Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems in the South American Chaco

ABSTRACT

Impacts of cattle production vary among different production systems, but data on their distribution is scarce for most world regions. In this work, we combine datasets on cattle vaccination locations and land cover in a regression framework to define and map major cattle production systems in the Argentinean Dry Chaco. We also explore how cattle occurrence relates to spatial determinants. Results indicate that the region harbors about 5.5 million heads. Cattle density was mainly described by the share of pasture (69.9%), cropland (28.1%) and aridity (23.8%). We identified 12-major cattle production systems: six cow-calf, three whole-cycle, and three fattening systems. Of these, four systems had high woodland cover (>85%). Data generated is available in a website. Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems is important to assess the environmental impacts of beef production at broad scales. Integrating vaccination data with land-cover information provides a promising avenue to identify livestock systems.     

Effect of land use and land cover change on soil erosion and the spatio-temporal variation in Liupan Mountain Region, southern Ningxia, China

The Liupan Mountains are located in the southern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, that forms an important divide between landforms and biogeographic regions. The populated part of the Liupan Mountain Region has suffered tremendous ecological damage over time due to population pressure, excessive demand and inappropriate use of agricultural land resources. To present the relationship between land use/cover change and spatio-temporal variation of soil erosion, data sets of land use between the late 1980s and 2000 were obtained from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, and spatial models were used to characterize landscape and soil erosion conditions. Also, soil erosion in response to land use and land cover change were quantified and analyzed using data from geographical information systems and remote sensing. Soil erosion by water was the dominant mode of soil loss, while soil erosion by wind was only present on a relatively small area. The degree of soil erosion was classified into five severity classes: slight, light, moderate, severe, and very severe. Soil erosion in the Liupan Mountain Region increased between the late 1980s and 2000, both in terms of acreage and severity. Moderate, severe, and very severe eroded areas accounted for 54.86% of the total land area. The lightly eroded area decreased, while the moderately eroded area increased by 368817 ha (22%) followed by severe erosion with 146552 ha (8.8%), and very severe erosion by 97067.6 ha (5.8%). Soil loss on sloping cropland increased with slope gradients. About 90% of the cropland was located on slopes less than 15°. Most of the increase in soil erosion on cropland was due to conversion of steep slopes to cropland and degradation of grassland and increased activities. Soil erosion was severe on grassland with a moderate or low grass cover and on dry land. Human activities, cultivation on steep slopes, and overgrazing of pastures were the main reasons for the increase in erosion severity.     

Impacts of land use and land cover change on the interactions among multiple soil-dependent ecosystem services (case study: Jiroft plain,Iran)

The spatial and temporal distribution pattern is an outstanding feature of the relationship among ecosystem services (ESs) that explains links between human activities and disturbed chemical composition of ecosystems. This study investigated the spatiotemporal variation of land use/cover changes (LUCC) and quantifies the change in four essential ecosystem services with an emphasis on soil (nutrient delivery ratio, carbon storage, crop production, and water yield) and their relationships in the Jiroft plain, Iran, during 1996–2016 through analytical tools including Land Change Modeler, and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoff. During the 20-year concentrate period, there was a considerable overall gain in cropland (5396 km²) and urban (1787 km²), loss of unused land (5692 km²), water (2088 km²), and forest (1083 km²). As a result of LUCC, while crop production and nutrient delivery ratio showed a rising trend, overall carbon storage and water yield decreased. The spatiotemporal trade-off between carbon storage and crop production, the temporal trade-off between crop production and water yield, and synergy between water yield and crop production were widespread in Jiroft plain. These results showed that the interaction among ESs mutates over time and can be changed under planning and policies. This study will enrich the research of the geographical distribution of ESs interaction in dryland ecosystems to provide practical ecosystem management under local conditions.

     

A Small‐Scale Land‐Sparing Approach to Conserving Biological Diversity in Tropical Agricultural Landscapes

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land‐sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land‐sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small‐scale, land‐sparing coffee‐production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest‐dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well‐defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large‐scale land‐sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land‐use patterns. Un Método para Reservar Tierras a Pequeña Escala para Conservar la Biodiversidad en Paisajes Agrícolas Tropicales     

土地利用、覆被变化（LUCC）与环境变化关系研究进展

土地利用、覆被变化（LUCC）作为环境变化的主要原因之一,已成为全球变化研究的前沿和热点问题。文章总结了国内外 LUCC 与环境变化关系的主要研究成果和方法,继而从气候、碳循环、土壤环境、水环境以及生态环境对土地利用方式的限制等方面概括了 LUCC 与环境变化之间的关系。LUCC 通过改变大气成分和下垫面性质对气候造成影响;影响着陆地生态系统的碳循环;改变土壤的理化性质,带来土壤污染、土壤养分迁移等土壤质量问题;并且引起水体的非点源污染,影响区域的产水量和水循环。同时,环境变化对LUCC具有限制作用。不仅通过特定的气候环境直接限制土地的利用方式;还间接通过借助人类生态环境意识的改变,实现对区域土地利用强度与方式的约束。LUCC既是全球环境变化的原因,也是全球环境变化的结果。LUCC 与生态环境之间存在着复杂的、非线性的动态反馈关系。进一步探讨了当前 LUCC 与环境变化关系的主要研究方向和相关研究方法,针对目前存在的缺乏统一的指标体系,研究区域、时空尺度单一,以单要素静态研究为主,实验研究相对薄弱以及动态模拟不够等问题,提出加强跨学科综合交叉研究、注重多尺度探讨LUCC的环境效应、构建一个 LUCC 环境效应研究的统一指标体系及加强“3S”技术与模拟模型的融合等建议。为寻求更科学更合理的土地利用方式提供了基础信息。     

中国农田固碳减排发展现状及其战略对策

自20世纪80年代以来,农田固碳减排的动态变化日益成为全球的研究热点,它对于正确评价农业产业对全球气候变化的影响具有重要的理论意义。采取农业分区的方法,将我国划分为4个不同的农业区,并从区域植被覆盖、地理气候、品种、土壤性质、种植制度和施肥情况等方面,综合分析了各区域农田固碳减排的基本现状。通过对我国农田固碳减排的各个影响因素进行系统阐述,探明了耕作措施、水田种植面积、秸秆还田、施肥情况、轮作制度、土地利用方式和农田生态系统等是影响我国农田固碳减排的主要关键因素。同时,针对目前我国农田固碳减排的基本状况,提出了适合我国农田固碳减排的主要对策。文章认为,应从加强农田碳循环和土壤碳汇效应、合理调整农田土地利用结构、加强农田管理技术体系创新、加强农田生物固碳减排技术研究和注重降低农业生产温室气体的排放等方面开展系统研究,从而进一步增强农田的土壤固碳能力和减少温室气体的排放,达到我国农田固碳减排的最终目的。     

Human drivers,biophysical changes,and climatic variation affecting contemporary cropping proportions in the northern prairie of the U.S

Grassland to cropland conversion in the northern prairie of the United States has been a topic of recent land use change studies. Within this region more corn and soybeans are grown now (2017) than in the past, but most studies to date have not examined multi-decadal trends and the synergistic web of socio-ecological driving forces involved, opting instead for short-term analyses and easily targeted agents of change. This paper examines the coalescing of biophysical and socioeconomic driving forces that have brought change to the agricultural landscape of this region between 1980 and 2013. While land conversion has occurred, most of the region’s cropland in 2013 had been previously cropped by the early 1980s. Furthermore, the agricultural conditions in which crops were grown during those three decades have changed considerably because of non-biophysical alterations to production practices and changing agricultural markets. Findings revealed that human drivers played more of a role in crop change than biophysical changes, that blending quantitative and qualitative methods to tell a more complete story of crop change in this region was difficult because of the synergistic characteristics of the drivers involved, and that more research is needed to understand how farmers make crop choice decisions.     

Assessment of ecological risks induced by land use and land cover changes in Xiamen City,China

The landscape ecological risk (LER) in Xiamen City, China, from 1990 to 2030 was studied using an urban land use and land cover change (LUCC) model and LER analysis. The LUCC model was used to predict the LUCC of Xiamen from 2020 to 2030. We analyzed the characteristics of LUCC and landscape pattern changes and, finally, evaluated the effect of rapid LUCC on LER. Of the six landscape types investigated, built-up land and farmland demonstrated the most significant changes. The area of built-up land increased by 1.5 times in 2010 and is predicted to increase by 2.7 times in 2030 than that in 1990. The area of farmland increased from 34.5% in 1990 to 24.5% in 2010 and is predicted to decrease to 15.1% in 2030. The number of patches (NP) of built-up land decreased with increasing area, which promoted the dominance of built-up land over other landscape types. Five landscape types, those other than built-up land, increased in NP, landscape fragmentation, segmentation, and disturbance but decreased in dominance. The LER of Xiamen in 2010 was slightly lower than that in 1990. However, with the acceleration of urbanization, the LER in 2020 and 2030 will increase by 7.6% and 12.5% than that in 2010. The LER will significantly increase in areas such as the Huandong sea area, the second urban core of Xiamen, and northern Xiang'an. For the areas, some measures (e.g. optimum urban spatial growth patterns and control of coastal reclamation) must inevitably increase to reduce the LER posed by rapid urbanization.     

Detection of current and potential hazelnut plantation areas in Trabzon, North East Turkey using GIS and RS

Monitoring agricultural products requires the periodic determination of land cover and the production of land use policies in an optimum way. The hazelnut is one of the important Turkish agricultural exports and Turkey provides 77% of the world's hazelnuts. In Turkey, hazelnut production exceeds the demand; new regulations have been enacted to create new land use policies. By putting into practice regulations restricting hazelnut plantation areas, a more efficient and productive hazelnut harvest policy could be created. Therefore, more information on existing land cover is required to determine optimum (or ideal) potential hazelnut areas (PHA) and to forecast future crop production. The principle aim of this study is to create a methodology for determining existing PHA, using Geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) techniques regarding to support hazelnut policy developers and economists. This study was basically carried out in the province of Trabzon, which is one of the most important hazelnut production areas in Turkey. Landsat ETM+ image was used to generate a current land cover classification. Using the supervised classification method, overall accuracy was determined to be 84.7%. Suitable hazelnut areas were determined according to criteria settled by government regulations.     

土地利用/覆被变化（LUCC）与土壤重金属积累的关系研究进展（Research Review of the Relationship between Land Use/Cover Change and Heavy Metal Accumulation in Soil）

土壤重金属污染是世界性环境问题之一.土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)是最主要的环境演变驱动因子之一.为明晰LUCC对土壤重金属积累和污染的影响,根据前人研究,从场地、县域和流域/区域尺度总结了LUCC和土壤重金属污染的关系.研究发现,三个尺度上土地利用方式和覆被类型/格局是控制土壤重金属空间积累和分布的重要因子,土地利用/覆被可以直接吸纳或吸附重金属,亦能通过改变土壤物理、化学和生物性质从而控制重金属在土壤中的移动性和活性,造成土壤中重金属的积累直至污染.此外,论文阐明了LUCC在土壤重金属污染风险预测、规避和污染土壤修复中的重要作用,最后提出了在实践中通过调整土地利用/覆被类型进行污染土壤修复的建议.寓景观生态学思想于土壤重金属污染防治过程是一种新的有效途径.     

官厅流域农田地表径流磷流失初探

农田径流和侵蚀泥沙是磷进入官厅水库的主要非点污染源。针对该流域夏季农田暴雨径流发生的典型情景进行模拟降雨径流试验，对该流域农田地表径流泥沙和磷流失进行了初步的研究，结果表明，本降雨过程径流累积泥沙产量为30．5l～2493．34g／m^2，受雨强、坡度和作物覆盖的影响明显；径流溶解态磷(DP)中绝大部分是生物可利用性磷(DRP)，径流平均DP、DRP浓度都远大于水体允许临界值0．02mg／L，对官厅水体存在直接污染危害。径流累积全磷(TP)流失达O．0439～2．0798g/m^2；估算的流域农田径流全磷(TP)流失水平达2．67kg／(hm^2．a)以上，其颗粒态占969，0以上，可能成为官厅水库浮游生物长期丰富的潜在可利用磷源。降低农田土壤速效磷水平、减少水土侵蚀，是控制库区水华季节性发生和复原库区水体富营养化状态的关键。     

Projecting landscape changes in southern Chile: Simulation of human and natural processes driving land transformation

We describe a simulation model representing the most important human and natural factors driving land use and cover changes (LUCC) in southern Chile. We evaluate the model by examining its ability to simulate LUCC observed over the past three decades, conduct a sensitivity analysis of simulated trends to changes in important model parameters, and use the model to project likely landscape transformations over the next decade under “as usual,” “pessimistic,” and four “optimistic” scenarios. The model consists of five submodels representing LUCC on two distinct soil formations (volcanic ash and gleysols) and four major land use categories: native forest, agricultural land, shrubland, and urban land. Land use and cover sub-categories include old growth forests, secondary forests, and low and flooded shrubland. The model simulated well general historic trends in forest cover, agricultural land, shrubland, and urban land: from a forest-dominated landscape in 1976 to a landscape dominated by shrubland and agricultural land by 2007. Forest loss, forest degradation by logging and clearing for agriculture were the most important direct drivers of LUCC: forest logging and clearing were most important from 1976 to 1985, whereas after 1985 logging for firewood, driven by population growth, was most important. Sensitivity analysis indicated that model projections of general trends in the main land use and cover categories were not overly sensitive to changes in important model parameters, although further study is necessary to improve our estimates of the proportion of pasture requirements supplied by clearing low shrubland. Projections of LUCC suggested that a reduced amount of secondary forest would be left by 2017 if no actions are taken to reduce forest loss (“as usual”). Increasing population (“pessimistic scenario”) resulted in similar trajectories than those predicted by the as usual scenario, whereas reducing logging for firewood and increasing forest recruitment from shrubland could reduce loss of native forest by nearly one-third (“optimistic scenarios”). Surprisingly, shrubland exhibited the most complex and influential dynamics in all scenarios, being the immediate outcome of forest loss and the main long-term source of land for agriculture, urban expansion, and forest recovery. Few studies in Chile, or elsewhere, have considered the importance of this intermediate successional stage. Of the scenarios simulated, financial incentives targeted toward channeling shrubland into regenerated forest seemed most promising, although obstacles to such a management strategy exist.     

Assessment of land degradation and its impact on crop production in the Dry Zone of Myanmar

Land degradation in terms of soil degradation is a major environmental issue posing threat to sustainable livelihood in the semi-arid region of Central Myanmar. However, the studies on soil degradation status and its impacts in this region are very scanty. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of land degradation on crop production both in terms of area and yield in the Dry Zone of Myanmar. Remote sensing and geographic information system-based modelling was utilized to assess and map soil erosion rates. Household survey was conducted to understand the causes of land degradation and its impacts on crop productivity and livelihoods. It has been found out that the current rate of soil erosion ranged from 0 to 114 t ha^–1 yr^–1, and that the average rate of soil erosion increased from 14.2 to 54.6 t ha^–1 yr^–1 over a period from 2000 to 2012. The major types of land degradation were physical and chemical soil degradation. Farmers identified topographic condition, soil types, improper crop management practices and climatic factors as the main causes of soil erosion. The observed crop yields of monsoon rice, groundnut, sesame and cotton in the highly degraded area were 3–12 times lower compared with the yields of these crops grown in less degraded area. Livelihoods of the farmers in the high-degraded area were affected by crop yield reduction, increased cultivation cost and increased uncultivable land area. The impact of land degradation on crop production was dependent on the severity of degradation. This suggests that advanced conservation measures are immediately required and the supportive policy strategies need to be implemented to educate farmers and to strengthen extension services for sustainable land management in the Dry Zone of Myanmar.     

Farmland size,chemical fertilizers,and irrigation management effects on maize and wheat yield in Mexico

ABSTRACT

Farmland size is a key factor in debates over agricultural land use, food security, agrochemical pollution, and the future of smallholder systems. This paper examines relationships between farmland size, chemical fertilizers and irrigation management, and maize and wheat yield in Mexico. We used agricultural census data to estimate the mean farmland areas and crop yields of 5.5 million farms and nine million agricultural plots in 2,455 Mexican municipalities. We also derived indices of socio-environmental and management factors to examine relationships with yield. Using multiple regression models, we found that although mean farmland area positively relates to maize and wheat yield, the relationships depend critically on the management contexts of chemical fertilizers and irrigation, which vary widely across farm size gradients. Smallholder yield gaps were associated with deficits in irrigation, rather than chemical inputs. Findings highlight the growing need for expanded irrigation access and/or water management assistance for smaller farms.     

土地利用/覆被变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响——以吉林省通榆县为例

土地利用/覆被变化对陆地碳循环影响显著.文章基于实地采集的土壤、植物样品的测试数据和1989、2004两年8月陆地卫星TM遥感影像数据,采用生态系统类型法分析吉林省通榆县1989-2004年耕地、林地、草地、盐碱地、沙地等11 种地类之间土地利用变化对土地生态系统有机碳库的影响.计算结果表明1989-2004年通榆县土地生态系统有机碳库共损失了3.18 TgC(1Tg=106t),年均损失约为0.265 Tgc.其中,湿地、草地有机碳库分别损失5.54 TgC和3.71 TgC,盐碱地面积的增加导致有机碳库损失4.75 TgC.林地面积增加和沙地面积减少分别使有机碳库增加了4.58 TgC和3.75 TgC.研究区总体上为一个碳失汇,草地退化、湿地萎缩、土地沙化和盐碱化造成了有机碳库的碳损失,而植树造林、草地植被的恢复和重建等活动则可以显著增加土壤有机碳储量.该研究对于评估自然环境与人为活动影响下,特别是大规模土地整治与生态修复对土壤有机碳的增汇潜力和固碳效应的影响具有重要的理论意义和应用价值.     

Assessing strategies to reconcile agriculture and bird conservation in the temperate grasslands of South America

Globally, agriculture is the greatest source of threat to biodiversity, through both ongoing conversion of natural habitat and intensification of existing farmland. Land sparing and land sharing have been suggested as alternative approaches to reconcile this threat with the need for land to produce food. To examine which approach holds most promise for grassland species, we examined how bird population densities changed with farm yield (production per unit area) in the Campos of Brazil and Uruguay. We obtained information on biodiversity and crop yields from 24 sites that differed in agricultural yield. Density–yield functions were fitted for 121 bird species to describe the response of population densities to increasing farm yield, measured in terms of both food energy and profit. We categorized individual species according to how their population changed across the yield gradient as being positively or negatively affected by farming and according to whether the species’ total population size was greater under land‐sparing, land‐sharing, or an intermediate strategy. Irrespective of the yield, most species were negatively affected by farming. Increasing yields reduced densities of approximately 80% of bird species. We estimated land sparing would result in larger populations than other sorts of strategies for 67% to 70% of negatively affected species, given current production levels, including three threatened species. This suggests that increasing yields in some areas while reducing grazing to low levels elsewhere may be the best option for bird conservation in these grasslands. Implementing such an approach would require conservation and production policies to be explicitly linked to support yield increases in farmed areas and concurrently guarantee that larger areas of lightly grazed natural grasslands are set aside for conservation.     

Relationship of firm attributes,ownership structure and business network on climate change efforts: evidence from Malaysia

This paper presents a case study of land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes from 1975 to 2014 in the central highlands of Ethiopia and traces out its impact on socioeconomic conditions of the local community in the study area. We used four time series Landsat satellite images, that is, Landsat MSS (1975), Landsat Thematic Mapper (1986), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (2000), and Landsat 8 OLI scenes (2014), to investigate the changes in LULC. In addition, individual interviews with 51 randomly selected households, discussions with focus group and key informants, and field observations were also incorporated for the study. The image classification indicated four categories of LULC classes: Natural forest, eucalyptus plantations, cropland/settlements, and grasslands. Between 1975 and 2014, cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations considerably increased, whereas grassland cover drastically decreased. According to the results, the area under cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations increased by 62 and 335%, respectively, with 74% concomitant decrease in the area of grasslands in the same period. Survey results showed that deterioration of soil fertility (41.2%) followed by shortage of land (35.3%) is the major constraint for crop production for poor farmers in the study area. However, better-off farmers ranked deterioration of soil fertility (64.7%) followed by lack of credit (17.6%) as priority constraints for crop production. Interviews mainly focused on selected women group revealed that the expansion of eucalyptus in the area greatly curbed the burdens of collecting fuel woods from long distances in the past. The availability of too many religious holidays (on average 16 days/month) directly or indirectly contributes to the current seasonal food shortages of the community. Generally, our results show that the community in the study area is beset with a host of social, economic, and institutional challenges. As a result, majority of the farming households are destitute, unable to make a livelihood from their small plot of land and live in absolute poverty. Therefore, in light of these finding, it is imperative that timely interventions by government and other development stakeholders are needed to come to grips with problems of soil fertility, land-use change, and food insecurity in the study area.     

广东耕地地力调查与质量评价试点工作的成果及其应用展望

根据农业部的布置，广东省选择佛山市高明区开展耕地地力调查与质量评价试点工作。查清了高明区耕地等级及其分布、土壤肥力状况、土壤及水源受污染的背景，建立了高明区耕地质量管理信息系统，为高明区土壤合理利用和改良、作物布局调整、肥料合理生产和正确施用、土地有偿使用、无公害优质农产品生产等提供了指导，也为今后全省各地开展该项工作提供了参考。     

A geostatistical approach for mapping thematic classification accuracy and evaluating the impact of inaccurate spatial data on ecological model predictions

Spatial information in the form of geographical information system coverages and remotely sensed imagery is increasingly used in ecological modeling. Examples include maps of land cover type from which ecologically relevant properties, such as biomass or leaf area index, are derived. Spatial information, however, is not error-free: acquisition and processing errors, as well as the complexity of the physical processes involved, make remotely sensed data imperfect measurements of ecological attributes. It is therefore important to first assess the accuracy of the spatial information being used and then evaluate the impact of such inaccurate information on ecological model predictions. In this paper, the role of geostatistics for mapping thematic classification accuracy through integration of abundant image-derived (soft) and sparse higher accuracy (hard) class labels is presented. Such assessment leads to local indices of map quality, which can be used for guiding additional ground surveys. Stochastic simulation is proposed for generating multiple alternative realizations (maps) of the spatial distribution of the higher accuracy class labels over the study area. All simulated realizations are consistent with the available pieces of information (hard and soft labels) up to their validated level of accuracy. The simulated alternative class label representations can be used for assessing joint spatial accuracy, i.e., classification accuracy regarding entire spatial features read from the thematic map. Such realizations can also serve as input parameters to spatially explicit ecological models; the resulting distribution of ecological responses provides a model of uncertainty regarding the ecological model prediction. A case study illustrates the generation of alternative land cover maps for a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) subscene, and the subsequent construction of local map quality indices. Simulated land cover maps are then input into a biogeochemical model for assessing uncertainty regarding net primary production (NPP).