The growth data and the potential returns from 15-year-old plantations of pine Pinus sylvestris L. (6 trial sites), spruce Picea abies Karst L. (9 trial sites) and silver birch Betula pendula Roth (13 trial sites), established in abandoned agricultural lands in a variety of soil types (sod calcareous, anthrosols, podzolic, podzols, gley, podzolic gley, alluvial), using the planting density 2,500 and 3,300 and also 5,000 trees/ha are analysed. For tree plantations in agricultural soils (alluvial sod-gley, gley-sod podzolic, sod-podzolic gley, typic podzol) at the survival of 80-98% the stock volume for 15-year pine is as high as 102-155 m**3haE−1 with the volume growth 5.72-8.94 m**3haE−1 per year; the same indices for spruce in agricultural soils (gley sod-calcareous, sodpodzolic, cultivated, sod-podzolic gley, alluvial sod-gley, base-unsaturated brown) are 75-98 m**3haE−1 and 10.26-15.76 m**3haE−1, respectively. For 15-year plantation birch the mentioned indices may vary from 61 to 169 m**3haE−1 and from 7.54 to 29.82 m**3haE−1 per year. The lowest volume growth (4.66 m**3haE−1 per year) is for birch in heavy clay soil (gleyic sod-podzolic), the highest (29.72-29.82 m**3haE−1 per year) – in cultivated soils and pseudogley soil. Plantation cultivation of pine, spruce and birch in agricultural lands may by the age of 15 years yield with a profit such forest products as pulpwood, fire wood and woody biomass. The gross income gained from first commercial thinnings of plantation pine, utilizing pulpwood, fire wood and logging residue biomass, may vary from 679-2267 EUR haE−1, for spruce the same indices are 1644-3272 EUR haE−1, for birch - 683-2188 EUR haE−1.

The article presents results of the analysis of the cattle breeding industry’s development in Ukraine, the main trend of which was the decrease in the number of cattle, including the number of cows. A way to support livestock in the industry using the subsidy mechanism is suggested. This approach is aimed at increasing profitability of the cattle breeding industry output per 1 ha of fodder crops in the farm to profitability of barley production from 1 hectare in the area. The results of the proposed approach show that increasing milk profitability from 1 hectare of fodder crops to barley profitability from 1 hectare can be the basis for maintaining the livestock sector. The use of the livestock productivity factor (cow milk yield) in the proposed methodology makes farms more interested in increasing livestock productivity, which in turn increases the number of subsidies in the industry. In addition, an increase in fodder crops area in the farm has an ecological effect.

In order to assess the nature of climate change, it is important to analyse the indicators of climate variability in different scales: spatial and temporal. The analysis at different scales can lead to understanding of the nature of variations. Climate change studies are essential for comprehending the nature of global processes, to refine global climate patterns and also develop further research for natural processes (Meinke, Stone, 2005; Hulme et al., 1999). Processes in nature are united, continuous and in constant interaction. Variance of interaction types are immeasurable, types can be connected with different scales and science fields, for example, biological, ecological, physical etc. If interaction is taking place between the land and atmosphere, it is defined as hydrological interaction. As water is significantly important for many purposes on the Earth, it is relevant to analyse precipitation and water runoff on a local scale. In the territory of Latvia, the amount of precipitation exceeds the level of evapotranspiration. Long-term monitoring data show that precipitation leads to average runoff of 250 mm per year (Ziverts, 2004). The monitoring data collected at three research sites located in Latvia was used for this research including Berze (Lielupe river basin, meteorological station in Dobele), Mellupite (Venta river basin, meteorological station in Saldus monitoring) and Vienziemite (Gauja river basin, meteorological station in Zoseni). The results from this study show that there is a pronounced interaction between runoff and precipitation with an average of 53 to 82%.