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In Mediterranean forests and rangelands, the supply of important ecosystem services can decrease or cease as a consequence of disturbances and climatic oscillations. Land managers can sometimes prevent or mitigate the negative effects of disturbances through appropriate land management choices. In this study, we assess the contribution of land management practices (LMPs) to the resilience of eight Mediterranean forests and rangelands to multiple disturbances. The study uses a transdisciplinary approach, involving scientists, land managers, and local administrators. Data about disturbances, ecosystem services, the role of LMPs, and the resistance of LMPs to disturbances are combined using a semiquantitative index and analysed to evaluate how the LMPs implemented are suited to the disturbances affecting each study site. Our results indicate that the practices analysed are particularly effective in improving resilience of ecosystems against wildfires and torrential rainfalls. However, droughts are more difficult to address, and the examined practices were heavily affected by their occurrence. Tree planting appears to be highly affected by disturbances. Practices that selectively reduce the amount of vegetation appear to be beneficial in fostering recovery of ecosystems. Our assessment also suggests that it is particularly difficult to increase resilience to droughts and fires simultaneously. Practices that aimed to mitigate the impact of land use did not always prove valuable in terms of resilience. Finally, study sites that included efforts to address disturbances in their management objectives also displayed practices making the biggest contribution to resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aims not only at avoiding +2°C warming (and even limit the temperature increase further to +1.5°C), but also sets long‐term goals to guide mitigation. Therefore, the best available science is required to inform policymakers on the importance of and the adaptation needs in a +1.5°C warmer world. Seven research institutes from Europe and Turkey integrated their competencies to provide a cross‐sectoral assessment of the potential impacts at a pan‐European scale. The initial findings of this initiative are presented and key messages communicated. The approach is to select periods based on global warming thresholds rather than the more typical approach of selecting time periods (e.g., end of century). The results indicate that the world is likely to pass the +1.5°C threshold in the coming decades. Cross‐sectoral dimensions are taken into account to show the impacts of global warming that occur in parallel in more than one sector. Also, impacts differ across sectors and regions. Alongside the negative impacts for certain sectors and regions, some positive impacts are projected. Summer tourism in parts of Western Europe may be favored by climate change; electricity demand decreases outweigh increases over most of Europe and catchment yields in hydropower regions will increase. However, such positive findings should be interpreted carefully as we do not take into account exogenous factors that can and will influence Europe such as migration patterns, food production, and economic and political instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the Mediterranean rangelands degradation trends is a key element of mitigating their vulnerability and enhancing their resilience. Climate change and its inherent effects on mean temperature and the precipitation variability can regulate the magnitude, frequency and duration of droughts and aridity with a profound effect on ecosystem productivity. Here we investigate the effects of climate change to project the development of vegetation in the Mediterranean rangelands by (i) estimating the relative Standardized Precipitation Index and a modification of the United Nations Environment Programme Aridity Index to classify climate variability, and (ii) modelling vegetation response to climate using the Food and Agriculture Organisation crop-water production function. Climate model data are obtained from nine general circulation models under Relative Concentration Pathways 2.6 and 8.5 of the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. After correcting climate model data for biases, results for two 40-year future study periods are compared with the baseline period 1961-2000 within a domain that includes the European Mediterranean. We show that a gradual but robust increase of aridity and drought frequency is estimated for most of the Mediterranean region, impacting rangeland vegetation yields. Projected drought and aridity disturbances may well represent permanent shifts to a warmer and more frequently dry status. This alternative stability of climatic pressure lies outside the limits of ecosystem resilience and may indicate that in some cases vegetation will either adapt to the new conditions or be succeeded by more water-stress tolerant species. Results raise concerns about the fate of the Mediterranean rangelands and the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is used to develop automated methods for assessing raingage networks. An ArcView GIS module has been developed by incorporating simple statistical methods with the software's spatial analysis capabilities, visualization, and AVENUE scripts (the ArcView programming language). The main purpose of the module is to provide a decision support for reducing the number of gages in an existing network without compromising the reliability and quality of the information obtained. Two test cases were used, one from the country of Switzerland for demonstration and the other, the island of Crete in Greece for validation of the module. Results show that integrating GIS with statistical models provides a unique opportunity for decision makers to pass reliable judgement for the reconfiguration of a spatial network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea water intrusion and remediation in the Upper Floridan Aquifer in South Carolina is simulated using the finite-element model SUTRA developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. A sensitivity analysis of the effect of the hydrogeologic parameters on the sea water recharge and seepage velocities is performed. An increase in confining unit and/or in aquifer conductivity results in an increase of the sea water recharge. An increase in aquifer porosity results in a decrease of the sea water recharge. Among the three remedial techniques simulated-reduced aquifer withdrawals, an injection well, and a combined injection and capture well-the reduced aquifer withdrawals and injection well are the best methods for preventing sea water intrusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]