Food production on the urban-rural fringe is under pressure due to competing land uses. We discuss the potential to improve resilience for urban-rural regions by enhancing food production as part of multifunctional land use. Through studies of peri-urban land in the regions of Gothenburg (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Gent (Belgium), recent developments are analysed. Arable farming has been declining since 2000 in all three areas due to urban expansion and recreational land use changes. In city plans, networks of protected areas and green spaces and their importance for human wellbeing have been acknowledged. Policies for farmland preservation in peri-urban settings exist, but strategies for local food production are not expressed in present planning documents. Among the diversity of peri-urban agricultural activities, peri-urban food production is a developing issue. However, the competing forms of land use and the continuing high dependence of urban food on global food systems and related resource flows reduces peri-urban food production and improvements in urban food security. The positive effects of local food production need to be supported by governance aiming to improve the urban-rural relationship. The paper discusses the resilience potential of connecting urban-rural regions and re-coupling agriculture to regional food production.
We tested four reforestation techniques in tropical forest fragments that were damaged by fire in upland Madagascar. We conducted a full-factorial experiment on the survival of transplanted seedlings of five native tree species in grassland plots adjacent to the forest fragments in the Ambohitantely Forest Reserve. The species studied were Dodonaea madagascariensis, Filicium decipiens, Olea lancea, Podocarpus madagascariensis, and Rhus taratana. A total of 480 seedlings were planted; 207 survived the 15 months of the experiment. The factors examined were distance of the reforestation plots from the forest, mixing of forest soil into the plots, application of chemical fertilizers, experimental shading of plots, and the cover of naturally establishing shrubs. Both increasing the distance of plots from the forest edge and adding chemical fertilizers significantly reduced the survival of all seedlings. The surprising negative effects of fertilization may be partly due to increased competition from naturally establishing shrubs that are adapted to exploit high nitrogen levels. Mixing soil from the forest areas into the plots did not change seedling survival. Shading reduced the survival of D. madagascariensis seedlings and did not increase the survival of any species. These findings suggest that the success of reforestation projects can be increased by planting seedlings close to the existing forest fragments. Reforestation of similar tropical forests is likely to be more successful if efforts are focused on expanding the size of existing fragments of tropical forest, rather than on establishing new fragments in grassland openings.
HM. Differcnlconservalion values of biological diversiiy? A case study from the Jiiiunheimen rnounlain range. Nurwuy. Niir.\k Gi-iianijisk Ticl.•iskrlfi-^'or^^^c'):;illn Jaiirmil nf Geography Vol. 58. 2(M-212. Oslo.Jolunheiinen mouniuin ran^e is a key iirea for wildlife and miiurc conservation due to its scenic landscape and biological qualilies. and iis importance as a national symbol for Niir\vegian naiure and culture routed in mountain summer farming. We surveyed the hiodiversiiy values, tlieir current Ilireats. thc conser\
Pseudorchis albida s.s. is today a rather rare grassland orchid with a declining distribution in Scandinavia, as well as in other parts of Europe. This paper presents (a) ecological site descriptions from 30 Norwegian and Swedish sites, and (b) vegetation analyses from five Swedish populations of the closely related, alpine P. straminea, which enable some comparisons between taxa. A Detrended Correspondence Analysis ordination of vegetation data separated sites of P. albida rather well according to their geographical location. The Swedish south-west coast sites were particularly distinct. The Norwegian mid inland region constituted a transition zone between sites from the Norwegian west coast and sites from the Swedish eastern mountains. About 10 vascular plant species form a core group, common to nearly all sites. About 150 species occur in lower total frequencies than 50%. It is concluded that P. albida can occur in a wide array of plant communities. A Kendall correlation matrix for environmental variables for the P. albida sites and the site's scores along the three first axes in the DCA ordination showed significant correlations between altitude, soil-pH, grazing, precipitation, mowing, ignition loss, and soil-potassium, with vegetation clusters.
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