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The resilience of the food supply system has become a vital issue for many countries especially under substantial international supply disturbances (e.g. the effects of COVID-19 restrictions). Regionalizing diets and increasing food self-sufficiency contribute greatly to shortening food supply chains and, therefore, to increasing the resilience of the food system. Simultaneously, food supply disturbances can offer a chance for food system transition toward implementing sustainable management practices in agriculture (e.g. organic farming), increasing the sustainability of food production. In this study, we have proposed a foodshed for the cities of Vienna and Bristol, delineating the spatial extent for such a regionalization and self-sufficiency discussion. We used the Metropolitan Foodshed and Self-sufficiency Scenario model to assess the potential self-sufficiency of these areas under different pathways involving more sustainable and resilient food system scenarios by distinguishing: i) The regionalization, ii) production system, iii) food losses and wastage, and iv) population growth until 2050. Furthermore, we have found the main local food policies and studies involving both cities, linking them to the current self-sufficiency levels and proposing pathways to increase them. Our results suggest that the foodsheds proposed are suitable to achieve a high degree of potential self-sufficiency when shifting consumers’ behavior toward sustainably produced regional products, and reducing food wastes in households and food losses in agriculture. This should be accompanied in parallel by an increase in the diversification of regional crop production managed sustainably. We call for the adoption of the foodshed approach – based on the concept of sustainable city region food systems – so that it can be integrated into the food policies to increase food self-sufficiency sustainably.

Systematic reviews are vital as robust summaries of research evidence for supporting evidence-informed decision-making in research, policy and practice. They are increasingly appreciated as valuable research outputs, but as the volume of so-called ‘systematic reviews’ increases in the literature, so too do pitfalls in the methodological approaches used. These pitfalls increase the risk of missing evidence but importantly also increase the risk of bias, and, in some cases, may result in inappropriate or incorrect conclusions. We were encouraged to see the recent review by Rao et al. (2022) on urban and peri-urban agriculture, but we identified a suite of methodological mistakes and unsuitable procedures that could be easily avoided with an awareness of freely available, Open Access methodological guidance. Here, we highlight what a systematic review (and systematic map) is, how they should be conducted, how Rao et al. (2022) fall foul of 17 common pitfalls in evidence synthesis methods and risk arriving at incorrect conclusions, and how these pitfalls can be avoided. Where standard methodological conduct and reporting guidance is not followed, systematic review conclusions may ignore important evidence or may be biased, and research, policy and practice recommendations may be wrong.

Obwohl ausreichend Anbauflächen für eine regionalere Versorgung zur Verfügung stehen, kann jene Versorgung nicht ohne eine Anpassung der Landnutzung gelingen. Doch wie verteilt sich die Produktivität der Flächen in der Region Berlin-Brandenburg und wo ist z.B. eine Ausweitung von Feldgemüsebau vergleichsweise niedrigschwellig möglich? Wie können Angebot und Nachfrage von Lebensmitteln in der Region besser angepasst werden und wie kann eine regionale Ernährung aussehen? Bislang sehen wir in der Diskussion um die Umsetzung regionaler Ernährungsstrategien in Berlin-Brandenburg noch kaum die Beachtung der räumlichen Dimension. An dieser Lücke knüpfte der Workshop zur Entwicklung von Szenarien für ein nachhaltiges Ernährungssystem in der Stadtregion an. Ziele des Workshops waren 1. einen Raum für die interaktive Mitgestaltung von Landnutzungsszenarien zu bieten und 2. partzipative Szenarien zu entwickeln und in Karten mit räumlich expliziten Bezug umzusetzen und zu diskutieren. Nach der Vorstellung des gegenwärtingen Landnutzung sowie des Lebensmittelkonsums und des Flächen-Fußabdruck der Berliner:innen Ernährung, wurden zwei mögliche Szenarien (1x vegetarische, 1x flexitarische) für eine zukunftsfähige Ernährung vorgestellt. Anschließend hatten die Teilnehmer:innen die Möglichkeit, die landwirtschaftlichen Flächennutzung entsprechend den vorgeschlagenen Ernährungsszenarien und unter Berücksichtigung weiterer Eignungskriterien umzugestalten, um die Bevölkerung Berlins regional zu ernähren. Je nach Priorisierung der Eignungskriterien (wie Bodenqualität, Wasser, Infrastruktur, Logistik, Entfernung zur Stadt …) ergaben sich unterschiedliche Vorschläge für die Anpassung der Landnutzung. Der Workshop trug dazu bei, verschiedene Landnutzungsstrategien zu erforschen und zu diskutieren sowie gemeinsame Narrative (Erzählungen) für die Schaffung von widerstandsfähigeren und regionalisierten Ernährungssystemen zu entwickeln. Die Ergebnisse des Workshops können sowohl zu einer genaueren Potenzialanalyse der Flächennutzung beitragen, als auch zu einer Entwicklung von Maßnahmen in verschiedenen Politikfeldern, die für eine Ernährungswende zusammenwirken müssen.

BackgroundQatar is one of the countries with the highest carbon (C) footprints per capita in the world with an increasing population and food demand. Furthermore, the international blockade by some countries that is affecting Qatar—which has been traditionally a highly-dependent country on food imports—since 2017 has led the authorities to take the decision of increasing food self-sufficiency. In this study we have assessed the effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of shifting diets from conventional to organic products and from import-based diets to more regionalized diets for the first time in a Gulf country.ResultsWe found that considering the production system, the majority of the emissions come from the animal products, but the differences between conventional and organic diets are very small (738 and 722 kg CO2-eq capita−1 year−1, of total emissions, respectively). Conversely, total emissions from plant-based products consumption might be around one order of magnitude smaller, but the differences in the emissions between the organic and conventional systems were higher than those estimated for animal products, leading to a decrease in 44 kg CO2-eq capita−1 year−1when changing from 100% conventional to 50% of organic consumption of plant-based products. Regarding the shift to regionalized diets, we found that packaging has a small influence on the total amount of GHG emissions, whereas emissions from transportation would be reduced in around 450 kg CO2capita−1 year−1when reducing imports from 100 to 50%.ConclusionsHowever, these results must be read carefully. Due to the extreme adverse pedoclimatic conditions of the country, commercial organic regional livestock would not be possible without emitting very high GHG emissions and just only some traditional livestock species may be farmed in a climate-friendly way. On the other hand, organic and regional low-CO2emission systems of plant-based products would be possible by implementing innovations in irrigation or other innovations whose GHG emissions must be further studied in the future. Therefore, we conclude that shifting towards more plant-based organic regional consumption by using climate-friendly irrigation is a suitable solution to both increasing self-sufficiency and reducing C footprint. We encourage national authorities to including these outcomes into their environmental and food security policies.

This document shows the protocol for developing a systematic mapping on urban and peri-urban farming interventions. It shows the background, objectives and methods.

Withdrawal: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.31220/agriRxiv.2023.00169

More and more people live in cities [...]

The food self-sufficiency assessment of Bristol and Vienna was developed by applying the Metropolitan Foodshed and Self-sufficiency scenario (MFSS) model [1] in the proposed respective foodsheds. In the case of Vienna 25 surrounding districts (i.e. Niederosterreich region) were selected, whereas for Bristol 5 districts surrounding the city were included. The model takes the consumption patterns as well as the available area for agriculture in the proposed foodsheds as the main inputs. Intermediate calculations are developed using data on population and yields. The outputs after applying the MFSS model are: (1) the area demand (i.e. surface needed to meet the population´s dietary requirements) in terms of surface and radius, and (2) the potential food self-sufficiency, at district level and for the whole foodshed area. The outputs are shown for 12 scenarios resulting after combining four variables: (1) production system (conventional vs organic), (2) dietary shifts (domestic vs current diet), (3) reducing food losses and waste, and (4) population growth 2015–2050. The analytical outputs from the MFSS model are converted in spatial data after applying GIS software. Whereas some of the supporting information on the inputs are shown spatially, the spatial outputs are shown in the co-submitted publication [2] , as well as a summary of the datasets shown here. These data can be used to develop food policies in both city-regions as well as to test whether a specific policy is feasible. The data might be especially useful for policymakers and governance actors (e.g. food policy councils) when developing or assessing the food policies for both cities. The data can be used also by policymakers in other cities developing foodshed assessments. Furthermore, other stakeholders (e.g. education, NGOs) might use the data to increase the awareness of the impact of dietary patterns on the food land footprint.

A global, unified dataset on Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) changes under perennial crops has not existed till now. We present a global, harmonised database on SOC change resulting from perennial crop cultivation. It contains information about 1605 paired-comparison empirical values (some of which are aggregated data) from 180 different peer-reviewed studies, 709 sites, on 58 different perennial crop types, from 32 countries in temperate, tropical and boreal areas; including species used for food, bioenergy and bio-products. The database also contains information on climate, soil characteristics, management and topography. This is the first such global compilation and will act as a baseline for SOC changes in perennial crops. It will be key to supporting global modelling of land use and carbon cycle feedbacks, and supporting agricultural policy development., Design Type(s)data integration objective • data collection and processing objective • factorial designMeasurement Type(s)amount of carbon atom in soilTechnology Type(s)digital curationFactor Type(s)climate • Species • experimental condition • ageSample Characteristic(s)Brazil • cultivated environment • Canada • United States of America • New Zealand • Italy • Germany • Cameroon • India • Sri Lanka • Venezuela • Kingdom of Denmark • Republic of Ireland • French Republic • United Kingdom • Kingdom of Spain • Costa Rica • Ethiopia • Ghana • Indonesia • Mexico • Nigeria • Republic of South Africa • Portuguese Republic • China • Malaysia • Turkey • Israel • Sweden • italy • Georgia • Puerto Rico • Tanzania • Australia Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is considered a proxy of soil health, contributing to food production, mitigation, and adaptation to climate change and other ecosystem services. Implementing Recommended Management Practices (RMPs) may increase SOC stocks, contributing to achieve the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 21st Conference of the Parties agreements reached in Paris, France. In this framework, the “4 per 1000” initiative invites partners implementing practical actions to reach a SOC stock annual growth of 4‰. For the first time, we assessed the achievement of 4‰ objective in Mediterranean agricultural soils, aiming at (i) analyzing a representative data collection assessing edaphoclimatic variables and SOC stocks from field experiments under different managements in arable and woody crops, (ii) providing evidence on SOC storage potential, (iii) identifying the biophysical and management variables associated with SOC storage, and (iv) recommending a set of mitigation strategies for global change. Average storage rates amounted to 15 and 80 Mg C ha−1 year−1 × 1000 in arable and woody crops, respectively. Results show that application of organic amendments led to significantly higher SOC storage rates than conventional management, with average values about 1.5 times higher in woody than in arable crops (93 vs. 63 Mg C ha−1 year−1 × 1000). Results were influenced by the initial SOC content, experiment duration, soil texture, and climate regime. The relatively lower levels of SOC in Mediterranean soils, and the high surface covered by woody crops, may reflect the high potential of these regions to achieving significant increases in SOC storage at the global scale.

Soil ecosystem service (SES) approaches evidence the importance of soil for human well-being, contribute to improving dialogue between science and decision-making and encourage the translation of scientific results into public policies. Herein, through systematic review, we assess the state of the art of SES approaches in tropical regions. Through this review, 41 publications were identified; while most of these studies considered SES, a lack of a consistent framework to define SES was apparent. Most studies measured soil natural capital and processes, while only three studies undertook monetary valuation. Although the number of publications increased (from 1 to 41), between 2001 and 2019, the total number of publications for tropical regions is still small. Countries with the largest number of publications were Brazil (n = 8), Colombia (n = 6) and Mexico (n = 4). This observation emphasizes an important knowledge gap pertaining to SES approaches and their link to tropical regions. With global momentum behind SES approaches, there is an opportunity to integrate SES approaches into policy and practice in tropical regions. The use of SES evaluation tools in tropical regions could transform how land use decisions are informed, mitigating soil degradation and protecting the ecosystems that soil underpins. Made available in DSpace on 2021-04-01T02:26:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Systematic-review-of-soil-ecosystem-services-2021.pdf: 968680 bytes, checksum: c21bd70cec854956f333a7af7e80d711 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021

The regionalization of food systems in order to shorten supply chains and develop local agriculture to feed city regions presents particular challenges for food planning and policy. The existing foodshed approaches enable one to assess the theoretical capacity of the food self-sufficiency of a specific region, but they struggle to consider the diversity of existing crops in a way that could be usable to inform decisions and support urban food strategies. Most studies are based on the definition of the area required to meet local consumption, obtaining a map represented as an isotropic circle around the city, without considering the site-specific pedoclimatic, geographical, and socioeconomic conditions which are essential for the development of local food supply chains. In this study, we propose a first stage to fill this gap by combining the Metropolitan Foodshed and Self-sufficiency Scenario model, which already considers regional yields and specific land use covers, with spatially-explicit data on the cropping patterns, soil and topography. We use the available Europe-wide data and apply the methodology in the city region of Avignon (France), initially considering a foodshed with a radius of 30 km. Our results show that even though a theoretically-high potential self-sufficiency could be achieved for all of the food commodities consumed (&gt, 80%), when the specific pedological conditions of the area are considered, this could be suitable only for domestic plant-based products, whereas an expansion of the initial foodshed to a radius of 100 km was required for animal products to provide &gt, 70% self-sufficiency. We conclude that it is necessary to shift the analysis from the size assessment to the commodity-group–specific spatial configuration of the foodshed based on biophysical and socioeconomic features, and discuss avenues for further research to enable the development of a foodshed assessment as a complex of complementary pieces, i.e., the ‘foodshed archipelago’.

This study evaluates the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) underperennial crops across the globe. It quantifies the effect of change fromannual to perennial crops and the subsequent temporal changes in SOCstocks during the perennial crop cycle. It also presents an empiricalmodel to estimate changes in the SOC content under crops as a functionof time, land use, and site characteristics. We used a harmonised globaldataset containing paired-comparison empirical values of SOC andincluding different types of perennial crops (perennial grasses, palms,and woody plants) with different end-uses: bioenergy, food, other bioproducts, and short rotation coppice crops. Salient outcomes include: a20-year period encompassing a change from annual to perennial cropsled to an average 20% increase in SOC at 0-30 cm (6.0 ± 4.6 Mg ha-1gain) and a total of 10% increase over the 0-100 cm soil profile (5.7 ±10.9 Mg ha-1). A change from natural pasture to perennial cropdecreased SOC stocks by 1% over 0-30 cm (-2.5 ± 4.2 Mg ha-1) and10% over 0-100 cm (-13.6 ± 8.9 Mg ha-1). The effect of a land usechange from forest to perennial crops did not have significant impacts,probably due to the limited number of plots; but the data indicated thatwhile a 2% increase in SOC was observed at 0-30 cm (16.81 ± 55.1 Mgha-1), a decrease of 24% was observed at 30-100 cm (-40.1 ± 16.8 Mgha-1); perennial crops generally accumulate SOC through time,especially woody crops; and temperature was the main driver explainingdifferences in SOC dynamics, followed by crop age, soil bulk density, claycontent and depth. We present empirical evidence showing that the FAOperennialization strategy is reasonable, underscoring the role ofperennial crops as a useful component of climate change mitigationstrategies.

Olive groves are undergoing a marked change in the way that inter-row land is managed. The current regulation and recommendation encourages the implementation of plant cover, mainly to improve soil fertility and reduce erosion. However, there is no quantitative information on the dynamics and pools of soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions of different protection levels of the plant-residue-derived organic carbon (OC). This study was conducted to provide a range of annual OC inputs in commercial olive oil groves under natural plant cover, to assess the influence of the annual application of aboveground plant cover residues on unprotected and physically, chemically and biochemically protected SOC. In addition, we tested the carbon saturation hypothesis under plant cover. Ten olive oil orchards under plant cover management (PC), together with five comparable bare soil olive oil orchards (NPC) were selected and annual aboveground natural plant residues and SOC pools were sampled and quantified. Annual aboveground plant cover biomass and OC production in PC olive orchards averaged 1.48 t dry-weight (DW) ha −1 and 0.56 t C DW ha −1 , respectively with a great variability among sites (coefficient of variation of about 100%). SOC concentration in PC orchards was, on average, 2.8 (0–5 cm soil) and 2.0 (5–15 cm) times higher than in bare soils of NPC, and the pool of protected SOC in the top 15 cm was 2.1 times higher in the PC (17.9 mg C g −1 ± 5.7) (±standard deviation) compared to NPC (8.5 mg C g −1 ± 2.9) olive orchards. Linear or saturation type relationships between each SOC fraction and total SOC content for the range of SOC of the commercial olive oil orchards were statistically indistinguishable, and thus linear models to predict SOC accumulation due to plant cover in olive orchards are suitable, at least for the studied range of SOC. Overall, at regional scale where olive oil groves represent a very high proportion of the agricultural land, the use of plant cover appears to be a promising practice that promotes protection of the SOC, thus improving SOC sequestration.

No-till management and the establishment of plant cover have been implemented in olive crops in recent years in order to prevent soil erosion and increase soil organic carbon. However, the effect of these conservation practices on the net CO2 exchange at the ecosystem scale has not been explored so far. In this study, we analyze the influence of resident vegetation cover (hereafter weeds) on the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in an irrigated olive orchard located in Jaen (SE Spain) by using the eddy covariance technique. NEE was measured in the olive orchard under two treatments, one with weed cover in the alleys from autumn to spring, and another where weed growth was avoided by the application of a glyphosate herbicide. Our study demonstrates that the presence of weeds in the alleys increased carbon assimilation in the weed-cover treatment during the weed growing period (from December to April). However, the net ecosystem CO2 uptake decreased in the weed-cover treatment during late spring (May and June), after weeds were cut and left on the soil, compared to the weed-free treatment, probably due to an increase in soil respiration. On an annual basis, weed removal decreased net carbon uptake by 50% compared to the weed-cover treatment. The annual NEE was −140 g C m−2 y−1 in the weed-cover treatment and −70 g C m−2 y−1 in the weed-free treatment. In summary, our study demonstrates that, during the first year of differential treatment, maintenance of weed cover in olive groves has a positive effect on CO2 uptake and enhances the capacity of the agro-system to act as a net CO2 sink.

Conventional tillage (CT) and cover crops (CC) trigger different runoff (Q) and runon (Qin) magnitudes and patterns in woody crops. The spatial and temporal stability of these patterns is not well known yet. In this study, we run the uncalibrated DR2-2013© SAGA v1.1 model (0.5 × 0.5 m of cell size) to simulate time to ponding (Tp), runoff duration (TQ), initial runoff per raster cell (q0), Qsim and Qin in six olive plots (480 m2 per plot) during two years (108 rainfall events and 648 simulations). Two plots were managed with a mixture of plant species (CC-I), two with one single plant species (CC-II) and two with CT. Runoff yield from each plot was collected (Qobs) in gauging-stations during 27 time-integrated samples and used for modelling validation (162 control points). On average, Qobs was 9% higher under CT than under CC-I, and 8% higher than under CC-II. Topsoil saturation was simulated for the entire plots during 29 events (test-period), and Qsim appeared in another 51 and 52 events in the plots with CC and CT. Tp with CT was 2.3 times higher (59 s) than the average duration with CC and the topsoil became saturated 3.3 times faster in the inter-rows than below the trees. Values of q0 with CC were 2.3% lower than with CT and total Qsim with CC was 2% higher than with CT. However, the differences of Qsim between the different treatments were not statistically significant. The mean observed and simulated runoff coefficients were of 11 and 14%, with median values of 7 and 10%. Qsim correlated well with Qobs (Pearson ca. 0.861), and Qsim was overestimated ca. 10%. The model performed better when rainfall depth and intensity were high, and the range of variability of both Qsim and Qobs was similar. The average, best and worst Nash–Sutcliffe coefficients were 0.665, 0.791 (P6) and 0.512 (P3) and thus model simulations were satisfactory. The four plots with CC presented on average a worse performance (Kling–Gupta coefficient = 0.607) than the two plots with CT (KGE = 0.769). The lowest spatial variability of q0, Qobs, Qsim and actual available water (Waa, the sum of Qin and stored water in the soil surface) were found in the plots with CC. CT triggered higher spatial variability of runoff and higher temporal variability of runon than CC., The postdoctoral contract of Dr. López-Vicente and part of this research was funded by the project “Soil and organic carbon loss and redistribution in olive groves of Jaen, Granada and Seville: numerical simulation and assessment of the particle size effect” of the University of Jaen (group RNM296) (Spain), the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain) and the European Union (FEDER funds). The experimental results from the runoff plots has been possible since 2009 through projects Biosuelo, P08-AGR-03643 (Andalusian Government), RESEL (Spanish Ministry for Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs) and FEDER funds.

Mediterranean woody crops, such as olive and almond farming, and vineyards are usually cultivated in soils low in organic matter, with limited water availability and frequently on medium to steep slopes. Therefore, when conventionally cultivated, soils of these cropping systems are net sources of CO2 (throughout soil erosion and organic carbon mineralization). A promising option to sequester carbon (C) in these cropping systems is the implementation of recommended management practices (RMPs), which include plant cover in the inter-row area, minimum or no tillage and off- and on-farm organic matter amendments. However, the effects of RMPs on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in these cropping systems are widely overlooked, despite the critical importance of estimating their contribution on CO2 emissions for policy decisions in the agriculture sector in Mediterranean regions. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to derive a C response ratio, soil C sequestration rate and soil C sequestration efficiency under RMPs, compared to conventional management of olive and almond orchards, and vineyards (144 data sets from 51 references). RMPs included organic amendments (OA), plant cover (CC) and a combination of the two (CMP). The highest soil C sequestration rate (5.3 t C ha−1 yr−1) was observed following the application OA in olive orchards (especially after olive mill pomace application), whereas CC management achieved the lowest C sequestration rates (1.1, 0.78 and 2.0 t C ha−1 yr−1, for olive orchards, vineyards and almond orchards, respectively). Efficiency of soil C sequestration was greater than 100% after OA and CMP managements, indicating that: i) some of the organic C inputs were unaccounted for, and ii) a positive feedback effect of the application of these amendments on SOC retention (e.g. reduction of soil erosion) and on protective mechanisms of the SOC which reduce CO2 emissions. Soil C sequestration rate tended to be highest during the first years after the change of the management and progressively decreased. Studies performed in Mediterranean sub-climates of low annual precipitation had lower values of soil C sequestration rate, likely due to a lower biomass production of the crop and other plant cover. Soil C sequestration rates in olive farming were much higher than that of vineyards, mainly due to the application of higher annual doses of organic amendments. The relatively high sequestration rate combined with the relative large spatial extent of these cropping system areas suggests that the adoption of RMPs is a sustainable and efficient measure to mitigate climate change.

Miscanthus &times, giganteus (hereafter Miscanthus) is a perennial crop characterized by its high biomass production, low nutrient requirements, its ability for soil restoration, and its cultivation potential on marginal land. The development of the bioenergy sector in the state of Brandenburg (Germany), with maize as the dominant crop, has recently drawn attention to its negative environmental impacts, competition with food production, and uncertainties regarding its further development toward the state&rsquo, s bioenergy targets. This study aimed to estimate the potential bioenergy production in Brandenburg by cultivating Miscanthus only on marginal land, thereby avoiding competition with food production in the Berlin-Brandenburg city-region (i.e., foodshed), after using the Metropolitan Foodshed and Self-sufficiency Scenario (MFSS) model. We estimated that by 2030, the Berlin-Brandenburg foodshed would require around 1.13 million hectares to achieve 100% food self-sufficiency under the business as usual (BAU) scenario, and hence there would be around 390,000 ha land left for bioenergy production. Our results suggest that the region would require about 569,000 ha of land of maize to generate 58 PJ&mdash, the bioenergy target of the state of Brandenburg for 2030&mdash, which is almost 179,000 ha more than the available area for bioenergy production. However, under Miscanthus plantation, the required area would be reduced by 2.5 times to 232,000 ha. Therefore, Miscanthus could enable Brandenburg to meet its bioenergy target by 2030, while at the same time avoiding the trade-offs with food production, and also providing a potential for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration of around 255,200 t C yr-1, leading to an improvement in the soil fertility and other ecosystem services (e.g., biodiversity), compared with bioenergy generated from maize.

In 1955, after the Korean War, only 35% of the national land area in South Korea was covered by forests. In the 1960s, the Korean Government implemented the national forestation program in order to increase the extent of the forest surface and thereby counteract the negative ecological consequences from deforestation, such as erosion and ground instability. According to previous studies, this led to an increase in carbon (C) accumulated in the forest biomass of 1.48 Gt CO2 (0.40 Gt C) in the period 1954&ndash, 2012. However, these studies did not take into account the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) that was accumulated during that period and the influence of management practices on soil ecosystem services. Currently, South Korean authorities are considering the idea of implementing some forest management practices in order to increase timber extraction (e.g., by reducing the cutting age of the trees or by applying thinning and tending measures). In this study, we assess the influence of these management regimes on SOC dynamics and propose a theoretical framework to assess the influence of forest management practices on three ecosystem services, namely, C sequestration, water supply, and biomass production, while considering soil functioning, and especially SOC, as a group of supporting services underpinning the three named ecosystem services. We find that, in terms of SOC sequestration, reducing the cutting age from 80 to 40 years would be suitable only in the case of high biomass production forests, whereas in the case of lower biomass production forests reducing the cutting age would achieve very low SOC levels. However, we propose that increasing tree species diversity, even though it would not lead to a direct increase in the SOC content, could help to lessen the negative effects of reducing the cutting age by improving other soil properties, which in turn positively affect soil functioning (e.g., soil biodiversity, nutrient availability) and the resilience of the forest ecosystem. Finally, we discuss potential policy approaches to incentivize sustainable management practices in South Korean forests from a soil protection perspective.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of current food systems to feed populations around the world. Particularly in urban centers, consumers have been confronted with this vulnerability, highlighting reliance on just-in-time logistics, imports and distant primary production. Urban food demand, regional food supply, land use change, and transport strategies are considered key factors for reestablishing resilient landscapes as part of a sustainable food system. Improving the sustainability of food systems in such circumstances entails working on the interrelations between food supply and demand, rural and urban food commodity production sites, and groups of involved actors and consumers. Of special significance is the agricultural land in close proximity to urban centers. Calling for more holistic approaches in the sense of inclusiveness, food security, citizen involvement and ecological principles, this article describes the use of a new decision support tool, the Metropolitan Foodscape Planner (MFP). The MFP features up-to-date European datasets to assess the potential of current agricultural land use to provide food resources (with special attention to both plant- and animal-based products) and meet the demand of city dwellers, and help to empower citizens, innovators, companies, public authorities and other stakeholders of regional food systems to build a more regionalized food supply network. The tool was tested in the context of the food system of the Copenhagen City Region in two collaborative workshops, namely one workshop with stakeholders of the Copenhagen City Region representing food consultancies, local planning authorities and researchers, and one in-person workshop masterclass with MSc students from the University of Copenhagen. Workshop participants used the tool to learn about the impacts of the current food system at the regional and international level with regard to the demand-supply paradigm of city-regions. The ultimate goal was to develop a participatory mapping exercise and test three food system scenarios for a more regionalized and sustainable food system and, therefore, with increased resilience to crises. Results from this implementation also demonstrated the potential of the tool to identify food production sites at local level that are potentially able to feed the city region in a more sustainable, nutritious and way.