• Energy Research
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• 15. Life on land close
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Eucalyptus is the main fast-growing tree for biomass production in the tropics, providing resources for pulp and paper industries and bioenergy. The potential productivity of forest sites over an eight-year rotation in Brazil was evaluated by the Physiological Principles in Predicting Growth (3-PG) model for two soils, Acrisols and Arenosols, with high and low water storage, respectively, and distinct productive potential capacity. The model was parameterized by data-sets obtained in bimonthly forest inventories performed in stands with 33, 58 and 89 months-old trees, and edaphic surveys. The average volumetric productivity of wood and biomass of the main stem determined at the 89 months-old stand was 374 m3 ha−1 (177 Mg ha−1) for Acrisols and 272.3 m3 ha−1 (130.0 Mg ha−1) for Arenosols. The estimated volumetric production in the Arenosols had a high mean annual increment up to the age of 58 months, with a significant reduction in growth rates after this time. In Acrisols, high incremental rates in wood volume up to age of 89 months (MAIVW > 50 m3 ha−1 year−1) indicate that, under ideal soil conditions, the cutting cycle may exceed 8 years with no productivity impairment. The parameterized model matched well for forest yield (r2 > 0.9) and dendrometric variables (r2 > 0.78). The expected results of lower productivity in Arenosols occurred only after 58 months, while for Acrisols productivity remained high up to 89 months. The results showed the eucalyptus cycle should be shorter in Arenosols, since the lower cutting cycle can provide higher final productivity, when using the mean annual increment to evaluate productivity.

The agriculture and horticulture sector in the Netherlands is one of the most productive in the world. Although the sector is one of the most advanced and intense agricultural production systems worldwide, it faces challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social unsustainability of industrial production. To overcome these challenges, alternative food production initiatives have emerged, especially in large cities such as Amsterdam. Some initiatives involve producing food in the urban environment, supported by new technologies and practices, so-called high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA). These initiatives make cultivation of plants inside and on top of buildings possible and increase green spaces in urban areas. The emerging agricultural technologies are creating new business environments that are shape d by technology developers (e.g., suppliers of horticultural light emitting diodes (LED) and control environment systems) and developers of alternative food production practices (e.g., HTUA start-ups). However, research shows that the uptake of these technological innovations in urban planning processes is problematic. Therefore, this research analyzes the barriers that local government planners and HTUA developers are facing in the embedding of HTUA in urban planning processes, using the city of Amsterdam as a case study. This study draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the interactions between planners, technologies, technology developers and developers of alternative food production practices. Several concepts of ANT are integrated into a multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP) to create a new theoretical framework that can explain how interactions between technologies and planning actors transform the incumbent social–technical regime. The configuration of interactions between social and material entities in technology development and adoption processes in Amsterdam is analyzed through the lens of this theoretical framework. The data in this study were gathered by tracing actors and their connections by using ethnographic research methods. In the course of the integration of new technologies into urban planning practices, gaps between technologies, technology developers, and planning actors have been identified. The results of this study show a lacking connection between planning actors and technology developers, although planning actors do interact with developers of alternative food production practices. These interactions are influenced by agency of artefacts such as visualizations of the future projects. The paper concludes that for the utilization of emerging technologies for sustainability transition of cities, the existing gap between technology developers and planning actors needs to be bridged through the integration of technology development visions in urban agendas and planning processes.

The implementation of agroecology principles within organic farming research is a crux to redesign sustainable agri-food systems. To govern this transition, the local research demand should be addressed by direct engagement of all stakeholders in the research process. The first step is the involvement of farmers and technicians, with the aim of restoring their decision-making role, switching governance to local scale. The co-design/co-management of Long-Term Experiments (LTEs) can be crucial to govern the above-described transition through networking and participatory activities. In this study, we report the experience of co-designing a new LTE in Southern Italy by local actors and scientists. Through a participatory action research methodology, an LTE was considered as a biophysical component of an agroecological living lab, a public–private environment aimed to design a local food system. The setup of parallel field trials in satellite farms stands for the other biophysical component, whereas the stakeholder platform represents the social one. Through definition of common objectives, a step-by-step process is presented, which highlights the interest of local organic actors to share ideas and perspectives for the territory, pointing out the inclusion of end-users (the consumers) in the process to complete the transition to sustainable food systems.

In recent years, sustainability concerns have gained increasing attention among countries and stakeholders worldwide. Towards the transition to sustainable rural development, the rural web framework (RWF) has become a consistent tool. Indicators from the RWF have been used to explore sustainable rural development for decision-making tasks, which improves the social, economic, and environmental performance of rural regions. However, the application of the RWF in studies is on the decline. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature reviews on the importance of the RWF and its relationship with different facets of sustainable development. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) (a) to explore how studies have used the RWF in the context of sustainable development and (b) to identify areas for further research. This study found that the RWF has mostly been used in developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries. We suggest that there should be increased application of the RWF, particularly in developing countries, to broaden the rural web–sustainable development discourse and its relevance. This paper presents several areas where the indicators of the RWF can be applied to illustrate their relevance for policy decisions towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Root–soil mechanical interactions are of vital importance in soil reinforcement by plant roots. However, it is unclear how the angles of the roots in the soil affect the root–soil mechanical interactions. To better understand the effect of this factor on root–soil mechanical interactions, pullout tests were conducted on alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) roots with five root diameter groups (0.10–0.30 mm, 0.31–0.50 mm, 0.51–0.70 mm, 0.71–0.90 mm and 0.91–1.10 mm) and four embedding angles (30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) in sandy loam soil. Root tensile tests were also carried out to understand the process of root failure in the pullout tests. The results showed that the roots had two failure modes, slippage failure and breakage failure. The critical diameter of the two failure modes was 0.35 mm. Peak pullout force and pullout energy were positively related to the root diameter in power functions. Displacement was negatively related to the root diameter and embedding angle in exponential functions. Peak pullout force, root–soil friction coefficient and pullout energy all increased and then decreased with increasing embedding angles. The peak pullout force and root–soil friction coefficient reached their maximum values under an embedding angle of 60°, and pullout energy reached the maximum value under an embedding angle of 45°. Pullout energy was suggested as a preferred index of root–soil mechanical interactions for both thick/fine roots and inclined/upright roots.

High nutrient discharge from groundwater (GW) into surface water (SW) have multiple undesirable effects on river water quality. With the aim to estimate the impact of anthropic pressures and river–aquifer interactions on nitrate status in SW, this study integrates two hydrological simulation and water quality models. PATRICAL models SW–GW interactions and RREA models streamflow changes due to human activity. The models were applied to the Júcar River Basin District (RBD), where 33% of the aquifers have a concentration above 50 mg NO3−/L. As a result, there is a direct linear correlation between the nitrate concentration in rivers and aquifers (Júcar r2 = 0.9, and Turia r2 = 0.8), since in these Mediterranean basins, the main amount of river flows comes from groundwater discharge. The concentration of nitrates in rivers and GW tends to increase downstream of the district, where artificial surfaces and agriculture are concentrated. The total NO3− load to Júcar RBD rivers was estimated at 10,202 tN/year (239 kg/km2/year), from which 99% is generated by diffuse pollution, and 3378 tN/year (79 kg/km2/year) is discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. Changes in nitrate concentration in the RBD rivers are strongly related to the source of irrigation water, river–aquifer interactions, and flow regulation. The models used in this paper allow the identification of pollution sources, the forecasting of nitrate concentration in surface and groundwater, and the evaluation of the efficiency of measures to prevent water degradation, among other applications.

The joint impact of human activities and climate change on natural resources lead to biodiversity loss. Therefore, it is important to select protected areas through systematic conservation planning. The present study assessed how representative natural habitats are protected under the nature conservation network, and to identify new—but so far insufficiently—protected areas containing these habitats for sustainable management. We used the Marxan model to select the most valuable insufficiently protected natural habitats in the Czech Republic as a representative example for a conservation strategy for Central–Eastern European environments. We set three conservation targets (25%, 50%, and 75%), defining how much percent area of valuable representative natural habitats should be added to the area of the habitats already included in the Nature Protection Network. To implement these conservation targets it is necessary to preserve 22,932 ha, 72,429, ha and 124,363 ha respectively of the conservation targets occurring in the insufficiently protected areas, and 17,255 ha, 51,620 ha, and 84,993 ha respectively of the conservation features in the areas without protection status. Marxan was revealed to be an appropriate tool to select the most valuable and insufficiently protected natural habitats for sustainable management.