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Abstract A changing climate offers new opportunities to expand agriculture in northern latitudes, and understanding forest‐to‐agriculture land conversion impacts is critical to ensure soil sustainability. Using the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) framework, we identified a minimum suite of indicators with little collinearity to reliably predict soil impacts during the conversion of boreal forest to agriculture and a time since conversion gradient (forest, 10 and 50 years since conversion). We sampled paired forest and agricultural sites and used multiple linear regression to assess 16 indicators and found four‐ and six‐indicator models predicted the CASH score with varying but reasonable accuracy depending on conversion class. Organic matter, water aggregate stability, and pH were consistent predictors across all classes, as well as one or more micronutrients. The CASH framework appears to be more suitable for agricultural soils and as time since conversion proceeds.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to model the factors affecting the competitiveness of industrial clusters and the method of conducting mixedexploratory research. Accordingly, the statistical population consisted of a combination of qualitative and quantitative parts. The quality department consisted of experts from industrial clusters (senior manager or director of marketing and sales with at least 10 years of useful work experience and doctoral education). The statistical population of the quantitative section consisted of all managers and administrative staff of the agricultural implements cluster of the industrial town affiliated to Sari agricultural cooperatives, numbering 107 people. Using Maxqda quality software and open and axial coding, the factors affecting the competitiveness of industrial clusters and agricultural conversion industries were identified and with PLS software, the research model was tested. According to the research results, these factors are: network of supporting institutions and industries, social backgrounds, innovation facilitation, geographical focus, company strategy and competition structure. The main factors of the "Network of Supporting Institutions and Industries" are: public mergers, liaison with suppliers, government liaison with research centers, banking contracts, tax adjustment mechanisms, and government support. The main factors of "social backgrounds" are: common social value, creation of common behavioral norms, sense of sociability, existence of common tariffs and opportunities. The main factors of "facilitating innovation" are: creativity training, actualization of innovation, increasing the capacity of innovation, the rate of innovation, the existence of universities and knowledge centers. The main factors of "geographical concentration" are: specialization, concentration of related and complementary companies, geographical proximity of companies. Finally, the main factors of "Structure and Competition Company Strategy" are: strategy selection, flexibility in competition, competition and cooperation sharing, local competition, increasing demand and the presence of customers in domestic markets.

The study of the behavior of investors has a significant bearing on development of various economic sectors. One of the important issues in assessing the success of investors is their predicted level of achievement. In this study, the level of realization of agricultural conversion and complementary construction projects in Mazandaran province has been investigated. The level of possibility of the goals achieved is from the proposed capacity ratio in the license to the capacity built to start work. The data was collected from the Jihad Agriculture Organization of Mazandaran province and 386 units were selected as the sample. The units studied in this research were divided into three groups less than realized, fully realized and more than realized. The generalized probit model was used to identify the effective factors on the level of feasibility. The results show that the variables of type of ownership, location, activity size, duration of construction of unit on the level of realization of construction of conversion industries are effective. The effect of these variables varies in different cities and types of activities. Using the present model, we can predict the level of realization of planned goals in the construction of the mentioned units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRAK Konversi lahan pertanian untuk penggunaan non pertanian merupakan suatu fenomena yang tidak dapat dihindarkan. Penilaian secara ekonomi maupun lingkungan perlu dilakukan untuk mengetahui tingkat keuntungan secara finansial maupun kelingkungan dari kegiatan pertanian. Penelitian dilakukan di Kabupaten Sleman melalui metode survai dengan 90 responden sebagai sampel penelitian. Wilayah kajian didasarkan pada tingkat konversi lahan pertanian selama kurun waktu 17 tahun. Melalui Citra Landsat TM 1992, 2000 dan Citra Alos 2009 dapat diketahui luas konversi lahan pertanian di semua wilayah di Kabupaten Sleman. Analisis data dilakukan secara deskriptif kualitatif maupun kuantitatif dengan uji statistik melalui model uji Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) dan juga model Total Economic Value (TEV). Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahwa terjadi variasi tingkat konversi lahan pertanian di wilayah Kabupaten Sleman. Hasil perhitungan dengan metode TEV menunjukkan bahwa pada wilayah zone 1 nilai ekonomi usahatani lahan sawah lebih rendah dibandingkan dengan wilayah zone 2, sedangkan pada zone 3 nilai ekonomi dari usahatani lahan sawah paling tinggi. Tingkat pencemaran akibat adanya konversi lahan pertanian berdampak pada hasil kegiatan usahatani lahan sawah. Pencemaran yang dianggap paling tinggi oleh petani untuk saat ini adalah pencemaran air, sedangkan untuk pencemaran tanah dan udara belum dirasakan. Konversi lahan juga berdampak terhadap produksi hasil komoditi lahan sawah. Meskipun hasil produksi komoditas pertanian juga dipengaruhi oleh luas lahan sawah, konversi, teknologi dan produktivitas pada setiap zone wilayah kajian. ABSTRACT The conversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes is a phenomenon that inevitable. Economic and environmental assessment needs to be done to determine the level of profit financially and environmentally of farming activities on the agricultural sector. The study was conducted in Sleman Regency through survey methods using 90 respondents as the research samples. The study area is based on a conversion rate of the agricultural land during the period of 17 years. Through Landsat TM images year 1992 and 2000, also Alos images year 2009, can be determined the conversion of agricultural land all regions in Sleman Regency. Data analysis is performed qualitatively and quantitatively using descriptive statistical test through test models Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) and also Total Economic Value (TEV) model. The research result show there are varying levels of the agricultural land conversion in Sleman Regency. The assessment result using TEV method is obtained that in the zone 1 region, the economic value of wetland farming is lower than the area of zone 2, while in the region of zone 3 has a high value. The level of pollution is caused by the conversion of agricultural land which impacted on the results of wetland farming activities. The most pollution which is assumed by the farmers recently is water pollution, otherwise the soil and the air contamination, there is no response by them. The conversion of the agricultural land also impacts to the production of commodities. The commodities production is also influenced by the area of wetland, technology and productivity in each zone of the study area.

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Rainforests provide vital ecosystem services that are underpinned by plant-soil interactions. The forests of Borneo are globally important reservoirs of biodiversity and carbon, but a significant proportion of the forest that remains after large-scale agricultural conversion has been extensively modified due to timber harvest. We have limited understanding of how selective logging affects ecosystem functions including biogeochemical cycles driven by soil microbes. In this study, we sampled soil from logging gaps and co-located intact lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Borneo. We characterised soil bacterial and fungal communities and physicochemical properties and determined soil functioning in terms of enzyme activity, nutrient supply rates, and microbial heterotrophic respiration. Soil microbial biomass, alpha diversity, and most soil properties and functions were resistant to logging. However, we found logging significantly shifted soil bacterial and fungal community composition, reduced the abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi, increased the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and reduced soil inorganic phosphorous concentration and nitrate supply rate, suggesting some downregulation of nutrient cycling. Within gaps, canopy openness was negatively related to ectomycorrhizal abundance and phosphomonoesterase activity and positively related to ammonium supply rate, suggesting control on soil phosphorus and nitrogen cycles via functional shifts in fungal communities. We found some evidence for reduced soil heterotrophic respiration with greater logging disturbance. Overall, our results demonstrate that while many soil microbial community attributes, soil properties, and functions may be resistant to selective logging, logging can significantly impact the composition and abundance of key soil microbial groups linked to the regulation of vital nutrient and carbon cycles in tropical forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) are endemic to grassland and shrub‐steppe ecosystems of western North America, yet their distribution has contracted to <10% of their historical range. Primary threats to Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse include loss of native habitat and conversion to agriculture, reductions in habitat once provided by the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), wildfire, and drought conditions, yet population‐level consequences of these threats and their spatio‐temporal scales of effect are poorly understood. We evaluated multi‐scale effects of land cover, weather, and fire histories on patterns of abundance and productivity for Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse populations during 1995–2020 in Idaho, USA, using mixed‐effects generalized regression and remotely sensed data. We demonstrated negative effects of fire, tree encroachment, and bare ground, positive effects of spring and summer precipitation and cover of shrubs and perennial forbs and grasses, and positive effects of CRP on grouse abundance that changed in magnitude with cover of perennials and shrubs near leks (i.e., strongest effects when average cover of shrubs and perennial forbs and grasses were less abundant). We also demonstrated per capita recruitment of Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse is positively associated with late‐summer greenness. Our results show that several suspected threats have measurable, population‐level impacts to Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse within Idaho. Moreover, our results suggest ongoing changes occurring within the core range of Columbian sharp‐tailed grouse, including loss of CRP cover to tilled agriculture and changes to wildfire and precipitation dynamics are likely to have negative effects on populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consequences of land‐use change for savanna biodiversity remain undocumented in most regions of tropical Asia. One such region is western Maharashtra, India, where old‐growth savannas occupy a broad rainfall gradient and are increasingly rare due to agricultural conversion and afforestation.To understand the consequences of land‐use change, we sampled herbaceous plant communities of old‐growth savannas and three alternative land‐use types: tree plantations, tillage agriculture and agricultural fallows (n = 15 sites per type). Study sites spanned 457 to 1954 mm of mean annual precipitation—corresponding to the typical rainfall range of mesic savannas globally.Across the rainfall gradient, we found consistent declines in old‐growth savanna plant communities due to land‐use change. Local‐scale native species richness dropped from a mean of 12 species/m2 in old‐growth savannas to 8, 6 and 3 species/m2 in tree plantations, fallows and tillage agriculture, respectively. Cover of native plants declined from a mean of 49% in old‐growth savannas to 27% in both tree plantations and fallows, and 4% in tillage agriculture. Reduced native cover coincided with increased cover of invasive species in tree plantations (18%), fallows (18%) and tillage agriculture (3%).In analyses of community composition, tillage agriculture was most dissimilar to old‐growth savannas, while tree plantations and fallows showed intermediate dissimilarity. These compositional changes were driven partly by the loss of characteristic savanna species: 65 species recorded in old‐growth savannas were absent in other land uses. Indicator analysis revealed 21 old‐growth species, comprised mostly of native savanna specialists. Indicators of tree plantations (nine species) and fallows (13 species) were both invasive and native species, while the two indicators of tillage agriculture were invasive. As reflective of declines in savanna communities, mean native perennial graminoid cover of 27% in old‐growth savannas dropped to 9%, 7%, and 0.1% in tree plantations, fallows and tillage agriculture, respectively.Synthesis. Agricultural conversion and afforestation of old‐growth savannas in India destroys and degrades herbaceous plant communities that do not spontaneously recover on fallowed land. Efforts to conserve India's native biodiversity should encompass the country's widespread savanna biome and seek to limit conversion of irreplaceable old‐growth savannas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When droughts occur, freshwater inputs to coastal wetlands can become scarce and hypersalinity can become a problem. In 2023, a severe drought negatively affected a Texas watershed known as Lake Austin that fed a large expanse of wetlands on East Matagorda Bay. To study the hypersalinity problem in these wetlands, we identified freshwater inflows and mapped vegetation changes over time. We found that from 1943 to 2023, the upper portion of the Lake Austin watershed lost freshwater wetlands to agricultural conversion, and ranged from fresh to brackish, with salinity rapidly rising to a maximum of 31 mS during the summer drought of 2023. The lower portion of the watershed gained saltwater wetlands due to sea level rise, and marshes became hypersaline (64–96 mS) during the 2023 drought, endangering its biota. But after large precipitation events, the entire Lake Austin basin rapidly freshened but then returned to its normal salinities within a week as the tides re-delivered saltwater into its basin. Given current climatic trends, we expect that freshwater inflow will continue to slightly increase for the Lake Austin watershed but also that there will be more extreme periods of episodic drought that negatively affect its wetlands. Accordingly, we assessed several potential restoration actions that would improve freshwater flow and delivery to the Lake Austin coastal wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover change is the largest direct driver of global biodiversity loss but often the relationships between habitats and species occurrence are unknown. The conservation community requires tools to assess variation in biodiversity related to land cover for maximizing return on investment. Our objectives were to 1) develop a biodiversity mapping and assessment tool at a fine spatial scale for terrestrial vertebrates, and 2) test how much biodiversity is conserved by retaining natural habitats within agricultural landscapes. We built species distribution models for amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles (329 species, > 1.2 million observations) within Prairie Canada. Predicted biodiversity within 805 m × 805 m sites ranged from 0 to 238 species (66 ± 0.1). The proportion of annual cropland at a site had the largest negative effect on biodiversity among predictors. Using simulations of land cover change, we predicted that conserving 20 % of natural habitats would conserve an average of 26.5 % of maximum species richness in fields with annual cropland and 74.3 % of maximum species richness in fields with tame grass (perennial cropland). Our tool predicted that fields with conservation easements (n = 312) had more species (114 ± 2) and natural habitat (48 ± 1 %) compared to nearby unprotected sites (82 ± 3 species; 32 ± 2 % natural habitat). Our results highlight the importance of retaining natural habitats, including wetlands, grasslands, and forests within farms to support biodiversity. In addition, our predictions can be used to target areas for conserving and restoring habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]