Underlying cause of fire: Different form of land tenure conflicts in Sumatra

One of the social phenomena that have arisen in Indonesia in the post-Reformasi period (mid-1998) is the increase in land tenure conflicts between local communities and tree plantation companies, and between local communities and the forestry department. Land tenure conflicts often trigger forest and land fires, which is both a symptom and a cause of increasing conflict over tenure and use rights. If the tenure issue is not appropriately addressed, it will continue to result in unwanted fires and forest degradation, related smoke and gas emissions, and environmental and economic losses. A recent study in Sumatra revealed that, in many cases, (1) tenure conflicts between companies and communities, resulting from past government policies and practices, often trigger forest and land fires because of frustrations by the communities of being unable to have their claims heard in a fair and transparent judicial system; and (2) even with the use of military force, forest policy and management has largely failed to protect forest resources when local communities were not involved. The nature of the partnership between communities and companies in land use development is also an important factor in influencing the incidence and control of fire.     

农用地土壤环境分类管理研究

通过分析国内外农用地土壤环境分类管理经验,结合我国土壤环境质量状况,以土壤环境风险管控为主线,将农用地土壤分为优先保护类、安全利用类和严格管控类3个类别,并提出相应的分类管理措施,保障农产品质量安全和人体健康。     

Revisiting production and ecosystem services on the farm scale for evaluating land use alternatives

Urbanization pressure increases the demand on remaining open spaces to deliver food and biomass, as well as other ecosystem services, but it is often paired with a reduced capacity to deliver these services. This calls for an integrated and innovative use of the remaining space.However, current spatial planning paradigms are not always adapted to face these new challenges. In many regions, an important aspect of spatial planning in relation to agriculture is still the pragmatic and monofunctional allocation of land use between vocal stakeholders. This is rarely paired with a regional view on the effective or desired quantity of services provided by this open space. Since land use policies increasingly need to strive for resilience on top of diversification of services, assessments of the servicing capacity and sustainability of land uses are needed.This paper presents a framework to assess all ecosystem services (i.e. marketable and non-marketable ES) delivered by conventional as well as innovative land uses. The framework is then used to assess land use strategies at the scale of an unconventional case farm in Flanders, Belgium. The analysis combines spatial and economic analysis of land use alternatives and illustrates some shortcomings of usual ecosystem valuation tools. Our findings illustrate that land use evaluation might be biased against unconventional land management alternatives. The proposed framework provides land planners with a way to assess and arbitrate between land sharing and land sparring options more accurately. The approach can help to optimize land use from the societal perspective, and allows for benchmarking farm-level land use alternatives by comparing the services they deliver.     

土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响研究进展

研究土地利用变化对土壤有机碳及其动态变化规律,有助于掌握全球气候变化与土地利用变化之间的关系。本文分别从土地利用及其管理方式变化的角度,综合阐述了土地利用变化对土壤有机碳的影响过程与机理。     

Landscape patterns and parcel boundaries: an analysis of composition and configuration of land use and land cover in south-central Indiana

In many areas of the world, socioeconomic and political factors are increasingly impacting spatial patterns of land use and land cover in the landscape. Much of the land in the United States has been divided using a grid-based system that was implemented to realize socioeconomic and political goals rather than to protect and conform to biophysical differences. The borders of individual parcels of land often reflect the boundary lines created by this system. These borders are important components of policies related to land management such as zoning and private land use decisions. The potential impact this system of land division may have on spatial patterns in a landscape remains unclear. The majority of landscape research has focused exclusively on biophysical differences occurring over relatively large areas of land and ignored possible finer-scale, human impacts on landscape composition and configuration. There is a need for research on spatial patterns occurring over areas that match socioeconomically or politically important units of land in order to improve understanding of relationships between human related processes and ecosystem functions and to create better management policies.This research explores whether the system of land parcelization is evident in patterns of land use and land cover in the landscape of south-central Indiana. In particular, it investigates whether parcel boundaries correspond to distinct changes in the composition and configuration of forest, developed, and agricultural lands. This research uses theory and methodology from geography, geographic information science, and landscape ecology to analyze patterns of land use and land cover in a rural to semi-rural county in south-central Indiana. A classification of a remotely sensed image is used as a basis for calculating metrics of landscape composition and configuration with the use of a geographic information system. The metrics are calculated for areas of forest, developed, and agricultural land associated with a sample of parcels chosen to represent all the parcels within Monroe County. The values for areas near the parcel boundaries are compared with the values for areas at relatively short distances from the parcel boundaries. This comparison indicates whether there is a distinct change in the composition or configuration of the landscape occurring at approximately the parcel boundaries.The results suggest that in Monroe County, Indiana, changes in the composition of the landscape, particularly the amount of area covered by agriculture and forest, correspond with parcel boundaries. Changes in the configuration of agricultural and, to a lesser extent, developed lands also occur near parcel boundaries. The results support the hypothesis that the grid-based system of parcelization has affected spatial patterns of land use and land cover. These results illustrate the potential impact socioeconomic and political systems may have on spatial patterns in a landscape.     

Element and mineral characterization of dust emission from the saline land at Songnen Plain, Northeastern China

Recent observations of Asian dust storms show an eastern expansion of the source area to degraded lands, where dust emissions have been little studied. The dust concentrations over the saline land of the western Songnen Plain (SSL), Northeastern China, are circumstantially higher than those from the northwestern Chinese deserts. These concentrations are sensitive to the surface soil conditions and wind velocity on the ground. The dust samples collected during dust storm events on the SSL contain abundant Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Fe and Ti, as well as toxic elements such as Cu, V, Zn and Ba. Individual particle analysis reveals that fine saline particles (< 10 μm in diameter) on the saline land, consisting largely of carbonate, halite and sulfate together with lithogenic minerals such as SiO₂ and aluminosilicate, are eventually uplifted during the interval from spring to autumn. The predominantly fine saline particles uplifted from the SSL are likely transported eastward by the winter monsoon circulation and westerlies. Recent degradation of saline lands in Northeastern China would not only increase the frequency of dust storm events in the downwind area, but also might change the chemical composition of the Asian dust emissions.     

A nexus perspective on competing land demands: Wider lessons from a UK policy case study

As nations develop policies for low-carbon transitions, conflicts with existing policies and planning tools are leading to competing demands for land and other resources. This raises fundamental questions over how multiple demands can best be managed. Taking the UK as an empirical example, this paper critiques current policies and practices to explore the interdependencies at the water-energy-food nexus. It considers how current land uses and related policies affect the UK’s resilience to climate change, setting out an agenda for research and practice relevant to stakeholders in land-use management, policy and modelling. Despite recent progress in recognising such nexus challenges, most UK land-related policies and associated science continue to be compartmentalised by both scale and sector and seldom acknowledge nexus interconnections. On a temporal level, the absence of an over-arching strategy leaves inter-generational trade-offs poorly considered. Given the system lock-in and the lengthy policy-making process, it is essential to develop alternative ways of providing dynamic, flexible, practical and scientifically robust decision support for policy-makers. A range of ecosystem services need to be valued and integrated into a resilient land-use strategy, including the introduction of non-monetary, physical-unit constraints on the use of particular services.     

Runoff and sediment losses from 27 upland catchments in Southeast Asia: Impact of rapid land use changes and conservation practices

Rapid changes in upland farming systems in Southeast Asia generated predominantly by increased population pressure and ‘market forces’ have resulted in widespread land degradation that has been well documented at the plot scale. Yet, the links between agricultural activities in the uplands and downstream off-site effects remain largely unknown because of the difficulties in transferring results from plots to a larger scale. Many authors have thus pointed out the need for long-term catchment studies. The objective of this paper is to summarize the results obtained by the Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC) over the last 5 years from 27 catchments in five countries (Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). The purpose of the study was to assess the impacts of cultivation practices on annual runoff and erosion rates. Initial surveys in each catchment included topography, soils and land use. Monitoring included climatic, hydrologic and erosion (total sediment yield including bed load and suspended sediment load) data, land use and crop yields, and farmers’ income. In addition, new land management options were introduced through consultations with farmers and evaluated in terms of runoff and erosion. These included tree plantations, fruit trees, improved fallow with legumes, maize intercropped with legumes, planted fodder, native grass strips and agro-ecological practices (direct sowing and mulch-based conservation agriculture). Regressions analyses showed that runoff during the rainy season, and normalized runoff flow coefficient based on erosive rainfall during the rainy season (rainfall with intensity exceeding 25 mm h⁻¹) increase with the percentage of the catchment covered by maize. Both variables decrease with increasing soil depth, standard deviation of catchment slope (that reflects terrain roughness), and the percentages of the catchment covered by fallow (regular and improved), tree plantations and planted fodder. The best predictors of sediment yield were the surface percentages of maize, Job's tears, cassava and footpaths. The main conclusions generated from this study were: (i) soil erosion is predominantly influenced by land use rather than environmental characteristics not only at the plot scale but also at the catchment scale; (ii) slash-and-burn shifting cultivation with sufficiently long rotations (1 year of cultivation, 8 years of fallow) is too often unjustly blamed for degradation; (iii) in its place, continuous cropping of maize and cassava promotes high rates of soil erosion at the catchment scale; (iv) conservation technologies are efficient in reducing runoff and total sediment yield at the catchment scale; (v) the adoption of improved soil management technologies by upland farmers is not a function of the degree of intensification of their farming system and/or of their incomes. The results suggest that if expansion of maize and cassava into already degraded upland systems were to occur due to increased demand for biofuels, there is a risk of higher runoff and sediment generation. A failure to adopt appropriate land use management strategies will result in further rapid resource degradation with negative impacts to downstream communities.     

On the economic approach to the containment of land consumption

This paper highlights the potential contribution of economics to the formulation and implementation of land use policies that aim at a more sustainable use of land. It introduces the economic way of conceptualizing and understanding the problem of land consumption and discusses exemplary policy instruments based on this understanding: taxation of either land use or sealing and tradable development permit schemes. These examples are drawn from current land use policy debates in Germany but likewise apply to other countries and regions. The authors conclude that economic land use policy instruments can make a significant contribution to the containment of land consumption, i.e., to a more efficient use of already developed sites and to a denser development of new sites. However, the examples presented also clearly demonstrate that incentive-based approaches need a tight regulatory planning framework to produce positive environmental effects.     

Linkages between land management activities and stream water quality in a border dyke-irrigated pastoral catchment

This paper describes key linkages between land management activities and stream water quality for a 5230 ha catchment used for intensive pastoral agriculture in southern New Zealand. Due to low annual rainfall and the wide coverage of soils with low available water-holding capacities, flood irrigation of the 2400 ha of flat land within the catchment is an important feature impacting on farm business profitability and stream health. Water quality variables and nutrient and sediment yield estimates are reported for a four-year period. This monitoring shows that some improvement in farm environmental performances would generally be desirable, with stream concentrations of nutrients (N and P), sediment and faecal bacteria regularly exceeding guidelines recommended for surface waters. Field measurements, farm management surveys and farm systems modelling have identified some land management practices that appear to be key sources of many of these pollutants. Border dyke irrigation runoff has a potentially large effect on a range of water quality parameters, due to both the excessive stream flows generated by over-watering and the entrainment of P, N and faecal bacteria in this flow as it passes from land to stream. Stock access to some of the remaining un-fenced lengths of the stream was also recognised as an important land management practice that needed to be addressed if some of the key catchment values identified by stakeholders, such as maintaining a healthy trout fishery and a stream suitable for recreational use, were to be protected. Assessments of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a number of potential mitigation practices identified that managements which targeted reducing irrigation runoff (e.g. by installing bunds or using appropriate watering times) and fencing and planting riparian margins showed the greatest potential to meet these key values with least cost to farm businesses. Other farm practices were also identified that incurred nil or minimal cost while also delivering small or moderate benefits to stream water quality.     

退耕对土壤团聚体稳定性及有机碳分布的影响

采用野外调查与室内分析相结合的方法,就退耕对土壤团聚体的稳定性及其有机碳分布的影响进行了研究。结果表明:①干筛处理下各种退耕方式土壤团聚体均以＞5 mm粒径为主,总体随粒径的减小呈先降低后增加再降低的趋势;湿筛处理下土壤团聚体以＜0.25 mm粒径为主,总体随粒径的减小呈先降低后增加的趋势。②干筛处理下,不同退耕方式的团聚体平均重量直径和平均几何直径在0~20 cm土层表现为:退耕还林＞退耕撂荒＞退耕还茶,在20~40 cm土层却表现为相反的变化特征;湿筛处理下,不同退耕方式的团聚体平均重量直径和平均几何直径在0~20 cm土层表现为:退耕还林＞退耕还茶＞退耕撂荒,在20~40 cm土层却表现为:退耕还茶＞退耕还林＞退耕撂荒。③3种退耕方式0~20 cm土层各个粒径团聚体有机碳含量基本高于20~40 cm,且随着土壤粒径的减小,土壤团聚体中有机碳含量总体呈逐渐减低的变化趋势;0~20 cm土层,退耕还茶地土壤团聚体中有机碳含量最高,20~40 cm土层,退耕撂荒地土壤团聚体中有机碳含量最高。     

Variations in land requirements for meat production

Production of meat requires substantial amounts of feed grains which in turn require vast amounts of land. Future population growth and increase in consumption will raise the demand for meat and with it the land required for meat production. This paper analyses the various factors that affect land requirements for meat production. Meat production by Dutch broilers, pigs and beef cattle on their current feeds are compared and options for change are evaluated with respect to their nutritional needs. Differences in land requirements of a factor of 3 were found between different agricultural production systems and feeds as well as between types of livestock. It is shown that broilers have the lowest land requirement while beef cattle have the highest. The variation in feed crop yields between agricultural systems is discussed. It is concluded that due to the large variation within the system there is potential for reduction in the land requirements for meat production.     

快速城市化背景下不同建设用地扩张的驱动差异探讨：以浙江省义乌市为例

已有城市扩张文献多将建设用地视为单一对象,而较少考虑不同类型的建设用地可能受差别化的驱动因素的影响。针对此,论文以浙江义乌为例,采用无序多分类Logistic回归模型,分析了2006—2014年间义乌商住用地与工业用地扩张所受驱动力的差异。结果表明：商住用地与工业用地扩张均受到自然环境、社会经济区位、邻域状态及空间政策等多重因素的综合影响,但也存在明显的内部差异：一是驱动商住用地扩张的因素并不必然作用于工业用地,反之亦然;二是作用于两类用地扩张的同一驱动因素,其作用方向也可能截然相反;三是对两类用地扩张具有相同作用方向的驱动因素,其作用强度也往往不同,并形成了义乌“产城分离”的城市发展格局。论文揭示了城市化背景下不同建设用地扩张的驱动差异特征,对现有驱动力研究进行了一定拓展,能够为城市规划和城市用地分类管理提供科学依据和直接参考。     

Trends in fire patterns in a southern African savanna under alternative land use practices

Climate, topography, vegetation and land use interact to influence fire regimes. Variable fire regimes may promote landscape heterogeneity, diversification in vegetation pattern and biotic diversity. The objective was to compare effects of alternative land use practices on landscape heterogeneity. Patch characteristics of fire scars were measured from 21 annual burn maps produced from 1972 to 2001 Landsat imagery. Trends in fire patterns under alternative land use practices were compared across a 250,000 ha savanna in southern Africa partitioned into three land use zones. Zone 1, Madikwe Game Reserve (MGR), has had mostly prescribed fires since 1993. Zone 2, cattle farms near MGR in South Africa (SAF), has experienced occasional fires. Zone 3, communal grazing lands in neighboring Botswana (BOT), has had the fewest fires. Cattle ranching was the predominant land use throughout the study area until 1992, when land use switched to conservation and eco-tourism in MGR. Sixteen landscape metrics were applied to this data set to uncover trends in the patch characteristics of the fire scars. A principal components analysis (PCA) reduced the dimensionality of the results so trends in the 10 most important size, shape, and proximity metrics could be better interpreted. The PCA results showed that more burning over time in MGR, and to a lesser extent in SAF, increased patch size, size variability, shape complexity and proximity, while fire exclusion in BOT produced no change or decreasing trends. We tested for significant differences in these metrics between the three land use zones and between two periods, 1972–1992 and 1993–2001. Most patch characteristics in MGR and SAF differed significantly from those in BOT, especially during the latter period, while between MGR and SAF they did not. Patch area, shape complexity and core area increased significantly between periods in MGR, while patch size, size variability and core area increased significantly between periods in SAF. In BOT, no patch characteristics changed significantly between periods. Within the time span analyzed for the study area, we conclude that increased fire occurrence promoted landscape heterogeneity while fire exclusion did not.     

遥感地学智能图解模型支持下的土地覆盖/土地利用分类

土地覆盖/土地利用(LC/LU)调查已经成为开展土地利用动态变化预测、自然灾害防治及土地利用规划、土地管理和环境保护的一项关键的基础性工作,受到广泛注意和重视。随着遥感技术和各种地学分析模型的发展和深入,利用遥感技术获得的影像数据对区域的LC/LU情况及其动态变化进行定期或不定期的监测,成为一种最为迅速可靠和理想有效的手段。常规的LC/LU遥感分类方法主要包括基于常规数理统计分类方法、基于人工神经网络分类方法、基于知识逻辑推理的分类方法等。论文综合这些方法的特性,提出了遥感地学智能图解模型支持下的LC/LU分类体系,并以香港地区为试验对象,采用多平台遥感数据和辅助地理信息,进行了土地覆盖/土地利用遥感应用研究。     

玛曲县土地利用/覆盖变化对区域生态系统服务价值的影响

运用GIS和遥感技术分析了玛曲县1975、1990和2005年的土地利用/覆盖特征,在此基础上使用生态价值系数(C)计算出该县生态系统服务价值.结果表明,该区域1975~2005年间生态系统服务价值从129.713亿元减少到123.961亿元,共损失5.75亿元,且损失量和损失幅度呈持续增加趋势;该区域生态系统服务价值中,废物处理价值最高,气候调节价值次之,原材料价值最低,且30年间各服务类型的价值均呈减小趋势;玛曲县1975、1990和2005年人均生态系统服务价值分别为58.96,42.80,29.51万元,表明玛曲县由于人口的增长,环境压力呈持续增大趋势.草地和湿地退化是导致该区域生态系统服务价值减少的主要原因.CS检验说明本研究所选C值较为合理.     

Future options for cultivated Nordic peat soils: Can land management and rewetting control greenhouse gas emissions?

Management of peat soils is regionally important as they cover large land areas and have important but conflicting ecosystems services. A recent management trend for drained peatlands is the control of greenhouse gases (GHG) by changes in agricultural practices, peatland restoration or paludiculture. Due to complex antagonistic controls of moisture, water table management can be difficult to use as a method for controlling GHG emissions. Past studies show that there is no obvious relationship between GHG emission rates and crop type, tillage intensity or fertilization rates. For drained peat soils, the best use options can vary from rewetting with reduced emission to efficient short term use to maximize the profit per amount of greenhouse gas emitted. The GHG accounting should consider the entire life cycle of the peatland and the socio-economic benefits peatlands provide locally. Cultivating energy crops is a viable option especially for wet peat soils with poor drainage, but harvesting remains a challenge due to tractability of wet soils. Paludiculture in lowland floodplains can be a tool to mitigate regional flooding allowing water to be stored on these lands without much harm to crops. This can also increase regional biodiversity providing important habitats for birds and moisture tolerant plant species. However, on many peatlands rewetting is not possible due to their position in the landscape and the associated difficulty to maintain a high stable water table. While the goal of rewetting often is to encourage the return of peat forming plants and the ecosystem services they provide such as carbon sequestration, it is not well known if these plants will grow on peat soils that have been altered by the process of drainage and management. Therefore, it is important to consider peat quality and hydrology when choosing management options. Mapping of sites is recommended as a management tool to guide actions. The environmental status and socio-economic importance of the sites should be assessed both for continued cultivation but also for other ecosystem services such as restoration and hydrological functions (flood control). Farmers need advice, tools and training to find the best after-use option. Biofuels might provide a cost-efficient after use option for some sites. Peat extraction followed by rewetting might provide a sustainable option as rewetting is often easier if the peat is removed, starting the peat accumulation from scratch. Also this provides a way to finance the after-use. As impacts of land use are uncertain, new policies should consider multiple benefits and decisions should be based on scientific evidence and field scale observations. The need to further understand the key processes and long term effects of field scale land use manipulations is evident. The recommended actions for peatlands should be based on local condition and socio-economic needs to outline intermediate and long term plans.     

苏南地区农村宅基地转型研究：基于利用状态的视角

农村宅基地转型是土地利用转型研究的重要内容。目前学界关于宅基地转型的研究主要集中在规模结构等显性形态方面,对隐性转型的研究仍较欠缺。以乡村经济发达的苏南地区为例,通过对正常使用、空置、废弃等不同利用状态宅基地空间分异规律的刻画,探索其功能转型的一般规律,并进一步分析宅基地空置与废弃的影响因素。结果表明：在乡村振兴战略实施背景下,“房子不用来住”的问题在农村地区同样存在,而且在不同代际和空间区位上农村宅基地的利用状态有所差异。具体地,1980年以前的老宅基地从距离城镇较远和较近的“两端”开始,其空废比率向中间地带递减;随着市场化和城镇化水平提升,1980—2000年的中龄宅基地空废比率呈现由近郊向外递减的趋势,城镇化影响下的距离衰减规律明显。近年来,伴随农村宅基地财产/资产属性的逐步显现,农村宅基地的利用状态与空间区位之间的关联关系弱化。2010年以后新宅基地的空置率出现反弹,尤其靠近城镇的农村地区“囤地”现象严重,发端于城镇地区的“地产霸权”正在向乡村地区蔓延。     

Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use management practices assessed at the farm level

In order to assess the impact of policies to encourage extensification in less favoured areas and improve our knowledge of extensive livestock systems, we analyzed relationships between the diversity of grassland vegetation and land use management practices and field characteristics. This study, conducted on a mountainous area in the centre of France, was based on 149 fields, mainly of natural grasslands belonging to 7 farmers. Regression analyses were performed to analyze the relations between the grassland vegetation types (five types established from the list of dominant species), management practices (cutting versus grazing and fertilization) and the topographic (altitude and aspect) and topologic (slope, distance and surface area) characteristics of the fields. The land use management rules used by the farmers were studied by specifying the grazing management rules of the herd (dairy cows), as well as those for conserved forage (mainly hay or silage) and were identified from observations mentioned on the “grazing schedules”, as well as from interviews at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the study period. The statistical analysis showed that neither the topographic characteristics of the fields nor the distance from the cowshed or surface area were correlated with the grassland vegetation types. It was the management practices used, largely determined by the field slope, which determined the grassland vegetation type. On the other hand, farmers’ statements showed that the grazing and cutting management rules were mostly determined by the slope of the fields and the distance from the cowshed and, to a lesser extent, by the altitude and aspect. These results showed that the farmers take into consideration environmental differences when choosing fields to allocate for grazing and cutting at different seasons, particularly when they are constrained by these features. Nevertheless, when the constraints were minimal, a wide diversity of grassland vegetation types was also observed. This diversity was a result of attributing different functions to the fields which led to different management practices (defoliation methods and fertilization) and, thus, to different grassland vegetation types. Consequently, for farms where animal feed requirements vary according to the time of the year and the type of animal, we suggest that diversity in the grassland vegetation types is a sound component of these livestock systems.     

近20年渔子溪流域土地利用变化的环境影响

采用渔子溪流域1986、1994及2002年的遥感影像资料,对流域土地利用变化导致的生态系统服务价值及景观格局指数的变化进行了定量分析.结果表明,在1986～2002年间,流域土地利用变化导致其总体生态系统服务功能增加了0.42%,其中产品供给功能、生态调节功能、生命系统支持功能、文化娱乐功能的相对变化率分别为1.15%、0.36%、0.16%和-0.94%,它们对总体生态系统服务功能变化的贡献率分别为62.95%、46.82%、6.33%和-16.1%.从景观格局变化来看,渔子溪流域的斑块密度指数在1986-2002年间从0.0016减小到0.0013,而景观破碎度指数从0.00307增大到0.00474,表明渔子溪流域的景观粒度减小而景观破碎化的程度提高.研究结果还表明,流域不同土地利用类型景观破碎度的变化趋势并不一致,其中耕地、疏林地、高覆盖度草地、低覆盖度草地和居民建设用地的破碎度指数有所增加,而有林地、灌木林、中覆盖度草地和永久性冰雪覆盖的破碎度指数有所下降,这主要是由于一些零散分布的灌木林被开垦为耕地或转变为居民建设用地及气候变暖使得部分永久性冰雪覆盖转变为中覆盖度草地等原因造成的.