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 …
This paper provides an overview of mitigation practices for the agricultural sector, and identifies relevant policies and measures (PAMs). It addresses the relative mitigation potential of each mitigation practice presented, as well as methodological and technical challenges, and possible barriers for their implementation. The paper also identifies win-win options, best …
The Union government of India has drafted the Compensatory Afforestation Bill, 2008 to establish a compensatory afforestation fund. Revenues collected from agencies that divert forests (even protected ones) for non-forest use will be pooled into this corpus. Net present value (NPV) has been adopted as an economic tool to calculate …
The efficacy of spider as indicator of habitat conditions in Tarai Conservation Area was examined. To compare habitat specific spider communities, five vegetation types were sampled from March 2005 to August 2006 by using pitfall traps and other semi-quantitative collection methods along transects. Along with spider sampling 11 habitat variables …
Overgrazing accelerates soil and vegetation degradation in rangelands. So, Livestock Population Density-i.e. allocated number of sheep per ha can serve as an index for measuring pressure on range environment. For this purpose, Sadra region has been selected as the study area, where it is located in the upper reaches of …
Climate change is a serious environmental challenge that could undermine the drive for sustainable development. Since the industrial revolution, the mean surface temperature of earth has increased an average of 1degree celsius per century due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Furthermore, most of this change has …
IGFRI, a national Institute under the administrative control of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, is mandated to conduct basic, strategic, applied and adaptive research; development and training in forage production and it's utilization. The Institute has highly experienced and internationally trained human resources engaged in need-led, participatory, inter-disciplinary approaches. With …
Climate shifts over this century are widely expected to alter the structure and functioning of temperate plant communities. However, long-term climate experiments in natural vegetation are rare and largely confined to systems with the capacity for rapid compositional change. In unproductive, grazed grassland at Buxton in northern England (U.K.), one …
Here the authors present results of the first multi-decadal experiment to examine the impacts of chronic, experimental nitrogen addition above ambient atmospheric nitrogen deposition. This total input rate is comparable to terrestrial nitrogen deposition in many industrialized nations. The researchers found that this chronic low-level nitrogen addition rate reduced plant …
Rates of atmospheric deposition of biologically active nitrogen (N)are two to seven times the pre-industrial rates in many developed nations because of combustion of fossil fuels and agricultural fertilization. They are expected to increase similarly over the next 50 years in industrializing nations of Asia and South America. Although the …
A model for the wetland part of KNP is presented and analyzed. Two-dimensional parameter scans suggest that this minimal model possesses dynamical complexities. Per capita availability of water to
This paper focuses on the following areas: reducing methane emissions from ruminant animals (cattle, sheep) by modification of plant composition; reducing nitrous oxide emissions by making the use of nitrogen more efficient both in terms of going from soil to plant and in the animal; plant breeding may also enhance …
Conservationists have discovered massive herds of animals still existing in the war-ravaged southern Sudan. Aerial surveys done by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of South Sudan have confirmed that more than 1.2 million white-eared kob, tiang antelope, Mongalla gazelle and elephant are thriving in the region. Grasslands of …
The new state of Uttarakhand in north-west India contains grassland habitats that are potentially suitable for establishing new populations of the one-horned rhinoceros. Dhikala and Paterpani grasslands in Corbett Tiger Reserve and Surai grasslands in the Terai East Forest Division provide the last opportunity for the reintroduction programme in this …
Biofuels derived from low-input high-diversity (LIHD) mixtures of native grassland perennials can provide more usable energy, greater greenhouse gas reductions, and less agrichemical pollution per hectare than can corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel. High-diversity grasslands had increasingly higher bioenergy yields that were 238% greater than monoculture yields after a …
In the Banni region of Kutch, western Gujarat, there is a move to turn back the ecological clock. It will take unusual means and Banni, a 2,900-sq-km area, which once epitomised greenery, may never be the same. But, there is hope still that the damage done to what once claimed …
function table() { var popurl="image/20040531/60-table.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=350,height=450,scrollbars=yes") } • Average farm size in the new states is smaller than that in the 15 original EU states, but regional differences exist. While small private farms dot Poland and Slovenia, large cooperatives dominate in the Czech Republic and Slovakia • Farming characterised by …
the world's biggest unexploited stretch of grasslands faces the risk of being ravaged by mining activities. Vast reserves of minerals like coal, zinc, uranium, oil and gold are hidden beneath the prairie ocean of the Eastern Steppes in Mongolia. Mining companies, already operating in other parts of the country, are …
an unprecedented study may force certain countries to do some soul searching. Contrary to what a few policy makers advocate, the study reveals that high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (co2) can retard plant growth. The three-year study, conducted at the Stanford University, California, usa, is raising questions about a …
Between July 1997 and November 1997, forest fires on islands in Indonesia created smoke that spread over seven nations and was responsible for a plane crash in Sumatra and an oil vessel collision in the strait of Malacca due to low visibility. If there is a forest, there will be …
