An approach to derive relationships for defining land degradation and desertification risk and developing appropriate tools for assessing the effectiveness of the various land management practices using indicators is presented in the present paper. In order to investigate which indicators are most effective in assessing the level of desertification risk, a total of 70 candidate indicators was selected providing information for the biophysical environment, socio-economic conditions, and land management characteristics. The indicators were defined in 1,672 field sites located in 17 study areas in the Mediterranean region, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Based on an existing geo-referenced database, classes were designated for each indicator and a sensitivity score to desertification was assigned to each class based on existing research. The obtained data were analyzed for the various processes of land degradation at farm level. The derived methodology was assessed using independent indicators, such as the measured soil erosion rate, and the organic matter content of the soil. Based on regression analyses, the collected indicator set can be reduced to a number of effective indicators ranging from 8 to 17 in the various processes of land degradation. Among the most important indicators identified as affecting land degradation and desertification risk were rain seasonality, slope gradient, plant cover, rate of land abandonment, land-use intensity, and the level of policy implementation.

Indicator-based approaches are often used to monitor land degradation and desertification from the global to the very local scale. However, there is still little agreement on which indicators may best reflect both status and trends of these phenomena. In this study, various processes of land degradation and desertification have been analyzed in 17 study sites around the world using a wide set of biophysical and socioeconomic indicators. The database described earlier in this issue by Kosmas and others (Environ Manage, 2013) for defining desertification risk was further analyzed to define the most important indicators related to the following degradation processes: water erosion in various land uses, tillage erosion, soil salinization, water stress, forest fires, and overgrazing. A correlation analysis was applied to the selected indicators in order to identify the most important variables contributing to each land degradation process. The analysis indicates that the most important indicators are: (i) rain seasonality affecting water erosion, water stress, and forest fires, (ii) slope gradient affecting water erosion, tillage erosion and water stress, and (iii) water scarcity soil salinization, water stress, and forest fires. Implementation of existing regulations or policies concerned with resources development and environmental sustainability was identified as the most important indicator of land protection.

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The odonates are insects that have a wide range of reproductive, ritualized territorial, and aggressive behaviors. Changes in behavior are the first response of most odonate species to environmental alterations. In this context, the primary objective of the present study was to assess the effects of environmental alterations resulting from shifts in land use on different aspects of the behavioral diversity of adult odonates. Fieldwork was conducted at 92 low-order streams in two different regions of the Brazilian Amazon. To address our main objective, we measured 29 abiotic variables at each stream, together with five morphological and five behavioral traits of the resident odonates. The results indicate a loss of behaviors at sites impacted by anthropogenic changes, as well as variation in some morphological/behavioral traits under specific environmental conditions. We highlight the importance of considering behavioral traits in the development of conservation strategies, given that species with a unique behavioral repertoire may suffer specific types of extinction pressure.

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In the present study, we analyzed a unique phytophysiognomy in the Amazon region, which is formed by savanna-like vegetation on iron-rich soil (known locally as canga) located within an iron-ore mining region. We used the habitat template theory to test the hypothesis that changes in the physical-chemical properties of streams and the physical structure of their habitats at in-stream and micro-basin (landscape) levels affect the taxonomic and trophic composition of immature aquatic insects. For this, we used a local environmental matrix composed of nine physical-chemical and structural habitat variables, together with the Habitat Integrity Index. We also calculated landscape metrics based on the area of the microbasin, such as relief, slope, mean current flow, and vegetation cover. We divided the aquatic insects into five functional feeding groups based on their diet and food sources. Our results indicate that changes in the trophic level of the insects of the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera are more easily observed than the taxonomic structure of communities. The loss of environmental integrity and vegetation cover were responsible for 84% of the variation observed in the composition of functional feeding groups (FFGs). Our study shows that aquatic insect communities in the canga and in the Amazon regions dominated by forest require specific in-stream and landscape conditions. These findings reinforce the need for the preservation of areas of canga vegetation, which not only have a unique levels of biological diversity, but are also targeted for the exploitation of their economically valuable natural resources.

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