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    Recent global and regional trends in burned area and their compensating environmental controls
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2019) Forkel, Matthias; Dorigo, Wouter; Lasslop, Gitta; Chuvieco, Emilio; Hantson, Stijn; Heil, Angelika; Teubner, Irene; Thonicke, Kirsten; Harrison, Sandy P.
    The apparent decline in the global incidence of fire between 1996 and 2015, as measured by satellite-observations of burned area, has been related to socioeconomic and land use changes. However, recent decades have also seen changes in climate and vegetation that influence fire and fire-enabled vegetation models do not reproduce the apparent decline. Given that the satellite-derived burned area datasets are still relatively short (<20 years), this raises questions both about the robustness of the apparent decline and what causes it. We use two global satellite-derived burned area datasets and a data-driven fire model to (1) assess the spatio-temporal robustness of the burned area trends and (2) to relate the trends to underlying changes in temperature, precipitation, human population density and vegetation conditions. Although the satellite datasets and simulation all show a decline in global burned area over ~20 years, the trend is not significant and is strongly affected by the start and end year chosen for trend analysis and the year-to-year variability in burned area. The global and regional trends shown by the two satellite datasets are poorly correlated for the common overlapping period (2001–2015) and the fire model simulates changes in global and regional burned area that lie within the uncertainties of the satellite datasets. The model simulations show that recent increases in temperature would lead to increased burned area but this effect is compensated by increasing wetness or increases in population, both of which lead to declining burned area. Increases in vegetation cover and density associated with recent greening trends lead to increased burned area in fuel-limited regions. Our analyses show that global and regional burned area trends result from the interaction of compensating trends in controls of wildfire at regional scales.
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    German pig farmers’ perceived agency under different nitrogen policies
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2021) Stuhr, Luisa; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Jaeger-Erben, Melanie; Beier, Felicitas; Hunecke, Claudia; Collignon, Quitterie; Lotze-Campen, Hermann
    Agricultural nitrogen (N) emissions represent the most substantial N source in Germany. Even though multiple policies have been introduced at the EU and German national level to reduce agriculturally sourced reactive Nitrogen (N), Germany is exceeding the target of the government's national sustainability strategy to limit N surpluses. To form a better view of the current N policy challenges, this paper seeks to identify what constrains family-managed pig farmers in Germany from adopting N-reduced farming practices. Our study applies a practice-based approach and reconstructs farmers' practice and individual perception of the possible capability to change practices (perceived agency) through problem-centred interviews. The study identifies different ideal types of farmers based on their reported farming practices and perceived agency: The first type feeling overburdened and weary of the current requirements, the second type acting based on routine and incremental improvement efforts, and the third type adapting early and inventing. However, regarding the perceived agency to adopt N-reduced farming practices our results show that all three farmer types report only low to little agency. Based on the findings, the study identifies type-specific and type-spanning constraining factors. To resolve farmers' perceived contradictions and inconsistencies which result in the unwillingness to accept further N reduction measures, we argue that policies need to address these factors. To enhance long-term paths for sustainable N-reduced farming practices, this study concludes that N policies need to shift towards outcome-oriented policies to create a collective and holistic understanding of the desired outcome while considering their embeddedness into regional and individual contexts.