Brazil is one of the largest beef producers in the world and most of its production is consumed domestically. Beef produced in Brazil is mostly free-range, covering large territories and being associated with deforestation and carbon emissions.

The worldwide concern over the decline of pollinators needs plans for the conservation of this pollination ecosystem service. National and regional plans first require a comprehensive assessment of the abundance and diversity of insect pollinators and of their floral resources, as well as an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and resilience of plant-pollinator networks.

In this thesis three theoretical biological models of a living unity are implemented to study the dynamic organization and complexity of the Earth system from the point of view of the Gaia hypothesis–the Earth instantiates life at the planetary scale–.

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Both thermodynamics – directly related to radiative forcing and/or temperature changes - and dynamics -linked to changes in winds- contribute to natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change.

Water uptake and transport are important for plant growth and development. The presence of aquaporins (AQPs) accelerates water transport at certain location and cells for the transmembrane water diffusion. Aquaporins are known as water channels as well as other small solutes channels, such as H2O2, CO2 and NH3.

The 2011 FAO State of Food and Agriculture yearbook brought to global attention the problem of female farmers lagging in terms of agricultural productivity compared to males. The report showed that female farmers also lagged in access to assets and inputs that support productivity.

Field delineation from satellite images enables monitoring and measurement of agricultural land management, productivity indicators, and scale transitions in agriculture across the globe. Timely and repeat field delineations are hence listed as an Essential Agricultural Variable in light of the United Nation´s Sustainable  Development Goals.

In addition to its carbon sequestration potential, biochar has recently been promoted as a soil amendment. However, its impact on soil erosion remains debated in the short-term and unknown in the long-term. Therefore, this thesis aimed to determine both the short- and long-term impact of biochar on erosion by water of cropped soils in Wallonia.

mproving and homogenizing Earth’s reference frames with an accuracy of 1 millimeter (mm) and a long-term stability of 0.1 mm/year are relevant for many scientific and societal endeavors. For instance, quantifying sea level change from satellite altimetry strongly depends on an accurate determination of the geocenter motion and the orbits of satellites.