Novel Measurement and Assessment Tools for Monitoring and Management of Land and Water Resources in Agricultural Landscapes of Central Asia

Central Asia is the global hotspot of a nexus of resources. Land, water and food are key issues in this nexus. We analysed the status of land and water resources and their potential and limitations for agriculture in the five Central Asian Transition States. Agricultural productivity and its impacts on land and water quality were also studied. The ecological status of open waters and soils as dependent on the kind of water and land use was shown. The main sources were information and data from the scientific literature, recent research reports, the statistical databases of the FAO and UNECE, and the results of our own field work. Agriculture is crucial for the economy of all Central Asian countries and responsible for about 90 % of their water use. We found that land and water resources may provide their function of food supply, but the agricultural productivity of grassland and cropland is relatively low. Irrigation agriculture is sometimes inefficient and may cause serious detrimental side effects involving soil and water salinisation. Dryland farming, as currently practiced, includes a high risk of wind and water erosion. Water bodies and aquatic, arable and grassland ecosystems are in a critical state with tendencies to accelerated degradation and landscape desertification. Despite all these limitations, agricultural landscapes in Central Asia have great potential for multi-functional use as a source of income for the rural population, tourism and eco-tourism included. The precondition for this is a peaceful environment in which they can be developed. All major rivers and their reservoirs cross borders and involve potential conflict between upstream and downstream riparians. The nexus of resources requires more detailed research, both in the extent of individual elements and processes, and their interactions and cycles. Processes in nature and societies are autocorrelated and intercorrelated, but external disturbances or inputs may also trigger future developments. We emphasise the role of knowledge and technology transfer in recognising and controlling processes. There has been a lot of progress in science and technology over the past ten years, but agri-environmental research and education in Central Asia are still in a crisis. Overcoming this crisis and applying advanced methods in science and technology are key issues for further development. Science and technology may provide an overall knowledge shift when it comes to recognising processes and initiating sustainable development. The following chapters introduce the results of further, more detailed and regional analyses of the status of soil and water. Novel measurement and assessment tools for researching into, monitoring and managing land and water resources will be presented. We will inform future elites, scientists and decision makers on how to deal with them and encourage them to take action.

This chapter includes information on the current status of the soil landscape of Kazakhstan and an analysis of materials based on our own research published during the last two decades, as well as literature on land degradation, salinisation, soil contamination and land resource use. It has been found that a current tendency can be observed towards intensive land degradation and desertification, salinisation (including secondary salinisation and soil contamination by oil, petroleum products, chemicals and radioactive substances), de-humification, decreasing soil fertility and deterioration of the ecological status of soil resources. In Kazakhstan this problem is complex because of the vast territory and variety of both natural conditions and anthropogenic impacts on soil. The sustainable development of agriculture in Kazakhstan and ensuring food and environmental safety are closely related to the rational and efficient use of soil. In this regard, it is necessary to develop appropriate laws and regulations, programmes and related activities and to take measures to prevent rapid land degradation, desertification and deterioration of the environmental situation, and to start to restore soil fertility.

This chapter highlights current issues regarding long-term monitoring and water resource management in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It includes basic information about water resource monitoring systems, features and characteristics of water use in Kazakhstan, and the average costs of water for production. The most urgent water management problems have been outlined, for example that of water distribution from trans-boundary rivers such as the Ertis, Ile, Syrdarya and others, and ensuring the security of water facilities in Kazakhstan. The results of a catastrophic flood in the village of Kyzylagash are shown along with data from operative space imaging of the reservoir. Space-based information is described with a proposal for how it could be applied for the complex assessment of emergency risks in flood-endangered parts of river basins. A technological scheme is developed for Remote Sensing of Earth (RSE) data processing using GIS technology, and an outline is provided of the stages of digital data processing and GIS analysis technology and data interpretation. The proposed methodology is most promising and offers a new approach to evaluating water resources and identifying emergency situations and their consequences.

During the first years of independence all Central Asian countries focused their policies on a maximum increase of wheat grain production. In Kazakhstan this strengthened farm economies, while in other countries it was a step towards self-sufficiency in wheat grain production. However, this single-crop production strategy had an obvious negative impact on crop diversification, including the production of feed and forage crops, as well as oilseeds, pulses and sugar beets. The governments of most Central Asian countries seemed to be concerned with wheat and cotton production while the livestock industry long remained a neglected sector, left to household plots. In recent years, the livestock industry has gained more support from the governments, but livestock productivity may only be improved when measures to improve rangeland management and increase forage production are undertaken. In this respect it is the right time to change policies towards supporting rangeland improvement and integrated crop and livestock production. This will also improve long-term soil conservation.

Currently the world hosts seven billion people that require food. About one third of the earth’s land area is now intensively used by agriculture, and another third extensively. Agriculture inevitably depends on soil quality as well as on water resources. More than 70 % of human water use is due to irrigation. In addition, transpiration from rainfed agriculture comprises a substantial part of the earth’s water cycle. Thus, land use both highly depends and affects water availability and is intimately intertwined with water resources management. The term “landscape” is used here to account for a variety of feedback effects between natural resources, human land use, economy and demography. The world population continues to increase. In addition, growth of economic wealth in many countries increased demand for upmarket agricultural products, and there is increasing demand for biofuel production as well which increases pressure on soil and water at a global scale. During the last 50 years cultivated area per capita decreased by half and likely will continue to decrease. Thus there is urgent need for advanced concepts of sustainable use of water and soil resources. Already today groundwater and river water over-exploitation due to increasing irrigation is a matter of concern. In some regions groundwater levels have been decreasing by 1 m per year during the last decades. Even large rivers fell increasingly dry. This has severe implications for water resources further downstream, not to mention biodiversity aspects. For example, the Aral Sea has been shrinking by more than 90 % within a few decades, giving place to a hostile salt desert. Thus, inefficient water management and land degradation are closely connected to each other. Climate change is now considered an increasing threat on water resources. Increasing air temperature is often associated with increasing evapotranspiration and thus increasing utilization of rare water resources. However, this is an oversimplification. On the one hand, warmer air masses can transport more water vapour, and increasing temperature comes along with increasing energy for mass transport which could even increase precipitation. In addition, higher CO

2

partial pressure likely will increase water use efficiency of plants and thus reduce water consumption. On the other hand, large scale atmospheric circulation patterns most probably will be affected by climate change and thus change spatial patterns of precipitation which is not trivial to predict. Correspondingly, climate change models are fraught with large uncertainties with respect to precipitation. However, experts agree that in general frequency and intensity of extreme events like floods and drought likely will increase which poses agricultural management and soil resources at increasing risk. Besides, melting of glaciers in mountainous regions currently increases water availability in the lowlands downstream, whereas the opposite is true in the long-term. Thus there is urgent need for an “Integrated Water Resources Management” (IWRM) which has to include soil quality management as well. Various ideas, concepts and methods exist. However, local conditions have to be considered. Thus, experience from different parts of the world needs to be exchanged. This book is intended to contribute to that.

The chapter gives an overview of global land potentials, crop yields and their limiting factors, and of methods to evaluate the productivity potential of land. Maintaining the capacity of the global land resource to produce plant biomass which can be used for humans is one of the most challenging issues of the 21st century. We need methodologies to observe and control the status of the potential productivity of agricultural and other lands. Methods of overall soil quality assessment which include the most significant factors and indicators relevant to soil productivity potentials can be useful tools for monitoring and managing the global soil resource sustainably. The aim was to find a common basis for soil productivity evaluation, as required by a global community of land users to allow achievement of high productivity in the context of a sustainable multifunctional use of landscapes. Results showed that soil types or reference groups in most existing soil classifications are largely defined on pedogenetic criteria and provide insufficient information to assess soil functionality. Traditional specific soil and land evaluation schemes already exist at national levels. They are based on different concepts of soil fertility or quality, local soil properties and the types of land use and management that prevail in the region or country. Their soil data inputs differ, ratings are not transferable and not applicable in transnational studies. At a transnational level, methods like agro-ecological zoning or ecosystem and crop models provide reliable assessments of land productivity potentials. Such methods are not intended for a field scale application to detect main soil constraints or to derive soil management recommendations in situ. A comparative analysis of several soil and land evaluation methods revealed the usefulness of indicator-based approaches applicable reliably, simply and consistently over different scales, from field level to large regions (aided by soil maps). Basic soil survey methods, including visual tactile soil structure assessment, are useful diagnostic tools for the recognition of productivity limiting soil attributes and estimation of indicator values. We advocate a straightforward indicator-based soil functional assessment system supplementing the current WRB (

2006

) classification or the coming Universal Soil Classification. It operates as a useful tool for monitoring, planning and management decisions based on soil quality (SQ) by detecting properties and limitation of soils for cropping and grazing and by providing estimates of attainable crop yields over different scales. The Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR), described in a chapter of Part II, has the potential to serve as a global reference assessment method of soil productivity potentials consistently over different scales. It combines visual methods of soil assessment (methods of soil survey, visual assessment of soil structure) with climate data in expert-based evaluation, classification and ranking schemes. M-SQR has been successfully tested in most agricultural regions worldwide. It provides concrete results about soil quality but also a frame for further research towards sustainable agricultural practices.

A knowledge of soil hydraulic properties—the water retention curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity—is required for soil water modelling and for various studies of soil hydrology. Taking measurements using traditional techniques is time consuming, the equipment is costly and the results can be uncertain. The evaporation method is frequently used for the simultaneous determination of hydraulic functions of unsaturated soil samples, i.e. the water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity function. Due to the limited range of common tensiometers, all the methodological variations of the evaporation method suffer from the limitation that the hydraulic functions can only be determined to a maximum of 70 kPa. The extended evaporation method (EEM) overcomes this restriction. Using new cavitation tensiometers and setting the air-entry pressure of the tensiometer’s porous ceramic cup as a final tension value allow both hydraulic functions to be quantified close to the wilting point. Additionally, soil shrinkage dynamics as well as soil water hysteresis can be quantified. Here, the HYPROP system was selected, a commercial device with vertically aligned tensiometers optimised to perform evaporation measurements. The HYPROP software was developed for recording, calculating, evaluating, fitting and exporting hydrological data. A good match between the results of soil hydraulic functions was shown when those obtained from traditional methods and the extended evaporation method were compared. Systematic deviations were not found.

The ability to quantify soil water flow is a prerequisite for the accurate prediction of solute transfer within the unsaturated zone. Monitoring these fluxes is a challenge because the results are required for answering not only scientific but also practical questions regarding the protection of groundwater, the sustainable management of agricultural, forestry, mining or set aside industrial areas, the reduction of leachate loss from landfills, and for explaining the fate of environmentally harmful substances. Both direct and indirect methods exist for estimating water flux rates; these have been applied with varying success. In Europe, the use of direct lysimetry methods for measuring water and solute fluxes in soils has increased significantly in recent years. Although this technique generates reliable drainage data, it involves relatively high investment and maintenance costs. New lysimeter techniques have been developed to tackle this problem. It is now possible to collect large monolithic soil columns and to measure the soil water balance of these monoliths (surface area 0.03–2 m

2

and depth to 3 m) with a high degree of precision (±20 g). Furthermore, progress in lysimetry enables us to ascertain experimentally the mass input of dew and to calculate actual evapotranspiration, precipitation and seepage rates. Weighable groundwater lysimeters have been developed in addition to gravitation lysimeters. Different lysimeter types and their usage will be presented and explained using practical examples.

Third-generation lysimeters meet the needs of 21st century environmental research and monitoring. High-resolution sensors, field-replicating hydraulic and thermal conditions and an excavation method showing the soil inside the lysimeter cylinder are important features in their quality process chain. Older lysimeter systems are unable to provide such detailed information about the soil water budget and all linked processes. Due to an increasing awareness of climate change, water management, agronomy and soil science issues, it was essential to upgrade lysimeter systems in order to gather more detailed information about processes and fluxes. Different lysimeter station layouts were developed for specific requirements and to increase their fields of application for particular tasks such as fertilisation treatments or irrigation and reproducing identical climatic conditions. Additionally, highly engineered third-generation bespoke lysimeter types are available to support particular projects. As an example, the meteorological lysimeter precisely measures precipitation, evapotranspiration and leachate. For this, the lysimeter weighs to the nearest gramme range a surface of 1 m

2

and supplies results to an accuracy of 0.01 mm for water input such as rain, dew, frost or snow and water output by evapotranspiration and leachate as well as reporting the change of soil water content. Combined with additionally measured meteorological data, this enables water balance models to be developed and potential evapotranspiration can be determined.

Quantifying groundwater recharge to aquifers is necessary for agricultural and environmental research. Lysimeters are the main devices for monitoring and quantifying soil water and solute balances and transport processes. However, certain characteristics of lysimeters, high costs and limited flexibility act as restricting arguments. There is a lack of effective and reliable methods for quantifying deep seepage under undisturbed soil and for managing conditions in the field. Soil hydrology measurements provide an alternative way of analysing the soil water and matter status in situ. The method presented here aims to estimate deep seepage and solute leaching in the field based on soil hydrological measurements below the zero flux plane and a calibrated hydraulic conductivity function. This method offers simple handling, flexibility, and costs less than lysimeters. The required soil hydraulic properties are only derived from tension and water content field recordings within the measurement depth. After calibration, no further information about soil properties, weather, management and land use data is required, nor is any other data. Since 1994, the method has been successfully applied at many sites in northeast Germany. A comparison between lysimeter discharge measurements and discharge calculations has confirmed the validity of this method.

Grasslands and rangelands are very important ecosystems influencing natural cycles and human existence and well-being. Their functional status can be greatly affected by soil and water management. Grasslands are prone to degradation, but comprehensive frameworks and objective criteria for their monitoring are largely absent. Simple field methods of measurement and visual rating may help to detect properties and processes limiting the function of grasslands, and the results used to develop criteria and thresholds of soil and vegetation quality. Methods characterising aspects of the physical, chemical and biological status of grasslands in conjunction with soil survey data are presented here. Soil strength measured with penetrometers, sink cones and shear testers may characterise spatio-temporal alterations of soil resistance conditions best. Important attributes of the soil water status can be measured by TDR probes, field tensiometers and simplified infiltration equipment. Experience and care are necessary when interpreting field measurement data. A number of expert-based approaches for estimating site properties by visual-tactile methods and by bio-indicative vegetation analyses are available and should be utilized more. Some of these methods can be applied solely to study particular aspects of grassland quality like trampling effects under different animals, machinery and grazing systems or trafficability of meadows and measure the compaction status of soil, the quality of soil structure and pasture quality. In many cases a set of methods in combination with an overall assessment of soil quality (Visual Soil Assessment, VSA, and Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating, M-SQR) will provide a reliable assessment of the status of grasslands and rangelands. Methods presented here should be considered and proposed to be used as possible standard components of frameworks for assessing the functional status of grasslands by uniform methodologies over Eurasia.

Land is a scarce resource that has to fulfill many functions in addition to the production of food and fiber. Functions include water regulation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity pool, area for settlement and infrastructure, human health and recreation, employment and space for economic activities. In many regions of the world these functions have to be fulfilled simultaneously in space and time. This paper outlines the role of multifunctional land use for sustainable development and how ex-ante impact assessment can support decision making and management on land use towards a balanced performance of the land use functions portfolio. Latest scientific concepts are presented and a case examples given.

Sustainable use of soils is a vital issue in the 21st century to meet global challenges of food security, demands for energy and water, climate change and biodiversity. Eurasia has reasons to tackle and solve these problems soon. It covers the largest landmass and has the highest population density of the earth. Tools for reliable, simple and consistent evaluation of the status of the soil over a wide range of scales can help to assess suitability for crop growth and yield potentials. We explain the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR) for analysing soil properties that limit crop yields and crop productivity potentials consistently over large regions. The approach is based on 8 Basic Indicators and at least 12 Hazard indicators. Ratings of soil quality are made during normal soil survey mainly by applying visual methods of soil evaluation. A field manual provides rating tables based on response curves and thresholds for different hazard indicators (such as risk of drought). Finally, overall soil quality rating scores ranging from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) characterise crop yield potentials. The current approach is valid for grassland and cropland. Field tests in Eurasia confirmed the practicability and reliability of this approach. We conclude that the Muencheberg SQR has the potential to serve as a global functional reference framework for agricultural soil quality of cropland and grassland. We anticipate the creation of comparable soil functional maps of the whole of Eurasia by the use of this method.

The methodology developed for the new Hydrological Atlas of Germany was applied to derive (hydro-) pedotransfer functions to estimate annual percolation rates from available information on climate, soil characteristics and land use in the Arab region. For this purpose the FAO56 concept was applied and the CLIMWAT database and the CROPWAT model were used, based on the single crop coefficient approach. The first step was to carry out simulations for eight countries, three kinds of land use and varying soil hydrological properties. The second step was to use meteorological data from Syria to carry out simulations for six land use scenarios and varying soil hydrological properties. The resulting country-specific regression equations and nomograms are presented as well as the general magnitude of groundwater recharge under typical crops of the Eastern Mediterranean environment. Prediction results are compared with simulation results for the dual crop coefficient approach and practical information is provided about the accuracy of these types of estimation method.

In nutrient balances, additions and removals of nutrients are assessed to identify the remaining concentrations of nutrients in soil. Balances can be performed using operational records of nutrients applications and other agronomic information (crops, yields, weather, etc.) at farm or even field level. The aim of performing nutrient balances is to obtain an overview of nutrient levels, in particular to prevent surpluses that could lead to environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, water eutrophication, air pollution and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. This chapter will provide an overview of methods used to assess soil nutrient levels at farm and field level. The methods described here can be used by farmers, landscape planners, environmentalists, politicians and other stakeholders as a basis for taking agricultural groundwater conservation measures. The procedures and recommendations specified in this chapter are in accordance with the guidelines of the DWA—German association for water, wastewater and waste: “Efficiency of measures to control land use for groundwater conservation—the example of nitrogen” (DWA-M 911 (

2013

): Effizienzkontrolle von Maßnahmen zur grundwasserschonenden Bodennutzung am Beispiel des Stickstoffs).

Against the background of the paramount importance of fresh water resources for human well-being in Europe’s industrialised societies, the protection of groundwater bodies is one of the top themes of the environmental ambitions of the European Union. This holds true especially for areas under predominantly agricultural use against nitrates from plant production. A catalogue of agricultural measures of groundwater conservation is available in general. It is to be supplemented by a methodology for in situ monitoring of the groundwater quality as the basis for surveying the efficiency of those measures. General characteristics, the benefits, and the disadvantages of recent monitoring methods are presented, summarised and rated under the term “appropriateness for efficiency survey”.

Groundwater protection starts with soil protection. When soils are contaminated there is always a chance that the groundwater is or will be affected by this contamination as well. Analytical risk assessment is often very time-consuming and expensive. The goal of exploratory investigations is to investigate the risk of groundwater contamination with the minimum possible effort. Exploratory investigations concerning trace elements can be carried out by analyzing soil material, percolation water or groundwater (LABO

2003

). While percolation water and groundwater analysis can only confirm a contamination, information gathered by soil analysis permits the current and future contamination risk for the groundwater to be estimated and additionally allows precautionary measures to be planned in order to protect the groundwater. The risk of contamination can only be judged when standards are available for a good quality of soil or percolation water. Local or regional background values of trace elements in the soil or percolation water can serve as adequate standards. This chapter will present and compare the analytical methods applied in exploratory investigations for assessing risks to the soil-groundwater pathway. We start with a little material science regarding trace element analysis in soil science and continue by listing some common methods used to analyze the total content of trace elements in the soil, presenting the conversion functions which allow results from different digestion agents to be translated. Subsequently an aqueous batch extraction method is presented which is routinely used to estimate the soluble fraction of trace elements in the soil for exploratory purposes, and its results are compared with results gained from direct percolation water sampling and a method which adjusts one parameter to in situ conditions.

Wind erosion has become an important soil degradation process in the steppe regions around the world caused predominantly by overgrazing and by transforming steppe into arable land. Soils, formed by aeolian processes over centuries, are now at risk of being destroyed by the same processes within a short space of time. The main problem with wind erosion is how it is perceived. Although heavy sand and dust storms occasionally attract attention, erosive processes usually go unnoticed. Annual average soil losses up to 40 t ha

−1

are possible without any visible sign of erosion or deposition. The following chapter introduces common methods for assessing wind erosion and for quantifying the soil losses involved. Consideration of the special characteristics of steppe regions is discussed to enable methods to be applied successfully. Quantification of wind erosion is based on measurements of horizontal fluxes, which can additionally be used to derive soil losses/dust emissions or the deposition of transported particles. The thickness and extent of depositions can be measured to calculate the relocated volume or mass. Losses of fine particles and organic matter can be derived by comparing the grain size distribution and organic matter content of the original soil and depositions. The fallout radionuclide method (FRN, especially

137

Cs) is suitable for identifying wind erosion and dust deposition patterns at larger spatial and temporal scales. Remote sensing and GIS procedures are finally used to present wind erosion and dust deposition areas for large landscape units.

Human activity and climate variability has always changed the Earth’s surface and both will mainly contribute to future alteration in land cover and land use changes. In this chapter we demonstrate a land cover and land use classification approach for Central Asia addressing regional characteristics of the study area. With the aim of regional classification map for Central Asia a specific classification scheme based on the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Environment Programme (FAO-UNEP) was developed. The classification was performed by using a supervised classification method applied on metrics, which were derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data with 250 m spatial resolution. The metrics were derived from annual time-series of red and near-infrared reflectance as well as from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and thus reflect the temporal behavior of different land cover types. Reference data required for a supervised classification approach were collected from several high resolution satellite imagery distributed all over the study area. The overall accuracy results for performed classification of the year 2001 and 2009 are 91.2 and 91.3 %. The comparison of both classification maps shows significant alterations for different classes. Water bodies such as Shardara Water Reservoir and Aral Sea have changed in their extent. Whereby, the size of the Shardara Water Reservoir is very dynamic from year to year due to water management and the eastern lobe of southern Aral Sea has decreased because of the lack of inflow from Amu Darja. Furthermore, some large scale changes were detected in sparsely vegetated areas in Turkmenistan, where spring precipitation mainly affects the vegetation density. In the north of Kazakhstan significant forest losses caused by forest fires and logging were detected. The presented classification approach is a suitable tool for monitoring land cover and land use in Central Asia. Such independent information is important for accurate assessment of water and land recourses.

High sensitivity of the Arctic region to short-lived climate forcers, including black carbon (BC), makes crop residue burning an important source of emissions. A high to moderate uncertainty in cropland burning emission estimates from remote sensing-based analyses currently exists and is problematic for establishing baseline estimates of black carbon emissions from global remote sensing products. Straw burning and possible BC emissions were estimated at the oblast level for Russia for years 2003 through 2010. A study was based on 1 km Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Active Fire Product, oblast level agricultural statistics, 1:25,000–1:50,000 scale GIS vector field maps and developing algorithms for calculating the size and intensity of fires as well as testing the accuracy of the predictions in areas with contrast land use. Both Active Fire Product and statistics methods demonstrated consistent results, including increasing fire activity in the years with additional straw surplus and the highest absolute values for vast territories with quite intensive grain production, mainly in European Russia. Straw burning can be a source of at least 1/3 total BC emissions from agriculture and grassland fires and does not appear to be the main source of total BC emissions for the Russian Federation. For regions with small number of cropland fires, the accuracy of existing remote sensing-based land cover products is insufficient for reliable classification of agricultural fires from satellite products. Incorrect classification of agricultural fires may exceed 25 %, increasing for the northern part of the country where forests are the predominant land cover. An improved method would be to calculate BC emissions from burned area using high resolution field masks and ground validation of fire sources in cropland areas.

Systematic monitoring is indispensable for a thorough water and soil management. However, large data sets with many variables, natural heterogeneities, and a variety of (possible) influencing factors require new approaches for processing and visualization of the data. A variety of advanced techniques has been developed recently in different disciplines. Some of them have been tested for application in water and soil resources management and exhibited very promising results. Two out of these approaches are presented here by application to a data set of shallow groundwater quality that has been complied during a five years period in a small catchment in Northeast Germany. Measured variables of soil or water quality usually reflect effects of various processes. On the other hand, single processes usually affect more than one variable and thus generate a characteristic “fingerprint” that can be used in an inverse approach to identify this process based on observed measured variables. Other processes differ with respect to their “fingerprints” and thus can be differentiated in a large data set. This is the basic idea of applying dimensionality reduction approaches. Every single sample can be ascribed a score of a component that is a quantitative measure for the impact of the respective process on the given sample. Usually, a small number of components (or processes, respectively) accounts for a large fraction of the variance in a data set with many variables. This “dimensionality reduction” helps a lot to gain better understanding of the prevailing processes, of spatial and temporal patterns, and of the reasons for conspicuous data. The larger a given data set, and the larger the number of variables, the more advanced methods of data visualization are required. Modern visualization techniques pave the way for efficient use of the most powerful interface between data stored on a computer and the human brain. A single non-linear projection of high-dimensional data on a two-dimensional graph provides comprehensive information about outliers, clusters, linear and non-linear relationships, spatial patterns, multivariate trends, etc. in the data. This approach could usefully be combined with other dimensionality reduction techniques. This chapter can serve only as an appetizer. A variety of sophisticated new methods exist. These techniques still are not part of textbooks of hydrology or soil science. They require an open mind and some initial training. Then a wealth of powerful tools are at hand as a base for thorough water and soil resources management.

Crop irrigation is just as essential to agriculture in Central Asia as it is in parts of Eastern and Central Europe. Model-based tools for computerised irrigation scheduling have been under development for several decades in northeast Germany. Having been tested, they are now operational as part of the on-site farm irrigation management process. One of these, the ZEPHYR soil–water–plant model, is presented here and is evaluated against the practical requirements for improving irrigation water use efficiency, meeting crop demand for water and preventing soil salinisation in the context of an irrigated barley crop in southern Kazakhstan.

Process-based simulation models that predict crop growth, evapotranspiration, nitrate leaching or other environmental variables are commonly applied for impact assessment on agricultural crop production or the environment. Algorithms of the dynamic, process-based simulation model MONICA are presented, which was developed for demonstrating the climate and management impact on crop yields and environmental variables on the plot scale and in smaller regions in Central Europe. A legal successor of the HERMES model, it maintains the simple and robust philosophy of its progenitor and adds a full carbon cycle model to it, including the feedback relations between atmospheric CO

2

concentration and other environmental variables on crop growth and water use efficiency. MONICA is the central part of a web-based decision support system that helps farmers and other stakeholders in Germany identifying management options to mitigate the impact of the expected climate change on their business. MONICA has the potential to assess the impacts of climate change and land management on crop yields, carbon balance and nitrogen efficiency in Central Asia.

Land use and crop production in the Khorezm region in western Uzbekistan, exemplarily for the irrigated lowlands of Central Asia, are challenged by the excessive, non-sustainable use of irrigation water and repeated water shortages on one hand, and soil degradation by secondary salinization on the other hand. One of the research objectives of the German-Uzbek Khorezm project, funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and led by Center of Development Research (ZEF) of Bonn University, was to better understand options for land use and choice of technology at the farm level in order to evaluate and propose technological alternatives and agricultural policy options for sustainable land use. To address these issues, a Farm-Level Economic Ecological Optimization Model (FLEOM) was developed as an integrated decision-support tool capable of optimizing land and resource use at the level of large farms and water user associations, while at the same time assessing the respective economic and environmental impacts at the micro-scale. This chapter provides a brief introduction to characteristics of FLEOM and the necessary steps and studies related to the generation of its database. Based on a comprehensive system-understanding composed by a range of agronomic and socioeconomic studies carried out in the project, the model captures the basic features of the regional agriculture and the interrelations of production activities most prevalent to the local farmers. It comprises regionally specified input–output parameters and conditions of land and water use. The flexibility of the model allows the addition of new crops, the modification of socio-economic parameters in a user-friendly way, such as to simulate changes in socio-economic and production environments, securing a wide range of its possible uses in the future. FLEOM builds on linear programming optimization routine and a comprehensive agronomic database established with the cropping system simulation model (CropSyst) using field experience and knowledge of a range of agronomic and hydrological studies of the project. A graphical user-interface programmed in Java provides the model’s easy usability, by which settings and results are visualized in tables and figures or as maps via a GIS-environment. The model works in three steps: first, the model sets and imports an agronomic database. Next, the agronomic database together with socio-economic information goes through an optimization process in the General Algebraic Modeling Software (GAMS). Finally, the model transfers the results into easily understandable tables, figures and maps.

High levels of soil salinity and water mineralization are one of the major problems in arid and semi-arid areas, in particular in Central Asia and North Africa. Besides technological water management solutions, accompanying methods of phytoremediation have been scientifically proven in detention ponds which are integrated into irrigation drainage systems. We report on investigation methods concerning the salt uptake potential of the aquatic macrophytes

Lemnaceae

(duckweed), and regarding technical construction requirements to enhance the purification of drainage water in water reservoirs. The assessment of this method was carried out under laboratory conditions at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). The results demonstrate that the salt uptake behaviour of duckweed in the form of enclosure in its tissues depends on the degree of salinisation and the initial biomass density. The uptake effect can be described as a first-order decay reaction. The decay/uptake depends on the residence time within the water body. To maximize the detention time in reservoirs the effect of baffles and inlet constructions in the reservoir are investigated using 2D hydraulic modelling with the model package TELEMAC. Therefore, this method is proposed for Central Asian regions as a measure to be taken against high levels of salinity in water bodies.

Objective of this manuscript is to present a methodology of No-Till studies in multifactorial trials. It includes comparison of No-Till and traditional tillage in various crop rotations, under various sowing dates and varieties. This allowed to make comprehensive assessment of No-Till influence on soil moisture and plant nutrients availability as well as on crop yields. On heavy textured black soil No-Till has advantage over traditional tillage on organic matter conservation and moisture conservation in dry weather conditions. Traditional tillage had advantage in infiltration of snowmelt water into the soil in early spring as well as in nitrates availability to plants. No-Till had advantage in grain yields in drier conditions thanks to better moisture conservation. Major advantage of No-Till is conservation of organic matter for long-term soil productivity.

Crop production in the agricultural steppe regions of southwest Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan is mostly focused on cropping spring cultures. Extreme temperature amplitudes, few, unevenly appearing precipitation events and high annual evapotranspiration are the major natural limiting factors. These regions mainly feature crop rotation systems with a high amount of cereals. The low effort required to apply mineral granular fertilizer and high tilling intensity in the meaning of weed protection rather than soil-protecting chemical treatment, are the main reasons for low average yields and a high risk of soil damage due to nutrient losses and wind erosion. The major goal has to be to reduce process inputs while stabilising and raising average yields. To achieve this, the priority has to be placed on minimising labour costs. Crop rotation systems have to become more diverse. Oscillating market situations might be dealt with more easily. Wider crop rotations would lead to a better soil structure and nutrient supply. Additionally, plant protection can be achieved in an easier, faster and cheaper way. Using no-till systems, yield can be stabilized and soils can be protected from wind erosion in an effective way. Seeding machines with wide row spacings and narrow single depth adjusted hoe opener systems are able to carry out shallow tillage only in the seeding furrow. They are also able to place the seed exactly to the adjusted depth. The old stubble is conserved for reasons of minimizing over-ground wind speed and evaporation. The extensive tillage during seeding with a narrow hoe opener system cleans the furrow from organic material and creates fine textured, loose soil and optimal contact between the seed and soil. The faster warming of the furrow after seeding accelerates emergence in cool temperate steppe climates. The additional placement of granular mineral fertilizers into the furrow in dry continental regions is almost the only effective means of fertilization and gives the young crops better growing conditions. The no-till seeding machines Citan Z and Condor, produced by Amazone, are developed for and well tested under high continental steppe conditions. In many trials on a farm scale it has been shown that these machines used in no-till cropping systems are able to save more fuel, time and seeding material than conventional seeding machines with chisel-opener systems. Furthermore a stabilization of the yields was observed due to the better water and nutrient supply.

High-magnesium soils and waters are emerging environmental and agricultural productivity constraints. Excess levels of magnesium (Mg

2+

) in irrigation waters and/or in soils negatively affect soil infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity and ultimately crop growth and yield. Although the levels of Mg

2+

in irrigation waters and soils are increasing in several irrigation schemes globally, southern Kazakhstan has become a hotspot of such natural resource degradation. The productivity of magnesium-affected soils can be enhanced by increasing the levels of calcium (Ca

2+

) in the soil to counteract the negative impacts of Mg

2+

. Studies undertaken on the soil application of phosphogypsum, a major waste product of phosphoric acid factories and a source of Ca

2+

, have demonstrated beneficial effects of this soil amendment in terms of (1) improved soil quality through a reduction in exchangeable magnesium percentage (EMP) levels; (2) enhanced water movement into and through the soil vis-à-vis increased moisture storage in the soil for use by the plant roots; (3) increased cotton yield and water productivity; and (4) greater financial benefits. In addition to improving crop productivity, these studies demonstrated the beneficial use of an industrial waste material in agriculture. With the aim of addressing the challenge of achieving sustainable agriculture production from magnesium-affected environments, there would be a need for appropriate supportive policies and functional institutions along with capacity building of farmers, researchers, and agricultural extension workers.

Available supplies of water for irrigation and other uses are becoming more limited around the world, and this trend is accelerating. Emerging computerized precision irrigation technologies will enable growers to apply water and agrochemicals more precisely and site-specifically to match the status and needs of soil and plants as determined by the analysis of data from a variety of sensor networks, wireless communications systems and decision support systems. Speed control and zone control options for site-specific variable rate irritation (SS-VRI) system are currently available, with speed control the most common. Site-specific variable rate sprinkler irrigation systems are wonderful research tools that can provide maximum amounts of information from relatively small areas. A self-propelled SS-VRI sprinkler system has been developed for agricultural research applications and 5 of these systems are now in use. This fully functional research machine has been used from 2005 to 2012 and has been very reliable. These SS-VRI systems offer many benefits for research and they have tremendous potential for a greater use in sprinkler irrigation systems worldwide for both in research and general practice to conserve water, fertilizer and energy.

We developed and tested a specific approach for multi-species grazing on deer farms by combining some principles of contemporary livestock husbandry: the fenced farming of domestic ruminants, deer farming and multi-species grazing. Our approach was designed to optimize the use of extensively managed grasslands. Even in temperate sub-humid climates it is important to prevent grassland degradation due to selective overgrazing and eradication of valuable species. Experimental investigations have focused on determining which processes are self-regulating, and specifically on recognizing which processes are relevant in the interactions between different species of grazing farm animals and wild animals, grassland vegetation and landscapes. The focus of this specific research initiative, run by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), is on comparative studies involving fallow deer (

Dama dama

), wild sheep (Mouflon,

Ovis aries

), and sheep, or red deer (

Cervus elaphus

) and Dexter cattle, as well as their specific effects on extensively managed grassland sites. Grazing experiments have shown clear effects and distinct differences in the grazing success between single-species and mixed-group grazing. The initial separation of the individual species in the multi-species groups disappeared over a time period lasting from several days to weeks. The animals grazed peacefully in mixed groups and even rested together in shelters. One particularly positive result was that several species grazed plants that were avoided by other animals. Moreover, weeds and invaders can be controlled by this means. Our experiment was on a wetland site, but the principle of multi-species grazing on deer farms should have potential for other locations as well. We observed clear benefits for the grassland vegetation and ecosystem which are also expected to appear for grasslands in dryland regions. Due to economic constraints (there is a limited market for meat from deer and other animals in this grazing system), the approach remains limited to some innovative farms. It cannot resolve the problems of basic food security and grassland degradation in Central Asia or elsewhere, but a site-specific adaption of this multi-species grazing system could be an interesting option for improving the micro-economy, ecology and cultural lifestyle in some areas.

The aim of this paper was to quantify soil quality in agricultural landscapes over large regions. For this purpose, representative soil catenas and single soil pits were dug, analysed and classified on test sites in Russia, Kazakhstan and Germany. Soil quality and crop yield potentials were assessed using the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (M-SQR) method. This method is based on the rating of indicators relevant to crop yield. The results show that the estimation of all components of the site-specific water balance and drought risk assessment is key for the evaluation of soil functions in agricultural landscapes. We found close correlations between the overall soil quality rating score and grain yields of cereals. The suitability of the M-SQR approach to assess soil quality and crop yield potentials consistently over spatial scales of Eurasia has been confirmed.

The territory of Kazakhstan is situated in the centre of the Eurasian continent and extends from 41

o

to 55

o

N and from 46

o

to 87

o

E. Its landscapes are diverse, with a great variety of climates and forms of relief (from high mountains to desert plains). The soil formation is based on the principles of latitudinal (horizontal) and vertical zonalities. The geographic soil zones in Kazakhstan from north to south are: forest-steppe, steppe, desert-steppe, and desert, where zones are classified according to the types of soil. This article characterises the natural zonality of Kazakhstan’s soils and orographic-climatic regions with a spectrum of zones and belts (Altay, North Tien-Shan, West Tien-Shan). For this characteristic of the regions and belts, including the basic climatic indexes, the type of vegetation can be used as a classification criterion. The resulting vertical distribution of soil types and subtypes will be shown. Soil mapping forms a basis for research work in various directions of soil science. Soil maps can be used to ascertain the genesis of soils and create new taxonomic classification approaches. They can also be applied for agro-industrial suitability planning, land reclamation, the estimation of soil degradation etc. Our chapter shows what methods are used to create modern soil maps, based on the application of GIS technologies, field and laboratory analytical work and the utilization of space images for the classification and delineation of soil units. Examples of applied thematic maps are shown, along with the approaches used to create them. Those maps allow terrain and land resources to be estimated and the state of the soil mantle to be monitored as a result of natural and human impacts. They are useful for the quantification of soil functions, such as productivity potential, or for the allocation of protected areas. All these maps allow measures for the restoration and sustainable development of landscapes to be developed.

As the result of a discussion that started with a debate about the indicators of land degradation and desertification in Central Asia in the context of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), it was realised that the winter cold steppe regions are seldom investigated from a multi-factorial perspective. This article reviews investigations into a framework of indicators developed to assess desertification and land degradation problems as applied to the Kulunda Steppe in the south of West Siberia by focusing on deflation morphodynamics. This article describes preliminary indicators and investigations into problems and indicators of land degradation in the Northern Kulunda at the regional level. An assessment of the deflation problem is illustrated by using the local example of the Ivanovskoe farm in the Bagan district of the Novosibirsk region. Results are presented about (a) the formulation of indicators for land degradation problems; (b) a regional morphodynamics assessment using soil maps and statistics; (c) local soil types and the dominant landscape processes and (d) a deflation assessment example based on the soil degradation indicators. The conclusion presents unresolved research questions about the vegetation-soil–water steppe system in the context of land use and protective measures in a heterogeneous steppe environment.

The surface runoff erosion of dark and light chestnut soils (Kastanozems) in the Ile Alatau foothills in the Zhambyl/Karasai administrative area and in the western part of Chemolgan near Almaty/Kazakhstan was analysed for use in devising adaptive landscape agricultural systems. 1:25,000 scale maps were modelled by combining geo-information techniques, field work and laboratory analytics. Rain and snowmelt activity depending on exposure on southern and northern slopes of agricultural land was differentiated. Single parameters were measured as snowmelt erosion and water erosion; a runoff coefficient was then calculated to determine the level of soil erosion from the intensity of the erosion processes. The results reveal that dark and light chestnut soils on northern slopes are more resistant to water erosion than those on southern slopes. It was also found that soil erosion processes induced by erosive rain are more intensive than snowmelt erosion. For chestnut soils, water erosion rates ranged from 1.4 to 30.8 t/ha induced by rainfall and from 0.7 to 3.5 t/ha induced by snowmelt, depending on slope inclination and exposure. Greater erosion was detected on southern slopes. No clear differentiation was found when comparing the erosion rates of dark and light chestnut soils.

The article highlights the methodology of evaluating the changing processes and water resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the help of geo-information technologies, determining their dynamic parameters based on thematic satellite data processing methods and techniques for theoretical and applied purposes. A review of space imaging systems with different technical characteristics was carried out. A technological scheme for making precision mosaics using high-resolution optical electronic space imagery is proposed; this is supplied with mosaics composed of LANDSAT space imagery of the Ertis river basin. A schematic map has been developed showing the water basins of transboundary rivers in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries with a list of cartographic layers, objects and information, including administrative territorial divisions and terrain (contours, heights, forms of relief), as well as the structure of the GIS database.

Changes in the water balance in landscapes can be easily observed by measuring water levels, runoff, etc. Determining the causes of changes in the water balance is much more difficult, because of the complex interrelations between the interacting hydrological processes. However, revealing the causes and processes is necessary to understand the source of changes and to evaluate management options. With the help of modelling and scenario analyses, it is possible to differentiate between the effects of, for example, land use/land cover and climate on the water balance, taking the underlying hydrological processes into consideration. Two case studies are presented: the Ngerengere river catchment in Tanzania, Africa and a forested area in North-East Germany. In these areas the observed water balance has changed considerably in the last few decades. The influence of climate conditions and land use change are analysed and determined with the help of the SWAT model, the WaSiM-ETH model and statistical analyses. Both the suitability and the limitations of this methodology of model-based impact analysis are demonstrated.

This article includes materials on the environmental status of soils as a result of disturbances to the soil surface by resource-extracting industries, and the degradation and desertification of the soil surface in the Aral Sea area. It highlights the methods of field study used in technologically disturbed lands and biotechnological methods of remediating soils which are disturbed and transformed by oil production and aridity. Comprehensive biogeocenologic studies of the initial processes of soil formation in technogenically disturbed ecosystems have been conducted. Integrated approaches have made it possible to develop biotechnological remediation methods. The main aim was to initiate humus formation and soil development by introducing site-adapted vegetation. This was supported by specific biological soil ameliorants and occasionally also by chemical soil ameliorants.

Haloxylon aphyllum

proved a most promising drought-resistant plant for land restoration on many sites. Fencing was very important for the natural restoration of the soil and vegetation.

This chapter presents the research material gained during implementation of the international project led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in Arid Areas (ICARDA) entitled “Sustainable management of land resources in arid regions of Central Asia and Caucasus”. This project focused primarily on irrigation and degraded pastures in south and southeast Kazakhstan. Soils and forage crops were studied using conventional, proven methodological approaches and agro-chemical methods. The subjects of the study were: terrains, soil, water, cultivated and pasture plants (rice, triticale and winter wheat, wormwood-ephemeral, grass-shrub and cereal-grass communities). The following aspects were studied and evaluated: soil reclamation and the environmental condition of the soil surface of Shiely irrigation area, fertility levels, soil salinity chemistry and soil degradation under irrigation in the Kyzylorda region, as well as the degradation of pastures in the Sarysu district of the Zhambyl region. The current status of the soil surface of each study object was described. In addition, methods were devised to improve soil reclamation and environmental conditions and conservation, and to increase soil fertility and crop productivity in irrigated saline soils and pastures of the arid zone.

Applying microbiofertilisers can be a sustainable alternative to the wide use of chemical fertilisers. They have the potential to reduce the amount of chemical fertilisers applied and thus to minimise environmental pollution, such as nitrogen leaching and gaseous emissions. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of applying the microbiofertiliser “MERS” to the soil microbial community, the yield and quality of winter wheat and soil chemical properties. Over a three-year period (from 2006 to 2009), experiments were conducted at the experimental station of Kazakh Research Institute of Water Resources in the Taraz Zhambyl region. Applying the microbiofertiliser “MERS” to meadow grey soils had an impact on soil properties in all three experimental years. The humus content and content of plant-available N, P and Na were higher in the treated plots than in the control variant. The abundance of the microbial community, in particular heterotrophic bacteria, actinomycetes, yeasts and microscopic fungi, increased for all application rates. The highest increase was found with an application rate of 500 ml/ha. The same application rate had the greatest impact on the yield of the winter wheat cultivar “Almaly” (5.27 t/ha compared to 4.27 t/ha for the control variant).

Review of the main water treatment methods recommended for application in water supply processes at rural settlements with a daily water consumption of less than 1,000 m

3

, and types of plants where these methods are in current use. One of the factors influencing the productive activities and social development of rural settlements is the water supply. A lot of attention is paid to problems related to the drinking water supply. In Kazakhstan, most water pipes and water treatment plants began operation or were overhauled more than 30 years ago. Outdated water treatment systems do not provide a high-quality water supply. More than 25 % of operational water pipelines do not meet the sanitary requirements. More than 90 % of rural settlements in Kazakhstan are supplied from underground sources (wells, percolation wells, tapping of springs); only the remaining 10 % are from surface sources. The conditions of rural water use (less than 1,000 m

3

a day), the lack of skilled repair personnel and the intermittent electricity supply necessitate the use of compact, energy-saving and nonchemical means of water treatment. Looking through patents and the literature for recent years shows that the basic methods of domestic water improvement are still clearing, decolouration, softening, fluoridation, defluoridation, desalination and disinfection. Thus, taking into account the above review of the main water treatment methods and the types of plants at which reverse osmosis treatment can be applied the following methods are recommended in the water supply systems of rural settlements with a daily water consumption of less than 1,000 m

3

. For water clearing and decolouration, low-rate filters should be applied. Local close-burning shungites and zeolite (“Koksu” deposit) can be used as a percolation bed. For hard water with a high fluoride and iron content use the “Struya” water treatment unit. For softening, apply liming, soda lime and the sodium cycle (equipment produced by LLC “Membrane technologies C.A.”); for deferrisation and permanganating, filter with preliminary aeration using equipment produced by “Aikos”; for defluoridation, apply an ion-exchange pressure filter with an alumina filter bed (Al

2

O

3

); for disinfection, apply a UV sterilizer (LLC, “Membrane technologies C.A.”); for desalination/deionization, apply reverse osmosis modules arranged in the internal chamber of the well casing (LLC “Kazakh Water Economy Research Institute”).

Currently, one major negative factor in the reduction of soil fertility is contamination with heavy metals, pesticides and other pollutants. In this regard, the main purpose of this work is to study and evaluate soil pollution with heavy metals in irrigated areas of Southern Kazakhstan and to determine the key geochemical parameters of heavy metals. One research object was the soils of large rice farms in the Shiely area of irrigation. The study was conducted using the method of large-scale soil analysis and mapping. Among the environmentally hazardous mobile forms of metals in the soils of the Shiely irrigation area, Pb has the largest share (54 %), then Ni (22 %). Zn and Cu have 12 and 10 % respectively. The share of Cd is only 2 %. Based on the analysis of cartographic material, it has been determined that on the territory investigated, Cu is found in 5 groups of soil which contain more than 3.15 mg Cu per 1 kg of soil. A high concentration of Pb is found in the group of soils, at 9.0–15 mg per 1 kg of soil. Ni is found in high concentration in soils: 4.6–6.0 mg/kg. Thus, based on analysis of the data obtained, we can conclude that for all the mobile forms of the elements studied, one major aspect is the predominance of the accumulative character of distribution in the soil profile is observed, and gross forms are characterized by eluvial-illuvial processes. Environmentally hazardous mobile metal forms available for the plants are subjected to the influence of irrigation to a greater degree than their gross forms.

This concept defines the goals, objectives and areas of work aimed at implementing the public monitoring of agricultural lands and lands used or rented for agricultural purposes within lands of other categories, the data on which are the basis for establishing public information resources on the status and use of these lands. This paper includes the methods for conducting studies monitoring the soils of Northern Kazakhstan, their current status and ways of improving soil fertility in terms of the ordinary and southern black soils of Northern Kazakhstan. It shows the climatic conditions of subzones of ordinary and southern black soils where the studies were conducted, their morphological indices, physical–chemical properties and significant changes in the soil properties due to long-term agricultural use. Use of the results from monitoring studies will allow scientists to forecast the development of negative soil processes, prevent the shrinking of agricultural land, and justify the need for programmes of soil fertility conservation and restoration.

The phosphorus fertilization of crops is a most important issue because of the limited resources of phosphate rock on the one hand and the possible negative impacts on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems on the other hand. This chapter deals with the results of long-term field experiments to diagnose and optimize the phosphorus nutrition of cereal crops in Northern Kazakhstan. The efficiency of the phosphorus fertilization was most dependent on the plant-available P content in the soil as analyzed using Machigin’s extraction method. We present an approach to evaluate the phosphate status in the soil and to determine the particular requirements of grain crops. The inputs used to calculate fertilizer demand are the optimum content of plant-available phosphorus, its current concentration in the topsoil and the quantity of phosphorus to be fertilized in order to raise the plant-available P

2

O

5

by 1 mg kg

−1

soil. The approach is based on the Machigin method and is currently not transferrable to other regions, where other analytical methods are common. In order to compare this approach with other methods worldwide, methodical comparisons of different analytical methods for assessing the plant available P content in soils are necessary in future. We also require a better understanding and quantification of phosphorus cycling in ecosystems, based on internationally acknowledged analytical methods, models and long-term experiments.

This book deals with methods which could gain importance for better monitoring and management of water and land resources in Central Asia. Knowledge about the existence, principles and potential benefit of these methods could improve the work of researchers, the authorities, managers, and decision makers. Science teachers at universities have a particular responsibility and interest regarding innovation in the international scientific arena. They have to educate a new generation of academics who will make tomorrow’s decisions. This must include profound knowledge about the most crucial resources for the prosperity and welfare of their nations: water and land. Ways of sustainably handling these resources must be initiated very soon.