title: Assessing the effectiveness of sustainable land management policies for combating desertification: A data mining approach.
abstract: This study investigates the relationship between fine resolution, local-scale biophysical and socioeconomic contexts within which land degradation occurs, and the human responses to it. The research draws on experimental data collected under different territorial and socioeconomic conditions at 586 field sites in five Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). We assess the level of desertification risk under various land management practices (terracing, grazing control, prevention of wildland fires, soil erosion control measures, soil water conservation measures, sustainable farming practices, land protection measures and financial subsidies) taken as possible responses to land degradation. A data mining approach, incorporating principal component analysis, non-parametric correlations, multiple regression and canonical analysis, was developed to identify the spatial relationship between land management conditions, the socioeconomic and environmental context (described using 40 biophysical and socioeconomic indicators) and desertification risk. Our analysis identified a number of distinct relationships between the level of desertification experienced and the underlying socioeconomic context, suggesting that the effectiveness of responses to land degradation is strictly dependent on the local biophysical and socioeconomic context. Assessing the latent relationship between land management practices and the biophysical/socioeconomic attributes characterizing areas exposed to different levels of desertification risk proved to be an indirect measure of the effectiveness of field actions contrasting land degradation.
authors.affiliation: Italian Council of Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salvati
authors.affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. Electronic address: ckosm@aua.gr.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kosmas
authors.affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kairis
authors.affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karavitis
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acikalin
authors.affiliation: Institut des Regions Arides, Tunisia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belgacem
authors.affiliation: Estacion Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solé-Benet
authors.affiliation: University of Mohamed V, Chair UNESCO-GN, Morocco.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chaker
authors.affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fassouli
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gokceoglu
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gungor
authors.affiliation: Alterra, Wageningen UR, Netherlands.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hessel
authors.affiliation: Institut des Regions Arides, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khatteli
authors.affiliation: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kounalaki
authors.affiliation: University of Mohamed V, Chair UNESCO-GN, Morocco.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laouina
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ocakoglu
authors.affiliation: Institut des Regions Arides, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouessar
authors.affiliation: Alterra, Wageningen UR, Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ritsema
authors.affiliation: Institut des Regions Arides, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sghaier
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sonmez
authors.affiliation: Institut des Regions Arides, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taamallah
authors.affiliation: Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tezcan
authors.affiliation: Estacion Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Vente
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (D.A.F.N.E.), Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colantoni
authors.affiliation: University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Department of Social and Economic Science, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carlucci
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods*; D058735:Environmental Policy / Q000191:economics; D005390:Fires; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D009018:Morocco; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012987:Soil; D013030:Spain; D014416:Tunisia; D014421:Turkey; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Human pressure; Indicators; Mediterranean region; Multivariate statistics; Response assemblage