ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: 1 Boden und Böden --- Einleitung --- 1.2 Der Umgang mit Böden --- Veränderungen von Böden durch menschliche Eingriffe --- Prähistorischer Umgang mit den Böden --- Die dunklen Erden Amazoniens --- Der Umgang mit Böden im vormodernen China --- Intensivierte Bodennutzung in der Neuzeit --- Der Umgang mit Böden im Ökologischen Landbau --- 1.3 Die Geschichte der Bodenkunde --- Die Wurzeln der Bodenkunde --- Die geobiowissenschaftliche/forstliche Tradition --- Die agrarwissenschaftliche Tradition --- Die chemische Tradition --- Die kulturtechnische Tradition --- 2 Böden als Naturkörper --- Einleitung --- Gliederung der Bodenlebewesen --- 2.1 Mineralkörper von Böden --- Silicate --- Gesteinsbildende Oxide --- Carbonate, Sulfate, Chloride, Phosphate --- Gesteine als Ausgangsmaterial der Bodenentwicklung --- Gesteinsgemische und Substratabfolgen --- Saprolite --- Anthropogene Gesteine --- Chemische Verwitterungsprozesse --- Tonminerale --- Carbonate, Gips und lösliche Salze --- Schwerminerale --- Tonminerale Methodik --- Pedogene Oxide --- Carbonate und Salze --- Textur der mineralischen Substanz --- 2.2 Humuskörper von Böden --- Humusformen und -typen --- Waldstreu --- Streu landwirtschaftlicher Nutzflächen --- Modellsysteme für Huminstoffe --- Alter der Humusstoffe --- Nährstoffgehalte und -nachlieferung --- 2.4 Bodenlebewesen --- Bodenfauna --- Biodenbiomasse --- Einfluss der Standort- und Bodeneigenschaften auf die Bodenfauna --- Einfluss des Bodenlebens auf Streuabbau und Aggregatbildung --- Bodenenzyme --- 2.5 Potenziale in Böden --- Bodenreaktion --- 2.6 Gefüge und Porengrößenverteilung --- Körnung und Konsistenz --- Mineralischer Feinboden --- Mineralischer Grobboden --- Organische Bodenpartikel --- Gefüge --- Morphologie --- Kräfte und Spannungen in Böden --- Wasserbindung und Porengrößenverteilung --- Wasserbewegung und Wasserleitfähigkeit des Bodens --- Thermisches Verhalten der Böden --- Bodenmechanik --- Makroskopische mechanische Verfahren --- Rheologie --- 2.7 Flüsse in Böden --- Makroporen und präferenzielle Sickerung --- Transportformen --- Wärmefluss und Wärmehaushalt --- Physikochemische Aspekte des Stofftransports in Böden --- Gastransport in Böden --- Transport gelöster Stoffe im Boden --- 3 Böden als Teile von Landschaften --- Einleitung --- 3.2 Klassifikation von Böden --- Geschichte und Prinzipien der Bodenklassifikation --- Systematik der Böden Deutschlands --- Die Österreichische Bodensystematik 2000 (OBS 2000) --- Bezugsgrundlage der Boden-Ressourcen der Erde (WRB) --- Bezugsgrundlage der Boden-Ressourcen der Erde (WRB), 2. Auflage 2006, 1. Update 2007 --- FAO/Unesco, Bodenkarte der Welt --- Systematik der bodenbildenden Substrate --- 3.3 Wichtige Bodeneinheiten --- Podsole --- Terrae calcis --- Reduktosole --- Watten und Strände – Salzwiesen und Mangrovenwälder --- Subhydrische Böden --- Moore --- 3.4 Böden als Landschaftssegmente --- Grundsätze der Bodenvergesellschaftung --- Bodentragende Landschaftsformen --- Klassifikation von Bodengesellschaften --- Watten und Marschen Nordwestdeutschlands --- Norddeutsche Jungmoränenlandschaften --- Norddeutsche Altmoränenlandschaften --- Nord- und mitteldeutsche Lössbörden und Sandlössgebiete --- Böden städtisch-industrieller Verdichtungsräume --- Bodenlandschaften kühlhumider Zonen (Boreale Wälder) --- Bodengeographie der Waldsteppen und Steppen --- Bodenlandschaften subtropischer mediterraner Zonen --- Bodengeografie der wechselfeuchten Tropen am Beispiel Indiens --- 3.5 Kartierungstechnik --- Kartierungstechnik --- 3.6 Bodenkundliche Kartenwerke --- Bodenkundliche Kartenwerke --- 4 Funktionen von Böden --- Einleitung --- 4.2 Standortfunktionen von Böden --- Böden als Waldstandorte --- Böden als Grünlandstandorte --- Deutsche Weinbaustandorte --- Böden als Obstbaustandorte --- Böden als Baugrund und Baustoff --- Die amtliche Bodenschätzung in Deutschland --- 4.4 Böden als Bestandteil des Landschaftshaushaltes --- Boden und Landschaftswasserhaushalt --- Landschaftsstoffhaushalt --- 4.5 Böden als landschafts- und kulturgeschichtliche Urkunden --- Böden als landschafts- und kulturgeschichtliche Urkunden --- Böden und Bodenmerkmale unterschiedlichen Alters --- Datierungsmethoden --- Norddeutsches Vereisungsgebiet --- Süddeutsches Vereisungsgebiet --- Lößgebiete Süddeutschlands --- Paläoböden in periglazialen Lagen der Mittelgebirge --- 5 Bodenkultivierung, Bodenmelioration --- Einleitung --- 5.1 Grundlagen der Bodenkultivierung und Bodenmelioration --- Grundlagen der Bodenkultivierung und Bodenmelioration --- 5.2 Meliorationsverfahren --- Meliorationsverfahren --- 5.3 Kultivierungsverfahren --- Marschkultur --- Einleitung --- Moorkulturen --- Plaggen --- Tiefenbearbeitung --- Bewässerung --- 6 Anthropogene Bodenveränderungen und -belastungen --- Einleitung --- 6.1 Bodenüberformung und -versiegelung --- Bodenüberformung und -versiegelung --- 6.2 Anthropogene Gefügeänderung --- Bewirtschaftungssysteme und ihre Auswirkungen auf das Bodengefüge --- Anthropogene Gefügeänderungen --- Forstliche Bodenbewirtschaftung --- Melioration von tiefreichend schadverdichteten Neu- und Altlandstandorten --- 6.3 Abtrag von Böden --- Physikalische Ursachen der Wassererosion --- Erosionsformen --- Winderosion --- Abtrag von Böden --- Feststofftransport in Fließgewässern --- Quantifizierung des Bodenabtrags anhand von Modellen --- 6.4 Düngung von Böden --- Düngung von Böden --- 6.5 Kontamination von Böden --- Organische Pflanzenschutzmittel --- Antibiotika --- Radionuklide 7 Bodenschutz --- Einleitung --- 7.1 Gesetzliche Grundlagen --- Bundes-Bodenschutzgesetz (Wortlaut) --- Bundes-Bodenschutz- und Altlastenverordnung (Wortlaut) --- Bodenschutzrecht --- 7.2 Bodenschutz in der Landwirtschaft --- Einleitung --- Gesetzliche Instrumente --- Ökonomische Instrumente --- 7.3 Bodenschutzrelevante Planungen --- Planung und Umsetzung im urbanindustriellen und suburbanen Raum --- 7.4 Schutz vor mechanischer Belastung --- Schutz vor mechanischer Belastung --- 7.5 Schutz vor Abtrag und Überflutung --- Schutz vor Abtrag und Überflutung --- 7.6 Schutz vor stofflichen Belastungen --- Schutz landwirtschaftlicher Böden vor Überdüngung --- Schutz vor Säuren --- Schutz vor Salzen und Alkalinität --- Schutz vor Belastung mit Pflanzenschutzmitteln --- Schutz vor Organika --- Schutz vor Kontamination durch Deponien --- Schutz vor Kontamination bei Reststoffverwertung --- 7.7 Erziehung zum Bodenschutz --- Erziehung zum Bodenschutz --- 8 Bodensicherung, -sanierung und -restaurierung --- Einleitung --- 8.1 Rechtsgrundlagen der Bodensanierung --- Rechtsgrundlagen der Bodensanierung --- 8.3 Rekultivierung unterschiedlicher Böden und Substrate --- Rekultivierung unterschiedlicher Böden und Substrate --- 8.4 Rekultivierung fremdgenutzter Standorte --- Rekultivierung aufgegebener Industrie-, Gewerbe und Verkehrsflächen --- 8.5 Rekultivierung und Renaturierung von Abgrabungsflächen --- Rekultivierung und Renaturierung von Abgrabungsflächen --- 8.6 Sanierungsbedürftigkeit und Schutzwürdigkeit von Böden --- Sanierungsbedürftigkeit und Schutzwürdigkeit von Böden

Description / Table of Contents: This book discusses energy efficient buildings and the role they play in our efforts to address climate change, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by considering buildings and the construction sector's unique position along a critical path to decarbonisation from a multi-perspective and holistic viewpoint. Topics covered in the book range from daylighting, building topology comparison, building envelope design, zero energy homes in hot arid regions, life-cycle considerations and energy efficiency analysis to managing energy demand through equipment selection. Each chapter addresses an important aspect of energy efficient building and serves as a vital building block towards constructing a timely and relevant body of knowledge in energy efficient buildings.

Description / Table of Contents: Humanity’s ability to produce enough food is mostly due to adoption of new methods and technologies by the agricultural industries as they became available. New information, communication and high speed processing and precision agriculture technologies have the potential to transform the agricultural industry. These technologies incorporate radio-frequency and microwave radiation into their systems. This book presents an overview of how these technologies are being used in agricultural systems. The main purpose of the book is to provide a glimpse of what is possible and encourage practitioners in the engineering and agricultural industries to explore how radio-frequency and microwave systems might further enhance the agricultural industry. The authors have extensive experience in agricultural and microwave engineering, instrumentation and communication systems.

Description / Table of Contents: The “landscape Approach” is widely promoted as a way to reconcile biodiversity conservation with both commercial agriculture and local peoples’ demands for land. Landscape approaches imply a strong role for local communities in decision making and, therefore, local citizen science plays a role in determining landscape outcomes (Sayer et al., under review). Many claims and counter claims are made about the success and failure of local management in achieving good forest outcomes. There is significant uncertainty about the incentives for local people to manage forests for their global carbon storage and biodiversity values. Local people may be more concerned about immediate economic returns and less about the long term global environmental values of their forests. This Special Issue seeks to assemble papers that provide empirical evidence for the success of landscape and community managed initiatives to conserve biodiversity. We are seeking papers that report upon successful biodiversity conservation projects that have operated at a landscape scale and those that have been led by local communities. We are also interested in cases where these approaches were attempted but were less successful. Our ultimate goals is to identify the conditions under which these approaches have succeeded and those where they have been less successful.

Description / Table of Contents: 1. A Study on Phenology Detection of Corn in Northeastern China with Fused Remote Sensing Data / by Linglin Zeng and Daxiang Xiang --- 2. Despeckling of Multitemporal Sentinel SAR Images and Its Impact on Agricultural Area Classification / by Vladimir Lukin, Oleksii Rubel, Ruslan Kozhemiakin, Sergey Abramov, Andrii Shelestov, Mykola Lavreniuk, Mykola Meretsky, Benoit Vozel and Kacem Chehdi --- 3. Remote Sensing of Forests using Discrete Return Airborne LiDAR / by Hamid Hamraz and Marco A. Contreras --- 4. Remote Sensing in Land Applications by Using GNSS-Reflectometry / by Yan Jia and Yuekun Pei --- 5. Remote Sensing with Shipborne High-Frequency Surface-Wave Radar / by Junhao Xie, Minglei Sun, Zhenyuan Ji and Guowei Yao --- 6. Use of Historical Google Earth Images to Create Likelihood of Aquatic Plants along Segments of Ohio River / by Yi-Hwa Wu, Ming-Chih Hung, Jeff Thomas and Maureen Gallagher --- 7. Remote Sensing to Detect and Monitor Trees in Various Environments: Case Studies in Chile / by Guido Staub --- 8. Monitoring Land Surface Deformation with Satellite ScanSAR Images: Case Studies on Large Earthquakes in China / by Tingchen Jiang, Xiuping Wang, Yuanzhi Zhang and Yu Li --- 9. Applications of Remote Sensing in Geoscience / by Hakim Saibi, Mohand Bersi, Mohamed Bodruddoza Mia, Nureddin Mohamed Saadi, Khalid Mohamed Saleh Al Bloushi and Robert W. Avakian

Description / Table of Contents: The biggest problem for a shallow foundation, just as for any other type of foundation, is a failure due to an overestimation of the bearing capacity. This means that the correct prediction of the bearing capacity of the foundation is often the most important part of the design of a civil structure. That is why the publication by Prandtl in 1920 about the hardness of a plastic body, was a major step in solving the bearing capacity of shallow foundations, although it is well possible that he never realised this, because his solution was not made for civil engineering purposes, but for mechanical purposes. Over the last 100 years, a lot of extensions have been made, for example with inclination factors and shape factors. Also many laboratory experiments have been done and numerical calculations have been made. Some even try to extrapolate the failure mechanism for shallow foundations to the failure mechanism around the tip of a pile. All this scientific work leads back to the first publication by Ludwig Prandtl in 1920. This book, “100 Years of Prandtl’s Wedge”, is intended for all those who are interested in these fundamentals of foundation engineering and their history. The Appendices include a copy of Prandtl’s Über die Härte plastischer Körper and of Reissner’s publication of 1924, Zum Erddruckproblem.

Description / Table of Contents: 1. Adaptation in Agriculture / by Panit Arunanondchai, Chengcheng Fei and Bruce A. McCarl --- 2. Climate Adaptive Agricultural Innovation in Nepal: Prospects and Challenges / by Dhanej Thapa, Yuba Raj Subedi and Hemant Ojha --- 3. Naturally Available Genetic Adaptation in Common Bean and Its Response to Climate Change / by Andrés J. Cortés and Matthew W. Blair --- 4. Mitigation of the Negative Impact of Warming on the Coffee Crop: The Role of Increased Air [CO2] and Management Strategies / by Danielly Dubberstein, Weverton P. Rodrigues, José N. Semedo, Ana P. Rodrigues, Isabel P. Pais, António E. Leitão, Fábio L. Partelli, Eliemar Campostrini, Fernando Reboredo, Paula Scotti-Campos, Fernando C. Lidon, Ana I. Ribeiro-Barros, Fábio M. DaMatta and José C. Ramalho --- 5. Agricultural Management Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions / by Upendra M. Sainju --- 6. Low Carbon Technologies for Agriculture in Dryland: Brazilian Experience / by Vanderlise Giongo, Alessandra Monteiro Salviano, Francislene Angelotti, Tatiana Taura, Luiz Fernando Carvalho Leite and Tony Jarbas Ferreira Cunha --- 7. Pepper Crop under Climate Change: Grafting as an Environmental Friendly Strategy / by Consuelo Penella and Angeles Calatayud --- 8. Bringing Climate Smart Agriculture to Scale: Experiences from the Water Productivity Project in East and Central Africa / by Kizito Kwena, Fitih Ademe, Joseph Serge, Nezeghty Asmerom, Bernard Musana, Razaka Razakamiaramanana, Reuben Ruttoh, Hezron Mogaka, Assefa Dereje, Kifle Woldearegey, Anthony Esilaba and Rosemary Emongor --- 9. Climate Control in Mediterranean Greenhouses / by A. Nafi Baytorun and Zeynep Zaimoglu

Description / Table of Contents: Yin, S.; Zhang, X.; Pumpanen, J.; Shen, G.; Xiong, F.; Liu, C. Seasonal Variation in Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions at Three Age-Stages of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) Stands in an Alluvial Island, Eastern China. Forests 2016, 7(11), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110256 --- Chang, C.; Sperlich, D.; Sabaté, S.; Sánchez-Costa, E.; Cotillas, M.; Espelta, J.; Gracia, C. Mitigating the Stress of Drought on Soil Respiration by Selective Thinning: Contrasting Effects of Drought on Soil Respiration of Two Oak Species in a Mediterranean Forest. Forests 2016, 7(11), 263; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110263 --- Hou, L.; Li, Z.; Luo, C.; Bai, L.; Dong, N. Optimization Forest Thinning Measures for Carbon Budget in a Mixed Pine-Oak Stand of the Qingling Mountains, China: A Case Study. Forests 2016, 7(11), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110272 --- Jeong, J.; Bolan, N.; Kim, C. Heterotrophic Soil Respiration Affected by Compound Fertilizer Types in Red Pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) Stands of Korea. Forests 2016, 7(12), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7120309 --- Suchewaboripont, V.; Ando, M.; Yoshitake, S.; Iimura, Y.; Hirota, M.; Ohtsuka, T. Spatial Upscaling of Soil Respiration under a Complex Canopy Structure in an Old‐Growth Deciduous Forest, Central Japan. Forests 2017, 8(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020036 --- Raich, J. Temporal Variability of Soil Respiration in Experimental Tree Plantations in Lowland Costa Rica. Forests 2017, 8(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020040 --- Li, G.; Kim, S.; Han, S.; Chang, H.; Son, Y. Effect of Soil Moisture on the Response of Soil Respiration to Open-Field Experimental Warming and Precipitation Manipulation. Forests 2017, 8(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030056 --- Al‐Maliki, S.; Jones, D.; Godbold, D.; Gwynn‐Jones, D.; Scullion, J. Elevated CO2 and Tree Species Affect Microbial  Activity and Associated Aggregate Stability in Soil  Amended with Litter. Forests 2017, 8(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030070 --- Forests Editorial Office Erratum: Spatial Upscaling of Soil Respiration under a Complex Canopy Structure in an Old-Growth Deciduous Forest, Central Japan; Forests 2017, 8, 36. Forests 2017, 8(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030071 --- Munir, T.; Khadka, B.; Xu, B.; Strack, M. Partitioning Forest‐Floor Respiration into Source  Based Emissions in a Boreal Forested Bog: Responses  to Experimental Drought. Forests 2017, 8(3), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030075 --- Chen, D.; Yu, M.; González, G.; Zou, X.; Gao, Q. Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest. Forests 2017, 8(3), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090 --- Marconi, S.; Chiti, T.; Nolè, A.; Valentini, R.; Collalti, A. The Role of Respiration in Estimation of Net Carbon Cycle: Coupling Soil Carbon Dynamics and Canopy Turnover in a Novel Version of 3D-CMCC Forest Ecosystem Model. Forests 2017, 8(6), 220; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8060220

Description / Table of Contents: This edited book, Toxicity and Hazard of Agrochemicals, is intended to provide an overview of toxicology that examines the hazardous effects of common agrochemicals employed every day in our agricultural practices. Furthermore, it is hoped that the information in the present book will be of value to those directly engaged in the handling and use of agrochemicals and that this book will continue to meet the expectations and needs of all interested in the different aspects of human and environmental risk toxicities.

Description / Table of Contents: The copper-cobalt outcrops of Upper Katanga and north-western Zambia host a particular flora which comprises an estimated 750 species of which more than 400 are treated in this copper-cobalt field guide. The aim of this book, resulting from several years of intensive field work and study, is to bring together the basic knowledges permitting an easy approach to the identification of a great number of the species to be encountered. More than 400 species are illustrated with color photographs and/or drawings together with comments concerning synonyms, habit, description, ecology and distribution. Plant species are listed and colour-coded according to classification: Cyanoprocaryota, lichenized Fungi, Anthocerophyta, Marchantiophyta and Bryophyta (red edge), Lycophyta and Monilophyta (green edge), Magnoliopsida (blue edge) and Liliopsida (yellow edge). An index allows easy location either according to genus and species. An account of the research on copper-cobalt ecosystems carried out during the last ten years in southeastern D.R. Congo is also presented. The editors have spent more than twenty years in the area concerned and have collected more than 8,500 voucher specimens, including eleven species new to science (holotypes).

Description / Table of Contents: The success of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) brings us into a new era of global daily Earth observations, ranging from the faintest light of human settlements and air glows to the dramatic events of hurricanes and forest fires, as well as the subtle changes in the planet Earth which we call home. At the heart of all satellite applications, calibration/validation of the measurements and derived products is the key. Satellite product calibration and validation have become increasingly more important and challenging in order to meet the stringent requirements for accurate quantitative data for climate change detection, numerical weather prediction, and environmental intelligence. Validation is required not only for the satellite measurements, but also for all geophysical retrievals, including aerosols, cloud properties, radiation budget, sea surface temperature, ocean color, active fire, albedo, snow and ice, vegetation, as well as nightlights from human settlements. Active validation research includes but not limited to, comparisons with similar products from other satellites, with in situ, aircraft measurements, or observations from other platforms. Validation results not only help users and decision makers but also serve as feedback to calibration, which in turn improves the products. This Special Issue of Remote Sensing aims at exploring recent results in the calibration and validation of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (Suomi NPP)/JPSS radiometers.

Description / Table of Contents: The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project: Phase I Activities by a Global Community of Science (Cynthia Rosenzweig, James W Jones, Jerry L Hatfield, John M Antle, Alexander C Ruane, and Carolyn Z Mutter) --- AgMIP's Transdisciplinary Agricultural Systems Approach to Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation (John M Antle, Roberto O Valdivia, Kenneth J Boote, Sander Janssen, James W Jones, Cheryl H Porter, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, and Peter J Thorburn) --- AgMIP Climate Data and Scenarios for Integrated Assessment (Alexander C Ruane, Jonathan M Winter, Sonali P McDermid, and Nicholas I Hudson) --- Cropping Systems Modeling in AgMIP: A New Protocol-Driven Approach for Regional Integrated Assessments (Peter J Thorburn, Kenneth J Boote, John N G Hargreaves, Perry L Poulton, and James W Jones) --- Representative Agricultural Pathways and Scenarios for Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation (Roberto O Valdivia, John M Antle, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, Joost Vervoort, Muhammad Ashfaq, Ibrahima Hathie, Sabine Homann-Kee Tui, Richard Mulwa, Charles Nhemachena, Paramasivam Ponnusamy, Herath Rasnayaka, and Harbir Singh) --- Data Interoperability Tools for Regional Integrated Assessments (Cheryl H Porter, Chris Villalobos, Dean Holzworth, Roger Nelson, Jefffrey W White, Ioannis N Athanasiadis, Meng Zhang, Sander Janssen, Rob Knapen, James W Jones, Kenneth J Boote, John Hargreaves, and John M Antle) --- The AgMIP GRIDded Crop Modeling Initiative (AgGRID) and the Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison (GGCMI) (Joshua Elliott and Christoph Müller) --- The AgMIP Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP): Methods and Protocols (Sonali P McDermid, Alexander C Ruane, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Nicholas I Hudson, Monica D Morales, Prabodha Agalawatte, Shakeel Ahmad, L R Ahuja, Istiqlal Amien, Saseendran S Anapalli, Jakarat Anothai, Senthold Asseng, Jody Biggs, Federico Bert, Patrick Bertuzzi, Virender S Bhatia, Marco Bindi, Ian Broad, Davide Cammarano, Ramiro Carretero, Ashfaq Ahmad Chattha, Uran Chung, Stephanie Debats, Paola Deligios, Giacomo De Sanctis, Thanda Dhliwayo, Benjamin Dumont, Lyndon Estes, Frank Ewert, Roberto Ferrise, Thomas Gaiser, Guillermo Garcia, Sika Gbegbelegbe, Vellingiri Geethalakshmi, Edward Gerardeaux, Richard Goldberg, Brian Grant, Edgardo Guevara, Jonathan Hickman, Holger Hoffmann, Huanping Huang, Jamshad Hussain, Flavio Barbosa Justino, Asha S Karunaratne, Ann-Kristin Koehler, Patrice K Kouakou, Soora Naresh Kumar, Arunachalam Lakshmanan, Mark Lieffering, Xiaomao Lin, Qunying Luo, Graciela Magrin, Marco Mancini, Fabio Ricardo Marin, Anna Dalla Marta, Yuji Masutomi, Theodoros Mavromatis, Greg McLean, Santiago Meira, Monoranjan Mohanty, Marco Moriondo, Wajid Nasim, Lamyaa Negm, Francesca Orlando, Simone Orlandini, Isik Ozturk, Helena Maria Soares Pinto, Guillermo Podesta, Zhiming Qi, Johanna Ramarohetra, Muhammad Habib ur Rahman, Helene Raynal, Gabriel Rodriguez, Reimund Rötter, Vaishali Sharda, Lu Shuo, Ward Smith, Val Snow, Afshin Soltani, K Srinivas, Benjamin Sultan, Dillip Kumar Swain, Fulu Tao, Kindie Tesfaye, Maria I Travasso, Giacomo Trombi, Alex Topaj, Eline Vanuytrecht, Federico E Viscarra, Syed Aftab Wajid, Enli Wang, Hong Wang, Jing Wang, Erandika Wijekoon, Lee Byun-Woo, Yang Xiaoguang, Ban Ho Young, Jin I Yun, Zhigan Zhao, and Lareef Zubair) --- Uncertainty in Agricultural Impact Assessment (Daniel Wallach, Linda O Mearns, Michael Rivington, John M Antle, and Alexander C Ruane) --- Uncertainties in Scaling-Up Crop Models for Large-Area Climate Change Impact Assessments (Frank Ewert, Lenny G J van Bussel, Gang Zhao, Holger Hoffmann, Thomas Gaiser, Xenia Specka, Claas Nendel, Kurt-Christian Kersebaum, Carmen Sosa, Elisabet Lewan, Jagadeesh Yeluripati, Matthias Kuhnert, Fulu Tao, Reimund Rötter, Julie Constantin, Helene Raynal, Daniel Wallach, Edmar Teixeira, Balasz Grosz, Michaela Bach, Luca Doro, Pier Paolo Roggero, Zhigan Zhao, Enli Wang, Ralf Kiese, Edwin Haas, Henrik Eckersten, Giacomo Trombi, Marco Bindi, Christian Klein, Christian Biernath, Florian Heinlein, Eckart Priesack, Davide Cammarano, Senthold Asseng, Joshua Elliott, Michael Glotter, Bruno Basso, Guillermo A Baigorria, Consuelo C Romero, and Marco Moriondo) --- Statistical Analysis of Large Simulated Yield Datasets for Studying Climate Change Effects (David Makowski, Senthold Asseng, Frank Ewert, Simona Bassu, Jean-Louis Durand, Pierre Martre, Myriam Adam, Pramod K Aggarwal, Carlos Angulo, Christian Baron, Bruno Basso, Patrick Bertuzzi, Christian Biernath, Hendrik Boogaard, Kenneth J Boote, Nadine Brisson, Davide Cammarano, Andrew J Challinor, Sjakk J G Conijn, Marc Corbeels, Delphine Deryng, Giacomo De Sanctis, Jordi Doltra, Sebastian Gayler, Richard Goldberg, Patricio Grassini, Jerry L Hatfield, Lee Heng, Steven Hoek, Josh Hooker, Tony L A Hunt, Joachim Ingwersen, Cesar Izaurralde, Raymond E E Jongschaap, James W Jones, Armen R Kemanian, Christian Kersebaum, Soo-Hyung Kim, Jon Lizaso, Christoph Müller, Naresh S Kumar, Claas Nendel, Garry J O'Leary, Jorgen E Olesen, Tom M Osborne, Taru Palosuo, Maria V Pravia, Eckart Priesack, Dominique Ripoche, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Alexander C Ruane, Fredirico Sau, Mickhail A Semenov, Iurii Shcherbak, Pasquale Steduto, Claudio Stöckle, Pierre Stratonovitch, Thilo Streck, Iwan Supit, Fulu Tao, Edmar I Teixeira, Peter Thorburn, Denis Timlin, Maria Travasso, Reimund Rötter, Katharina Waha, Daniel Wallach, Jeffrey W White, Jimmy R Williams, and Joost Wolf) --- Crop Diseases and Climate Change in the AgMIP Framework (Ariena H C van Bruggen, James W Jones, Jose Mauricio C Fernandes, Karen Garrett, and Kenneth J Boote) --- Perspectives on Climate Effects on Agriculture: The International Efforts of AgMIP in Sub-Saharan Africa (Job Kihara, Dilys S MacCarthy, Andre Bationo, Saidou Koala, Jonathan Hickman, Jawoo Koo, Charles Vanya, Samuel Adiku, Yacob Beletse, Patricia Masikate, Karuturi P C Rao, Carolyn Z Mutter, Cynthia Rosenzweig, and James W Jones) --- Climate Change Impacts on West African Agriculture: An Integrated Regional Assessment (CIWARA) (Samuel G K Adiku, Dilys S MacCarthy, Ibrahima Hathie, Madina Diancoumba, Bright S Freduah, Joseph Amikuzuno, P C Sibiry Traore, Seydou Traore, Eric Koomson, Alhassane Agali, Jon I Lizaso, Dougbedji Fatondji, Myriam Adams, Lodoun Tigana, Daouda Z Diarra, Ousmane N'diaye, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Impacts of Climate Variability and Change on Agricultural Systems in East Africa (Karuturi P C Rao, Gummadi Sridhar, Richard M Mulwa, Mary N Kilavi, Anthony Esilaba, Ioannis N Athanasiadis, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Projected Impacts of Climate Change Scenarios on the Production of Maize in Southern Africa: An Integrated Assessment Case Study of the Bethlehem District, Central Free State, South Africa (Yacob G Beletse, Wiltrud Durand, Charles Nhemachena, Olivier Crespo, Weldemichael A Tesfuhuney, Matthew R Jones, Mogos Y Teweldemedhin, Sunshine M Gamedze, Pontsho M Bonolo, Syanda Jonas, SueWalker, Patrick Gwimbi, Thembeka N Mpuisang, Davide Cammarano, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Crop-Livestock Intensification in the Face of Climate Change: Exploring Opportunities to Reduce Risk and Increase Resilience in Southern Africa by Using an Integrated Multi-modeling Approach (Patricia Masikati, Sabine Homann-Kee Tui, Katrien Descheemaeker, Olivier Crespo, Sue Walker, Christopher J Lennard, Lieven Claessens, Arthur C Gama, Sebastiao Famba, Andre F van Rooyen, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Assessments of the Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture: An Overview of AgMIP Regional Research in South Asia (Sonali P McDermid, Guntuku Dileepkumar, K M Dakshina Murthy, S Nedumaran, Piara Singh, Chukka Srinivasa, B Gangwar, N Subash, Ashfaq Ahmad, Lareef Zubair, and S P Nissanka) --- Impact of Climate Change on the Rice–Wheat Cropping System of Pakistan (Ashfaq Ahmad, Muhammad Ashfaq, Ghulam Rasul, Syed Aftab Wajid, Tasneem Khaliq, Fahd Rasul, Umer Saeed, Muhammad Habib ur Rahman, Jamshad Hussain, Irfan Ahmad Baig, Syed Asif Ali Naqvi, Syed Ahsan Ali Bokhari, Shakeel Ahmad, Wajid Naseem, Gerrit Hoogenboom, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Climate Change Assessment through Linking Crop Simulation with Economic Modeling — Results from the Indo-Gangetic Basin (Nataraja Subash, Babooji Gangwar, Harbir Singh, Guillermo Baigorria, Alok Kumar Sikka, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Maize Farms and Farm Household Incomes in South India: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu (Paramasivam Ponnusamy, Geethalakshmi Vellingiri, Raji Reddy Danda, Lakshmanan Arunachalam, Dakshina Murthy, Sunandini Prema, Sreenivas Gade, Sonali P McDermid, and Roberto O Valdivia) --- Climate Change Impacts on Rice Farming Systems in Northwestern Sri Lanka (Lareef Zubair, Sarath P Nissanka, W M W Weerakoon, Dumindu I Herath, Asha S Karunaratne, A S M Prabodha, M B Agalawatte, Rasnayaka M Herath, S Zeenas Yahiya, B V R Punyawardene, Janan Vishwanathan, Punya Delpitiya, A Erandika N Wijekoon, Janaka Gunaratna, Sewwandhi S K Chandrasekara, P Wickramagamage, K D N Weerasinghe, Champa M Navaratne, Ruchika S Perera, Asela I Gunesekara, G M Pradeep Kumara, Daniel Wallach, Roberto O Valdivia, and Sonali P McDermid) --- AgMIP Regional Activities in a Global Framework: The Brazil Experience (Eduardo D Assad, Fábio R Marin, Roberto O Valdivia, and Cynthia Rosenzweig) --- AgMIP Regional Activities in a Global Framework: The China Experience (Fulu Tao and Erda Lin) --- AgMIP Training in Multiple Crop Models and Tools (Kenneth J Boote, Cheryl H Porter, John Hargreaves, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Peter Thorburn, and Carolyn Mutter) --- Major Findings and Future Activities (Cynthia Rosenzweig and Daniel Hillel)

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Multi-Species Stand Classification: Definition and Perspectives by Ana Cristina Gonçalves --- Chapter 2: Effects of Experimental Sowing on Agroforestry Ecosystem Primary Production during Recovery from Agricultural Abandonment in a Semi-Arid Region of Central Western Spain by Jimmy-Edgar Alvarez-Diaz, María del Carmen Santa-Regina and Ignacio Santa-Regina --- Chapter 3: Methodological Considerations in the Study of Earthworms in Forest Ecosystems by Dylan Rhea-Fournier and Grizelle González --- Chapter 4: Characterizing Predictability of Fire Occurrence in Tropical Forests and Grasslands: The Case of Puerto Rico by Ana Carolina Monmany, William A. Gould, María José Andrade- Núñez, Grizelle González and Maya Quiñones --- Chapter 5: Remote Sensing and Forest Conservation: Challenges of Illegal Logging in Kursumlija Municipality (Serbia) by Miomir M. Jovanović and Miško M. Milanović --- Chapter 6: From Paper to Carbon Money: Financing Forest Conservation and Offset by Valny Giacomelli Sobrinho

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Introductory Chapter: The Main Directions and Tasks of Pure and Applied Biogeography in Solving the Global Problems of Our Time by Levente Hufnagel --- Chapter 2: Are Historical Biogeographical Events Able to Promote Biological Diversification? by Julián A. Velasco --- Chapter 3: Ecological Responses to Climate Change at Biogeographical Boundaries by Melinda Pálinkás --- Chapter 4: A Synopsis of Global Mapping of Freshwater Habitats and Biodiversity: Implications for Conservation by Ryan A. McManamay, Natalie A. Griffiths, Christoper R. DeRolph and Brenda M. Pracheil --- Chapter 5: Plant Antiherbivore Defense in Diverse Environments by Alina Morquecho-Contreras, Carmen Zepeda-Gómez and Hermilo Sánchez-Sánchez --- Chapter 6: Vachellia (Acacia) karroo Communities in South Africa: An Overview by Mamokete Dingaan and Pieter J. du Preez --- Chapter 7: Ecological Biogeography of West Usambara Mountains: A Study on the Influence of Abiotic Factors to Spatial Distribution of Plant and Animal Species by Joel Loitu Meliyo, Kenneth F.G. Masuki, Balthazar M. Msanya, Didas N. Kimaro and Loth S. Mulungu

Description / Table of Contents: Zambon, I.; Colosimo, F.; Monarca, D.; Cecchini, M.; Gallucci, F.; Proto, A.; Lord, R.; Colantoni, A. An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets. Energies 2016, 9(7), 526; doi:10.3390/en9070526. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/7/526 --- Liu, P.; Wang, Q.; Yan, D.; Fang, W.; Mao, L.; Wang, D.; Li, Y.; Ouyang, C.; Guo, M.; Cao, A. Effects of Biochar Amendment on Chloropicrin Adsorption and Degradation in Soil. Energies 2016, 9(11), 869; doi:10.3390/en9110869. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/11/869 --- Fang, W.; Cao, A.; Yan, D.; Han, D.; Huang, B.; Li, J.; Liu, X.; Guo, M.; Wang, Q. The Effect of Two Types of Biochars on the Efficacy, Emission, Degradation, and Adsorption of the Fumigant Methyl Isothiocyanate. Energies 2017, 10(1), 16; doi:10.3390/en10010016. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/16 --- Long, J.; Boyette, M. Analysis of Micronized Charcoal for Use in a Liquid Fuel Slurry. Energies 2017, 10(1), 25; doi:10.3390/en10010025. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/1/25 --- Fuente-Hernández, A.; Lee, R.; Béland, N.; Zamboni, I.; Lavoie, J. Reduction of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol in Liquid Phase over a Biochar-Supported Platinum Catalyst. Energies 2017, 10(3), 286; doi:10.3390/en10030286. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/286 --- Brassard, P.; Godbout, S.; Raghavan, V.; Palacios, J.; Grenier, M.; Zegan, D. The Production of Engineered Biochars in a Vertical Auger Pyrolysis Reactor for Carbon Sequestration. Energies 2017, 10(3), 288; doi:10.3390/en10030288. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/288 --- González-Vázquez, M.; García, R.; Pevida, C.; Rubiera, F. Optimization of a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Plant for Low-Temperature Gasification of Biomass. Energies 2017, 10(3), 306; doi:10.3390/en10030306. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/3/306 --- Yang, X.; Wang, H.; Strong, P.; Xu, S.; Liu, S.; Lu, K.; Sheng, K.; Guo, J.; Che, L.; He, L.; Ok, Y.; Yuan, G.; Shen, Y.; Chen, X. Thermal Properties of Biochars Derived from Waste Biomass Generated by Agricultural and Forestry Sectors. Energies 2017, 10(4), 469; doi:10.3390/en10040469. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/469 --- Ellison, C.; McKeown, M.; Trabelsi, S.; Boldor, D. Dielectric Properties of Biomass/Biochar Mixtures at Microwave Frequencies. Energies 2017, 10(4), 502; doi:10.3390/en10040502. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/502 --- Kang, S.; Sim, B.; Kim, J. Volume and Mass Measurement of a Burning Wood Pellet by Image Processing. Energies 2017, 10(5), 603; doi:10.3390/en10050603. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/603 --- Tamošiūnas, A.; Chouchène, A.; Valatkevičius, P.; Gimžauskaitė, D.; Aikas, M.; Uscila, R.; Ghorbel, M.; Jeguirim, M. The Potential of Thermal Plasma Gasification of Olive Pomace Charcoal. Energies 2017, 10(5), 710; doi:10.3390/en10050710. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/710 --- Guizani, C.; Jeguirim, M.; Valin, S.; Limousy, L.; Salvador, S. Biomass Chars: The Effects of Pyrolysis Conditions on Their Morphology, Structure, Chemical Properties and Reactivity. Energies 2017, 10(6), 796; doi:10.3390/en10060796. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/796 --- Zhao, S.; Ta, N.; Wang, X. Effect of Temperature on the Structural and Physicochemical Properties of Biochar with Apple Tree Branches as Feedstock Material. Energies 2017, 10(9), 1293; doi:10.3390/en10091293. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/9/1293 --- Wanassi, B.; Hariz, I.; Ghimbeu, C.; Vaulot, C.; Jeguirim, M. Green Carbon Composite-Derived Polymer Resin and Waste Cotton Fibers for the Removal of Alizarin Red S Dye. Energies 2017, 10(9), 1321; doi:10.3390/en10091321. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/9/1321 --- Ghouma, I.; Jeguirim, M.; Sager, U.; Limousy, L.; Bennici, S.; Däuber, E.; Asbach, C.; Ligotski, R.; Schmidt, F.; Ouederni, A. The Potential of Activated Carbon Made of Agro-Industrial Residues in NOx Immissions Abatement. Energies 2017, 10(10), 1508; doi:10.3390/en10101508. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/10/1508 --- Jeguirim, M.; Limousy, L. Biomass Chars: Elaboration, Characterization and Applications. Energies 2017, 10(12), 2040; doi:10.3390/en10122040. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2040

Description / Table of Contents: Does Sea Surface Temperature Contribute to Determining Range Limits and Expansion of Mangroves in Eastern South America (Brazil)? / by Arimatéa C. Ximenes, Leandro Ponsoni, Catarina F. Lira, Nico Koedam and Farid Dahdouh-Guebas. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(11), 1787; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10111787 --- Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Variability of the Eastern Coastal Zone of the Gulf of California / by Carlos Manuel Robles-Tamayo, José Eduardo Valdez-Holguín, Ricardo García-Morales, Gudelia Figueroa-Preciado, Hugo Herrera-Cervantes, Juana López-Martínez and Luis Fernando Enríquez-Ocaña. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(9), 1434; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091434 --- Quality Assessment of Sea Surface Temperature from ATSRs of the Climate Change Initiative (Phase 1) / by Christoforos Tsamalis and Roger Saunders. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(4), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10040497 --- Confirmation of ENSO-Southern Ocean Teleconnections Using Satellite-Derived SST / by Brady S. Ferster, Bulusu Subrahmanyam and Alison M. Macdonald. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(2), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020331 --- Spatio-Temporal Interpolation of Cloudy SST Fields Using Conditional Analog Data Assimilation / by Ronan Fablet, Phi Huynh Viet, Redouane Lguensat, Pierre-Henri Horrein and Bertrand Chapron. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(2), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020310 --- Optimal Estimation of Sea Surface Temperature from AMSR-E / by Pia Nielsen-Englyst, Jacob L. Høyer, Leif Toudal Pedersen, Chelle L. Gentemann, Emy Alerskans, Tom Block and Craig Donlon. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(2), 229; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020229 --- Exploring Machine Learning to Correct Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperatures / by Stéphane Saux Picart, Pierre Tandeo, Emmanuelle Autret and Blandine Gausset. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(2), 224; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020224 --- The Accuracies of Himawari-8 and MTSAT-2 Sea-Surface Temperatures in the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean / by Angela L. Ditri, Peter J. Minnett, Yang Liu, Katherine Kilpatrick and Ajoy Kumar. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(2), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020212 --- Role of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Events on Temperature and Salinity Variability in the Agulhas Leakage Region / by Morgan L. Paris and Bulusu Subrahmanyam. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(1), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010127 --- Stability Assessment of the (A)ATSR Sea Surface Temperature Climate Dataset from the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative / by David I. Berry, Gary K. Corlett, Owen Embury and Christopher J. Merchant. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(1), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010126 --- Bayesian Cloud Detection for 37 Years of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Area Coverage (GAC) Data / by Claire E. Bulgin, Jonathan P. D. Mittaz, Owen Embury, Steinar Eastwood and Christopher J. Merchant. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(1), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010097 --- The Role of Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 Channels within an Optimal Estimation Scheme for Sea Surface Temperature / by Kevin Pearson, Christopher Merchant, Owen Embury and Craig Donlon. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(1), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010090 --- Remote Sensing of Coral Bleaching Using Temperature and Light: Progress towards an Operational Algorithm / by William Skirving, Susana Enríquez, John D. Hedley, Sophie Dove, C. Mark Eakin, Robert A. B. Mason, Jacqueline L. De La Cour, Gang Liu, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Alan E. Strong, Peter J. Mumby and Roberto Iglesias-Prieto. Remote Sensing 2018, 10(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10010018 --- Reconstruction of Daily Sea Surface Temperature Based on Radial Basis Function Networks / by Zhihong Liao, Qing Dong, Cunjin Xue, Jingwu Bi and Guangtong Wan. Remote Sensing 2017, 9(11), 1204; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9111204 --- Submesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Variability from UAV and Satellite Measurements / by Sandra L. Castro, William J. Emery, Gary A. Wick and William Tandy. Remote Sensing 2017, 9(11), 1089; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9111089 --- Environmental Variability and Oceanographic Dynamics of the Central and Southern Coastal Zone of Sonora in the Gulf of California / by Ricardo García-Morales, Juana López-Martínez, Jose Eduardo Valdez-Holguin, Hugo Herrera-Cervantes and Luis Daniel Espinosa-Chaurand. Remote Sensing 2017, 9(9), 925; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090925 --- Determining the Pixel-to-Pixel Uncertainty in Satellite-Derived SST Fields / by Fan Wu, Peter Cornillon, Brahim Boussidi and Lei Guan. Remote Sensing 2017, 9(9), 877; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090877 --- Evaluation of the Multi-Scale Ultra-High Resolution (MUR) Analysis of Lake Surface Temperature / by Erik Crosman, Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo and Toshio Michael Chin. Remote Sensing 2017, 9(7), 723; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9070723

Description / Table of Contents: Land degradation which is caused by multiple forces-extreme weather conditions and anthropogenic activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility-negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the provision of other ecosystem goods and services. Land degradation can also lead to climate change and affect human health. The problem is more pronounced in least developing countries due to overdependence of natural resources for survival. Sustainable ways to reduce land degradation and desertification demand research and advocacy of sustainable land management practices. This book is organized into two sections. The first section covers three major aspects, viz., an understanding of patterns of land degradation and desertification for developing mitigation strategies, land-atmosphere interaction from response of land cover to climate change effects of Karst rocky desertification, and the effect of unprecedented human activity into land degradation and desertification processes using natural and human-induced landscape research. The last section dwells on the relationship between soil degradation and crop production and an examination on how land degradation impacts the quality of soil in communal rangelands. Environmentalists, land-use planners, ecologists, pedologists, researchers, and graduate students will find this book to be an essential resource.

Description / Table of Contents: According to the 2014 revision of the World Urbanization Prospects by UN DESA, urbanization could add another 2.5 billion people to the urban population by 2050, with close to 90 percent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa. The largest urban growth will take place in India, China and Nigeria. This unprecedented increase in urban population not only poses challenges to providing urban jobs, housing, and infrastructure, but also exerts an increased pressure on urban land and sustainability. As land is a vital yet limited resource, sustainable management of urban land to cater to the needs of this growing urban population is seen as one of the key challenges for achieving an economically efficient, socially equitable, and environmentally safe society. A key tenet for sustainable economic development and smart growth is promoting sustainable urban land development and mitigating land use conflicts. While a large body of literature has dealt with both land use and sustainable development, the study of the interactive effects of these two remains limited. We also need more sophisticated empirical studies examining processes, mechanisms, institutions, equity, and sustainability of urban land use. We also encourage efforts to develop new theories, new concepts and new methods to understand the myriad ways in which urban land and sustainable development correlate each other. This special issue examines patterns, structure, and dynamics of urban land development and sustainability from multiple perspectives, in various contexts and at multiple dimensions (economic, social, political, developmental, environmental, etc.).

Description / Table of Contents: What are smart cities? What are their purposes? What are the impacts resulting from their implementations? With these questions in mind, this book is compiled with the primary concern of answering readers with different profiles; from those interested in acquiring basic knowledge about the various topics surrounding the subject related to smart cities, to those who are more motivated by knowing the technical elements and the technological apparatus involving this theme. This book audience is multidisciplinary, as it will be confirmed by the various chapters addressed here. It explores different knowledge areas, such as electric power systems, signal processing, telecommunications, electronics, systems optimization, computational intelligence, real-time systems, renewable energy systems, and information systems.

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Roles of the Environment in Plant Life-History Trade-offs by Yang Liu, Jeffrey L. Walck and Yousry A. El-Kassaby --- Chapter 2: Decoding the Transcriptome of Rice Seed During Development by Arunima Mahto, Iny Elizebeth Mathew and Pinky Agarwal --- Chapter 3: Transcriptome (ESTs) of Avocado “Native” Mexicano Early Seed Development Shows Abundance of Regulatory, Antioxidant and Defense Genes by Luis María Suárez-Rodríguez, Fernando Sánchez-Albarrán, Huber León-Corona and Rodolfo López-Gómez --- Chapter 4: Identification and Mapping of Phosphorylated Isoforms of the Major Storage Protein of Potato Based on Two- Dimensional Electrophoresis by Javier Bernal, María López-Pedrouso, Daniel Franco, Susana Bravo, Lucio García and Carlos Zapata --- Chapter 5: Seed Dormancy by Mustafa Yildiz, Ramazan Beyaz, Mehtap Gursoy, Murat Aycan, Yusuf Koc and Mustafa Kayan --- Chapter 6: Characterization of Genotype by Planting Date Effects on Runner-Type Peanut Seed Germination and Vigor Response to Temperature by Timothy L. Grey, Charles Y. Chen, Russell Nuti, Walter Scott Monfort and George Cutts III --- Chapter 7: Impact of Conditions of Water Supply on the Germination of Tomato and Pepper Seeds by Yekaterina Shapira, Edward Bormashenko, Gene Whyman, Bat- Chen Lubin and Elyashiv Drori --- Chapter 8: Metabolic Processes During Seed Germination by Awatif S. Ali and Alaaeldin A. Elozeiri --- Chapter 9: Free Radicals and Antioxidant System in Seed Biology by Fadime Eryılmaz Pehlivan --- Chapter 10: Anatomical and Chemical Insights into the White Clover (Trifolium repens L.) Seed Coat Associated to Water Permeability by Alberto Aníbal Galussi and María Esther Moya --- Chapter 11: Morphological Studies on Seeds of Scrophulariaceae s.l. and Their Systematic Significance by Balkrishna Ghimire, Go Eun Choi, Hayan Lee, Kweon Heo and Mi Jin Jeong --- Chapter 12: Seed Transmission of Tobamoviruses: Aspects of Global Disease Distribution by Aviv Dombrovsky and Elisheva Smith --- Chapter 13: Biology of Seed Vigor in the Light of -omics Tools by Isaac Oludayo Daniel --- Chapter 14: The Potential of Garden Cress (Lepidium sativum L.) Seeds for Development of Functional Foods by Chandra Shekhar Singh and Vinod Kumar Paswan --- Chapter 15: Genetic Improvement of Oilseed Crops Using Modern Biotechnology by Diego Villanueva-Mejia and Javier Correa Alvarez --- Chapter 16: Application of Mechanics to Plant Seeds as a Granular or Particulate Material by Michal Petrů and Ivan Mašín

Description / Table of Contents: The Role of Respiration in Estimation of Net Carbon Cycle: Coupling Soil Carbon Dynamics and Canopy Turnover in a Novel Version of 3D-CMCC Forest Ecosystem Model / Forests 2017, 8(6), 220; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8060220 --- Climate Impacts on Soil Carbon Processes along an Elevation Gradient in the Tropical Luquillo Experimental Forest / Forests 2017, 8(3), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030090 --- Partitioning Forest‐Floor Respiration into Source Based Emissions in a Boreal Forested Bog: Responses to Experimental Drought / Forests 2017, 8(3), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030075 --- Elevated CO2 and Tree Species Affect Microbial Activity and Associated Aggregate Stability in Soil Amended with Litter / Forests 2017, 8(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030070 --- Effect of Soil Moisture on the Response of Soil Respiration to Open-Field Experimental Warming and Precipitation Manipulation / Forests 2017, 8(3), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030056 --- Temporal Variability of Soil Respiration in Experimental Tree Plantations in Lowland Costa Rica / Forests 2017, 8(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020040 --- Spatial Upscaling of Soil Respiration under a Complex Canopy Structure in an Old‐Growth Deciduous Forest, Central Japan / Forests 2017, 8(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8020036 --- Heterotrophic Soil Respiration Affected by Compound Fertilizer Types in Red Pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) Stands of Korea / Forests 2016, 7(12), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7120309 --- Optimization Forest Thinning Measures for Carbon Budget in a Mixed Pine-Oak Stand of the Qingling Mountains, China: A Case Study / Forests 2016, 7(11), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110272 --- Mitigating the Stress of Drought on Soil Respiration by Selective Thinning: Contrasting Effects of Drought on Soil Respiration of Two Oak Species in a Mediterranean Forest / Forests 2016, 7(11), 263; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110263 --- Seasonal Variation in Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions at Three Age-Stages of Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) Stands in an Alluvial Island, Eastern China / Forests 2016, 7(11), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/f7110256 --- Erratum: Spatial Upscaling of Soil Respiration under a Complex Canopy Structure in an Old-Growth Deciduous Forest, Central Japan; Forests 2017, 8, 36 / Forests 2017, 8(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/f8030071

Description / Table of Contents: 1. Organic Fertilizers and Nutrient Recycling from Diluted Waste Streams / by Bente Foereid --- 2. Olive-Pressed Solid Residues as a Medium for Growing Mushrooms and Increasing Soil Fertility / by Hani Mohamed Awad Abdelzaher, Haifa Abdulaziz S. Alhaithloul and Shaima Mohamed Nabil Moustafa --- 3. Composing of Municipal Solid Waste and Its Use as Fertilizer / by Muhammad Khalid Iqbal --- 4. Relationship of Agronomic Practices to Soil Nitrogen Dynamics / by Congming Zou, Robert C Pearce, John H Grove, Yan Li, Xiaodong Hu, Jie Chen, Junying Li and Yan Jin --- 5. Fostering Fertilizer Use and Welfare Distribution in Tanzania: Implications for Policy and Practice / by Lutengano Mwinuka

Description / Table of Contents: Deng, X.; López-Martínez, C.; Chen, J.; Han, P. Statistical Modeling of Polarimetric SAR Data: A Survey and Challenges. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 348; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040348 --- Braun, A.; Hochschild, V. A SAR-Based Index for Landscape Changes in African Savannas. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040359 --- Ghafouri, A.; Amini, J.; Dehmollaian, M.; Kavoosi, M. Better Estimated IEM Input Parameters Using Random Fractal Geometry Applied on Multi-Frequency SAR Data. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050445 --- Kim, S.; Yu, J.; Jeon, S.; Dewantari, A.; Ka, M. Signal Processing for a Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) Video Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with Beat Frequency Division Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW). Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 491; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050491 --- Chen, Q.; Li, L.; Xu, Q.; Yang, S.; Shi, X.; Liu, X. Multi-Feature Segmentation for High-Resolution Polarimetric SAR Data Based on Fractal Net Evolution Approach. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(6), 570; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060570 --- Garthwaite, M. On the Design of Radar Corner Reflectors for Deformation Monitoring in Multi-Frequency InSAR. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9070648 --- Tao, C.; Chen, S.; Li, Y.; Xiao, S. PolSAR Land Cover Classification Based on Roll-Invariant and Selected Hidden Polarimetric Features in the Rotation Domain. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 660; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9070660 --- Giudici, D.; Monti Guarnieri, A.; Cuesta Gonzalez, J. Pre-Flight SAOCOM-1A SAR Performance Assessment by Outdoor Campaign. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(7), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9070729 --- Libert, L.; Derauw, D.; d’Oreye, N.; Barbier, C.; Orban, A. Split-Band Interferometry-Assisted Phase Unwrapping for the Phase Ambiguities Correction. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 879; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090879 --- Zhao, J.; Wu, J.; Ding, X.; Wang, M. Elevation Extraction and Deformation Monitoring by Multitemporal InSAR of Lupu Bridge in Shanghai. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 897; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090897 --- Park, J.; Kim, J.; Won, J. Fast and Efficient Correction of Ground Moving Targets in a Synthetic Aperture Radar, Single-Look Complex Image. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090926 --- Shi, X.; Jiang, H.; Zhang, L.; Liao, M. Landslide Displacement Monitoring with Split-Bandwidth Interferometry: A Case Study of the Shuping Landslide in the Three Gorges Area. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 937; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090937 --- Zhai, A.; Wen, X.; Xu, H.; Yuan, L.; Meng, Q. Multi-Layer Model Based on Multi-Scale and Multi-Feature Fusion for SAR Images. Remote Sens. 2017, 9(10), 1085; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9101085 --- Wang, C.; Chen, L.; Zhao, H.; Lu, Z.; Bian, M.; Zhang, R.; Feng, J. 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Description / Table of Contents: 1. An Insight into the Process, Tools and Techniques for Construction Risk Management / by Onengiyeofori O. Odimabo, Chike F. Oduoza and Subashini Suresh --- 2. Big Data as a Project Risk Management Tool / by Jarosław Górecki --- 3. Product Life Cycle Risk Management / by Jan Machac, Frantisek Steiner and Jiri Tupa --- 4. Critical Success Factors for Effective Risk Management / by Geraldine J. Kikwasi --- 5. Construction Supply Chain Resilience in Catastrophic Events / by Yasangika Gayani Sandanayake, Tharaka Bandara Dissanayake and Chike Oduoza --- 6. Risk Management in Indonesia Construction Project: A Case Study of a Toll Road Project / by Mochammad Agung Wibowo, Jati Utomo Dwi Hatmoko and Asri Nurdiana --- 7. Risk Management to Enhance Performance in the Construction SME Sector; Theory and Case Study / by Jan Simota, Jiri Tupa* and Frantisek Steiner --- 8. Leadership Initiatives for Health and Safety Risk Management Systems in a Small Construction Company: A Case Study / by Subashini Suresh, Chike Oduoza and Suresh Renukappa --- 9. Landslide Risk Management for Urbanized Territories / by Valentina Svalova