polylepis stands) and páramo grassland recovery along an elevation gradient (3,600–4,350 m.a.s.l.) in the Yanacocha Reserve (Ecuador) where natural …

Dedicated policy needed to save grasslands: Environment experts

Pune: The classification of semi-arid open areas as wastelands has raised concern among the environmentalists, who claim such areas aren’t being conserved in a proper manner. Grasslands are home to a variety of flora and fauna and have immense value in terms of local ecosystems and biodiversity, the environmentalists said. …

Ecosystem-based adaptation from mountains to oceans: How people adapt to climate change by using nature

This publication intends to inspire policy and decision makers by showcasing a selection of solutions, that have been applied in very different settings. It shows that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has ‘many faces’: It is being implemented successfully in a broad range of countries and ecosystems and it is being driven …

Flying into trouble: Harrier birds decline as grasslands disappear

India has some of the largest roosting sites of this migratory species. Harrier birds, a migratory raptor species that regularly visits vast swathes of India, are declining. This may foretell lurking dangers to the country’s grasslands. The “poorly studied” species is the focus of a study by two researchers from …

Grasslands may be more reliable carbon sinks than forests in California

Although natural terrestrial ecosystems have sequestered ~25% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, the long-term sustainability of this key ecosystem service is under question. Forests have traditionally been viewed as robust carbon (C) sinks; however, extreme heat-waves, drought and wildfire have increased tree mortality, particularly in widespread semi-arid regions, which account for …

Bonn Challenge and India: Progress on restoration efforts across states and landscapes

The protection and revival of degraded and deforested land is the need of the hour. In order to tackle the issues that arise as a consequence of degradation and deforestation, principles of forest landscape restoration are being globally promoted. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million …

Pioneer farming in southeast Europe during the early sixth millennium BC: Climate-related adaptations in the exploitation of plants and animals

The Old World farming system arose in the semi-arid Mediterranean environments of southwest Asia. Pioneer farmers settling the interior of the Balkans by the early sixth millennium BC were among the first to introduce southwest Asian-style cultivation and herding into areas with increasingly continental temperate conditions. Previous research has shown …

Bacterial communities associated with honeybee food stores are correlated with land use

Microbial communities, associated with almost all metazoans, can be inherited from the environment. Although the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) gut microbiome is well documented, studies of the gut focus on just a small component of the bee microbiome. Other key areas such as the comb, propolis, honey, and stored pollen …

Satellite data maps climate impact of changing land use

JAIPUR: A study by researchers at the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, has shown how land use change too is contributing to climate change. Using satellite data to track changes in global vegetation cover between 2000 to 2015, the researchers link land use change to …

Growing season carries stronger contributions to albedo dynamics on the Tibetan plateau

The Tibetan Plateau has experienced higher-than-global-average climate warming in recent decades, resulting in many significant changes in ecosystem structure and function. Among them is albedo, which bridges the causes and consequences of land surface processes and climate. The plateau is covered by snow/ice and vegetation in the non-growing season (nGS) …

Herbivores rescue diversity in warming tundra by modulating trait-dependent species losses and gains

Climate warming is altering the diversity of plant communities but it remains unknown which species will be lost or gained under warming, especially considering interactions with other factors such as herbivory and nutrient availability. Here, we experimentally test effects of warming, mammalian herbivory and fertilization on tundra species richness and …

Sudan Allocates 2,4 Million Feddans for Largest Agricultural Scheme

KHARTOUM) - (Sudan Tribune) The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir Tuesday has issued a presidential decree to allocate 2,4 million feddans of land in the River Nile State for a national agricultural scheme. Sudan has 175 million feddans of arable land, 118 million feddans of natural grassland nature and 102 million …

SA conservationist wins prestigious international award

Johannesburg – HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne on Thursday presented a Whitley Award, a prestigious international nature conservation prize worth £35 000 (about R612 000) in project funding, to Ian Little at a ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society, London, in honour of his work to protect South Africa’s …

Order of the Uttarakhand High Court regarding glaciers, rivers, streams, forests, grasslands having the status of a legal person (living entity) in the State of …

Uttarakhand High Court on March 30, 2017 declared all the glaciers, including Gangotri and Yamunotri, rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs and waterfalls as living entities. High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital in the matter of Lalit Miglani Vs State of Uttarakhand & Others …

Recent grassland losses are concentrated around U.S. ethanol refineries

Although the United States has pursued rapid development of corn ethanol as a matter of national biofuel policy, relatively little is known about this policy's widespread impacts on agricultural land conversion surrounding ethanol refineries. This knowledge gap impedes policy makers' ability to identify and mitigate potentially negative environmental impacts of …

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