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Sustainability
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Achieving Sustainability in the Nexus of Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems
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Achieving Sustainability in the Nexus of Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2023) | Viewed by 5248

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Víctor Rincón

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacognosia y Botánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de Ramón y Cajal, s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: Natura 2000; zoning; biodiversity; conservation; land use; connectivity; MSPA; Index; PC Index; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Javier Velázquez Saornil

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Guest Editor
Department of Environment and Agroforestry, Universidad Católica de Ávila, Calle de los Canteros, S/N, 05005 Ávila, Spain
Interests: biodiversity and conservation; connectivity; GIS; land use and environmental planning; remote sensing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human impacts on natural ecosystems are the most important drivers of the current mass extinction of species and one of the greatest concerns for biodiversity conservation. The reduction in ecosystems due to human pressure and the substitution of habitats with other kinds of land uses result in a permanent loss of these habitats. The purpose of this Special Issue is to focus on the need to develop conservation and sustainable use actions that allow combining forest ecosystems with agricultural use. The increase in deforestation in order to use land for crops has caused fragmentation of forest habitats, in many cases preventing the movement of species. Connectivity makes genetic variability among different populations possible, and in addition to increasing the capacity to recover from any type of disturbance, it can also enhance the guarantees of survival for certain populations against possible local extinctions. For this reason, the existence of connectivity between forest and agricultural habitats is important. Ecological connectivity requires continuity and coherence of the landscape; in this sense, ecological corridors acquire high importance, since they act as connectors of significant regions for the conservation of biodiversity, which decreases the negative effects derived from habitat fragmentation. It is necessary to create, conserve and maintain a nexus between forest and agricultural habitats by improving the connectivity of the territory, as it is a fundamental element for the survival of species.

This Special Issue will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the importance of connectivity analysis in a holistic manner that maximizes the full potential of its procedures as a tool for conservation.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Ecological connectivity;
  • Species movements;
  • Habitat fragmentation;
  • Land use and environmental planning.

Dr. Víctor Rincón
Dr. Javier Velázquez Saornil
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • connectivity
  • agricultural uses
  • forest habitats
  • habitat fragmentation
  • biodiversity conservation
  • land use

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1559 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Optimizing Industrial Energy Efficiency on Agricultural Development in OECD Countries
by Haiyang Shang, Ying Feng, Ching-Cheng Lu and Chih-Yu Yang
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6084; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076084 - 31 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1152
Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of industrial energy efficiency on agricultural development in the 31 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2015 to 2019. Using dynamic network slack-based measures (DN-SBM) and dynamic network total factor productivity (DN-TFP) [...] Read more.
This study evaluates the impact of industrial energy efficiency on agricultural development in the 31 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2015 to 2019. Using dynamic network slack-based measures (DN-SBM) and dynamic network total factor productivity (DN-TFP) indicators, dynamic cross-period information is used to assess the changes in efficiency and productivity of the industrial and agricultural sectors. The empirical results show that the industrial sector of the OECD is more efficient than the agricultural sector, and while some countries have low efficiency, productivity tends to improve. The study has three contributions: 1. Using the concept of the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus as a framework and combining its elements with variables to evaluate the efficiency performance of OECD countries; 2. using a dynamic two-stage DN-SBM model to objectively assess the overall efficiency value and provide improvement suggestions for different stages; 3. a comprehensive analysis of efficiency and productivity; the results can serve as a reference for OECD countries when formulating policies Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainability in the Nexus of Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems)
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18 pages, 4428 KiB  
Article
Exploring Soil Particle Size Fraction and Spatial Redistribution of 137Cs in Sloping Landscapes with Different Lynchet Heights of Terracing Hedgerows in the Remote Mountain Region of Southwestern China
by Ping Zhou, Wenhua Zhuang, Nan Zhao, Ke Fang and Dan Zhang
Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3532; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043532 - 14 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1095
Abstract
Soil erosion is a global environmental problem related to anthropogenic activities which are influenced by natural factors. The sloping cultivated lands, with serious soil erosion, constitute a significant proportion of the landscape in the remote mountain regions of southwestern China. The traditional soil [...] Read more.
Soil erosion is a global environmental problem related to anthropogenic activities which are influenced by natural factors. The sloping cultivated lands, with serious soil erosion, constitute a significant proportion of the landscape in the remote mountain regions of southwestern China. The traditional soil conservation strategy, involving a certain height of lynchets on the edge of the terracing hedgerows of the sloping lands, plays an effective part in soil and water conservation. A typical sloping landscape with a lynchet of terracing hedgerows was chosen in this study. The objective of this study was to explore soil particle size fraction and spatial redistribution of 137Cs in sloping landscapes with different lynchet heights of terracing hedgerows. The results showed that fine-grained sediments were deposited in front of the lynchet of terracing hedgerows, especially particle sizes grouped at <0.002 mm clay and 0.002–0.02 mm silt. The 137Cs concentration profiles of the lynchet from the upper to the lower sloping landscape showed first increasing and then decreasing trends when the soil depth increased. 137Cs inventory generally increased along with the whole sloping landscapes. Moreover, the results suggested that the mean 137Cs inventory and erosion rate could be represented by the average value of the middle slope position. The highest value of annual erosion modulus reached 4917.06 t km−2 a−1 on the upper site of the sloping lands. Moreover, the annual erosion modulus was synchronously reduced from the upper to the lower sloping landscape and the erosion rate had a similar trend. Meanwhile, the K values of soil erodibility changed from 0.0338 t hm2 h (hm−2 MJ−1 mm−1) to 0.0375 t hm2 h (hm−2 MJ−1 mm−1) along the slope length. There was a logarithmic relationship between the K value and the 137Cs inventory. Therefore, it is useful to study spatial patterns of soil erosion in different slope positions with different heights of lynchet of terracing hedgerows of the whole sloping landscape. Moreover, it is important to implement a soil conservation strategy in the remote mountain regions of China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainability in the Nexus of Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems)
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12 pages, 943 KiB  
Article
The Rural and Nature Tourism Development Potential in Islands
by Maria da Graça Batista, Gualter Couto, Rui Alexandre Castanho, Áurea Sousa, Pedro Pimentel and Célia Carvalho
Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5289; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095289 - 27 Apr 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2325
Abstract
It has become evident that rural tourism grew significantly during the pandemic compared to mass tourism. However, at this time, all the forecasts were wrapped in considerable uncertainty regarding travel, which is not without the elevated associated risk. Therefore, we assessed the perceptions [...] Read more.
It has become evident that rural tourism grew significantly during the pandemic compared to mass tourism. However, at this time, all the forecasts were wrapped in considerable uncertainty regarding travel, which is not without the elevated associated risk. Therefore, we assessed the perceptions of the entrepreneurs in relation to rural tourism activities regarding the advantages of their rural tourism activity in the Azores for customers. Furthermore, the potential for developing this typology of tourism is pivotal for obtaining very reliable data and information on this topic and enabling us to provide guidelines for the leading regional players. In this regard, an exploratory method was used to assess the perceptions of the entrepreneurs with rural tourism activities in the Azores Islands regarding the customers’ experiences and some other important aspects concerning the promotion of this type of tourism in the region. Throughout this study, it was possible to verify that the most relevant obstacles to the development of rural tourism in the Azores region are the preservation and conservation of nature and endogenous resources and delivering proper infrastructures and regional accessibilities. Contrarily, the increase in community and regional funding and support for rural tourism could be key to the prosperity of this typology of tourism in this insular territory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieving Sustainability in the Nexus of Forest and Agricultural Ecosystems)
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