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Desertification Indicator System for Mediterranean Europe

 

The main issues associated with Mediterranean desertification

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Table of indicators relating to inappropriate dry farming practices on marginally productive land
Author: Jorge García Gómez <jorgegg@um.es>


Based on the discussion of the issue of inappropriate agricultural practices and on a workshop session carried out by members of the DESERTLINKS project, we have attempted to structure the relationship of the indicators to the issue.

The agricultural practices issue is divided into three themes:

  • what can be observed (or process or state dynamics);
  • reasons for what is observed (or factors influencing the issue or driving forces and pressures);
  • consequences of what is observed (or impacts and responses).

The different facets of each theme are given in sub-themes and indicators of direct relevance to measuring or monitoring are suggested. Some are also suggested as headline indicators which, if considered as a group, form a sub-set of indicators encapsulating the major processes in agricultural practices (see also Combining and using indicators: Headline indicators).

Please note that the structure presented in the table below is open to discussion. It may not be comprehensive because it is restricted to the indicators currently in the DIS4ME database. Some indicators appear more than once because they relate to more than one theme. This structure is something we would like to develop further in the future.



Theme Sub-theme Indicators

What can be observed (process or state dynamics)

Farm income, including subsidies Net farm income (Headline)
  Income from off-farm employment Parallel employment
  Land management changes Land use evolution (Headline)
Tillage operations
Tillage direction
Fragmentation of land parcels
Farm size (Headline)
Reasons for what is observed (influencing factors or driving forces and pressures) Climate Climate quality index (Headline)
Rainfall
Rainfall seasonality
Rainfall erosivity
Potential evapotranspiration
Aridity index (1)
Aridity index (2)
Drought index
Drought
  Soil Soil quality index (Headline)
Soil organic matter in surface soil
  Economic and socio-economic conditions

Agricultural prices
EU production subsidies
Irrigation potential realised
Urban sprawl
Farmer's age

  Farming practices Tillage operations
Tillage depth
Tillage direction
  Land use Land use type
Land use intensity
Consequences of what is observed (or impacts and responses) Land abandonment Land abandoned from agriculture
  Soil degradation Soil erosion
  Policy enforcement Policy enforcement
  Agri-environmental management Agri-environmental management

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