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| Author |
Christen, B.; Kjeldsen, C.; Dalgaard, T.; Martin-Ortega, J. |
| Title |
Can fuzzy cognitive mapping help in agricultural policy design and communication? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year  |
2015 |
Publication |
Land Use Policy |
Abbreviated Journal |
Land Use Policy |
| Volume |
45 |
Issue |
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Pages |
64-75 |
| Keywords |
Agricultural policy; Agro-environmental measures; Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM); General Binding Rules; Stakeholder communication; Scottish agriculture |
| Abstract |
Highlights •Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM)can help to improve agricultural policy design. •We analyse the views on regulation between farmers and non-farmers. •We demonstrate the utility of FCM in disentangling reasons for non-compliance. •Non-compliance is a result of dis-alignment of views rather than unwillingness. •FCM offers a critical, reflexive approach to how a regulatory process is conceived. Agricultural environmental regulation often fails to deliver the desired effects because of farmers adopting the related measures incorrectly or not at all. This is due to several barriers to the uptake of the prescribed environmentally beneficial farm management practices, most of which have been well established by social science research. Yet it is unclear why these barriers remain so difficult to overcome despite numerous and persistent attempts at the design, communication and enforcement of related agricultural policies. This paper examines the potential of fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) as a tool to disentangle the underlying reasons of this persistent problem. We present the FCM methodology as adapted to the application in a Scottish case study on how environmental regulation affects farmers and farming practice and what factors are important for compliance or non-compliance with this regulation. The study compares the views of two different stakeholder groups on this matter using FCM network visualizations that were validated by interviews and a workshop session. There was a farmers group representing a typical mix of Scottish farming systems and a non-farmers group, the latter comprising professionals from the fields of design, implementation, administration, consulting on and enforcement of agricultural policies. Between the two groups, the FCM process reveals a very different perception of importance and interaction of factors and strongly suggests that the problem lies in an institutional failure rather than in a simple unwillingness of farmers to obey the rules. FCM allows for a structured process of identifying areas of conflicting perceptions, but also areas where strongly differing groups of stakeholders might be able to gain common ground. In this way, FCM can help to identify anchoring points for targeted policy development and has the potential of becoming a useful tool in agricultural policy design and communication. Our results show the utility of FCM by pointing out how Scottish environmental regulation could be altered to increase compliance with the rules and where the reasons for the identified institutional failure might be sought. |
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LiveM, ftnotmacsur |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4620 |
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| Author |
Pilbeam, D.J. |
| Title |
Breeding crops for improved mineral nutrition under climate change conditions |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Botany |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Experim. Bot. |
| Volume |
66 |
Issue |
12 |
Pages |
3511-3421 |
| Keywords |
Breeding/*methods; *Climate Change; Crops, Agricultural/*growth & development; Environment; Minerals/*metabolism; *Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Micronutrient; nitrogen; nutrient availability; nutrient use efficiency; phosphorus; quantitative trait loci (QTLs) |
| Abstract |
Improvements in understanding how climate change may influence chemical and physical processes in soils, how this may affect nutrient availability, and how plants may respond to changed availability of nutrients will influence crop breeding programmes. The effects of increased atmospheric CO2 and warmer temperatures, both individually and combined, on soil microbial activity, including mycorrhizas and N-fixing organisms, are evaluated, together with their implications for nutrient availability. Potential changes to plant growth, and the combined effects of soil and plant changes on nutrient uptake, are discussed. The organization of research on the efficient use of macro- and micronutrients by crops under climate change conditions is outlined, including analysis of QTLs for nutrient efficiency. Suggestions for how the information gained can be used in plant breeding programmes are given. |
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1460-2431; 0022-0957 |
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Review |
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CropM |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4575 |
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Kros, J.; Bakker, M.M.; Reidsma, P.; Kanellopoulos, A.; Jamal Alam, S.; de Vries, W. |
| Title |
Impacts of agricultural changes in response to climate and socioeconomic change on nitrogen deposition in nature reserves |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Landscape Ecology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Landscape Ecol. |
| Volume |
30 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
871-885 |
| Keywords |
Agricultural adaptation; Climate change; Land use change; Environmental; impact; Farming system; Nitrogen losses; netherlands; diversity; scenario |
| Abstract |
This paper describes the environmental consequences of agricultural adaptation on eutrophication of the nearby ecological network for a study area in the Netherlands. More specifically, we explored (i) likely responses of farmers to changes in climate, technology, policy, and markets; (ii) subsequent changes in nitrogen (N) emissions in responses to farmer adaptations; and (iii) to what extent the emitted N was deposited in nearby nature reserves, in view of the potential impacts on plant species diversity and desired nature targets. For this purpose, a spatially-explicit study at landscape level was performed by integrating the environmental model INITIATOR, the farm model FSSIM, and the land-use model RULEX. We evaluated two alternative scenarios of change in climate, technology, policy, and markets for 2050: one in line with a ‘global economy’ (GE) storyline and the other in line with a ‘regional communities’ (RC) storyline. Results show that the GE storyline resulted in a relatively strong increase in agricultural production compared to the RC storyline. Despite the projected conversions of agricultural land to nature (as part of the implementation of the National Ecological Network), we project an increase in N losses and N deposition due to N emissions in the study area of about 20 %. Even in the RC storyline, with a relatively modest increase in agricultural production and a larger expansion of the nature reserve, the N losses and deposition remain at the current level, whereas a reduction is required. We conclude that more ambitious green policies are needed in view of nature protection. |
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0921-2973 1572-9761 |
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CropM |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4565 |
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| Author |
Meyer, P. |
| Title |
Epigenetic variation and environmental change |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Botany |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Experim. Bot. |
| Volume |
66 |
Issue |
12 |
Pages |
3541-3548 |
| Keywords |
DNA Methylation/genetics; DNA Transposable Elements/genetics; *Environment; *Epigenesis, Genetic; Plants/genetics; Stress, Physiological/genetics; Adaptation; DNA methylation; epigenetics; stress response |
| Abstract |
Environmental conditions can change the activity of plant genes via epigenetic effects that alter the competence of genetic information to be expressed. This may provide a powerful strategy for plants to adapt to environmental change. However, as epigenetic changes do not modify DNA sequences and are therefore reversible, only those epi-mutations that are transmitted through the germline can be expected to contribute to a long-term adaptive response. The major challenge for the investigation of epigenetic adaptation theories is therefore to identify genomic loci that undergo epigenetic changes in response to environmental conditions, which alter their expression in a heritable way and which improve the plant’s ability to adapt to the inducing conditions. This review focuses on the role of DNA methylation as a prominent epigenetic mark that controls chromatin conformation, and on its potential in mediating expression changes in response to environmental signals. |
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1460-2431 (Electronic) 0022-0957 (Linking) |
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CropM |
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no |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4569 |
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| Author |
Heinemann, A.B.; Barrios-Perez, C.; Ramirez-Villegas, J.; Arango-Londoño, D.; Bonilla-Findji, O.; Medeiros, J.C.; Jarvis, A. |
| Title |
Variation and impact of drought-stress patterns across upland rice target population of environments in Brazil |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Journal of Experimental Botany |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Experim. Bot. |
| Volume |
66 |
Issue |
12 |
Pages |
3625-3638 |
| Keywords |
Brazil; Climate; Computer Simulation; Crops, Agricultural/physiology; *Droughts; *Environment; Geography; Oryza/*physiology; Plant Transpiration; *Stress, Physiological; Water; Breeding; Oryza sativa; environment classification; modelling; water deficit. |
| Abstract |
The upland rice (UR) cropped area in Brazil has decreased in the last decade. Importantly, a portion of this decrease can be attributed to the current UR breeding programme strategy, according to which direct grain yield selection is targeted primarily to the most favourable areas. New strategies for more-efficient crop breeding under non-optimal conditions are needed for Brazil’s UR regions. Such strategies should include a classification of spatio-temporal yield variations in environmental groups, as well as a determination of prevalent drought types and their characteristics (duration, intensity, phenological timing, and physiological effects) within those environmental groups. This study used a process-based crop model to support the Brazilian UR breeding programme in their efforts to adopt a new strategy that accounts for the varying range of environments where UR is currently cultivated. Crop simulations based on a commonly grown cultivar (BRS Primavera) and statistical analyses of simulated yield suggested that the target population of environments can be divided into three groups of environments: a highly favorable environment (HFE, 19% of area), a favorable environment (FE, 44%), and least favourable environment (LFE, 37%). Stress-free conditions dominated the HFE group (69% likelihood) and reproductive stress dominated the LFE group (68% likelihood), whereas reproductive and terminal drought stress were found to be almost equally likely to occur in the FE group. For the best and worst environments, we propose specific adaptation focused on the representative stress, while for the FE, wide adaptation to drought is suggested. ‘Weighted selection’ is also a possible strategy for the FE and LFE environment groups. |
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0022-0957 1460-2431 |
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CropM |
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MA @ admin @ |
Serial |
4560 |
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