Accounting for monogastric livestock as a driver in global land use and cover change assessments

Land systems are described based on various characteristics, including land cover composition and agricultural production. However, it is uncertain to what extent livestock, particularly monogastric livestock, determines land systems. We included monogastrics in a land system classification, and statistically analyzed the land cover composition and agricultural production of otherwise similar land systems with and without monogastric livestock. The results indicate that land systems with monogastrics are statistically different from their counterparts in the classification without monogastrics in terms of grassland area and crop yields, but are less different in terms of tree area, crop area, and ruminant livestock production. We then used a land systems map that includes monogastrics in the classification and a similar map that does not include monogastrics to project future changes in a novel manner that integrates livestock as a determinant of land systems. The results show that including monogastrics in otherwise similar projections yields less cropland intensification and more cropland expansion in several world regions, including Northern Africa and the Middle East. Other regions, such as Europe and Australia, were characterized by less decrease or more increase in tree area in the application with monogastrics, mainly due to the occurrence of open forests with monogastrics. This study prompts a call for improved characterization of land systems for land use and cover change (LUCC) assessments in order to better represent LUCC driven by monogastric livestock.     

Modeled historical land use and land cover for the conterminous United States

The landscape of the conterminous United States has changed dramatically over the last 200 years, with agricultural land use, urban expansion, forestry, and other anthropogenic activities altering land cover across vast swaths of the country. While land use and land cover (LULC) models have been developed to model potential future LULC change, few efforts have focused on recreating historical landscapes. Researchers at the US Geological Survey have used a wide range of historical data sources and a spatially explicit modeling framework to model spatially explicit historical LULC change in the conterminous United States from 1992 back to 1938. Annual LULC maps were produced at 250-m resolution, with 14 LULC classes. Assessment of model results showed good agreement with trends and spatial patterns in historical data sources such as the Census of Agriculture and historical housing density data, although comparison with historical data is complicated by definitional and methodological differences. The completion of this dataset allows researchers to assess historical LULC impacts on a range of ecological processes.     

盐池北部风沙区土地利用变化的社会经济效应

以盐池北部风沙区为研究区域,利用1996—2007年土地利用变更调查与社会经济统计数据,借助典型相关分析,提取沙区农村土地利用变化对社会经济发展影响的主要方面。结果表明：（1）研究区土地利用变化对农村经济总体水平、经济结构、社会发展具有显著影响;（2）种植业、林业、牧业产值与粮食总产量是衡量研究区农村经济总体水平的重要指标,耕地、林地、居民点、沙地组成对其影响显著;（3）人口产业结构与居民收入结构反映了研究区农村社会发展、劳动力就业情况,受林地和沙地组成影响较大;（4）林地和沙地组成对地区农业结构,尤其是林业产值比重影响较大。沙区土地利用变化的社会经济效应分析,为土地利用结构调整方向提供依据,目的是促进沙区种植业结构调整、林牧业发展、农村劳动力合理分配。     

吉林西部土地利用/覆被时空变化驱动力分析

针对吉林两部土地利用/覆被情况,基于TM影像,借助人机交互解译方法,结合1:10万地形图获得1986年、1996年、2000年和2004年的4期土地利用/覆被变化(LUCC)矢量数据.利用土地利用动态度模型、土地利用转移矩阵.全面揭示研究区15年的LUCC时空变化特征,结果表明.盐碱地扩张,湿地、水域萎缩和草地退化已经成为吉林西部生态环境恶化的突出表现.结合研究区的实际情况选取总人口数、农业人口数、粮食总产置等12个指标作为LUCC:变化的丰十会经济驱动因子,借助多元线性回归模型,建立主要土地利用类型的驱动力模型.结果表明吉林西部土地利用变化的最主要社会经济因子是农业人口数、农民人均纯收入、农业生产技术(农业机械总动力、化肥施用量)和农村用电量,同时提出相应的生态环境保护和社会经济措施.     

Exploration of spatial morphometry and socioeconomic variables in modelling urban land use change

The incorporation of land use (LU) data with socioeconomic data is a main issue in modelling. This is as a result of difference in data model and scale. This study proposed and tested the change–pattern approach, which allows the incorporation of these data sets in modelling LU change. Focusing on LU dynamics for a selected part of the Thames Gateway within the City of London, the approach tested two different methods of input selection for the modelling operations. Variables selected from these two methods serve as inputs into several neural networks tested in order to identify the direction of change for each of the LU types within the study area. The result shows that direction of LU change across the study area could be identified when spatial morphology of the area and socioeconomic variables are considered. Some classes of change could be identified fairly accurately using landscape metrics indicating level of fragmentation, extent of LU patches, shape complexity of LU patches in combination with some socioeconomic variables.     

广西土地利用变化及对粮食生产的影响

在统计软件SPSS支持下,深入分析了广西土地利用现状及1996—2001年土地利用结构变化的原因,在此基础上探讨了土地利用变化对粮食生产的影响,并提出了一些保障粮食安全的对策及建议。     

How dynamics and drivers of land use/land cover change impact elephant conservation and agricultural livelihood development in Rombo,Tanzania

Land use/land cover (LULC) change affects the provision of ecosystem services for humans and habitat for wildlife. Hence, it is crucial to monitor LULC particularly adjacent to protected areas. In this study, we measured LULC change in Rombo, Tanzania, an area with high-potential agro-ecological zones that is dominated by human–elephant conflicts (HECs). We used remote sensing and geographical information system techniques, questionnaires and village meetings to assess spatio-temporal patterns of the LULC changes in the study area. Using Landsat imagery, digital elevation model (DEM) and ground truthing, we classified and monitored changes in LULC from the years 1987 to 2015. We found that within Rombo, settlements were increasing, while agricultural and agroforestry lands were decreasing and respondents’ perceptions varied along the altitudinal gradient. Patterns of HEC and LULC were observed to change along the gradient and the later threatened the agricultural land and ecological integrity for elephant habitat, leading to high tension and competition between elephants and people. This research offers baseline information for land use planning to balance wildlife conservation with livelihood development in Rombo and highlights that managing the impacts of LULC changes on HEC and elephant habitat loss is a matter of urgency.     

Simulation of soil carbon changes due to land use change in urban areas in China

Land use change can have a strong impact on soil carbon dynamics and carbon stocks in urban areas. Due to rapid urbanization, large areas of land have been paved, and other areas have undergone rapid land use change. Evaluation of the impact of urbanization on carbon dynamics and carbon stock (30 cm) has become an issue of urgent concern. The soil carbon dynamics, due to rapid land use change in Tianjin Binhai New Area of China, have been simulated in this paper using the RothC model. Because this area is saline, a modified version of RothC that includes a salt rate modifier provided more accurate simulations than the original model. The conversion to urban green land was not accurately simulated by either of the models because of the undefined changes in soil and plant conditions. According to the model, changes of arable to grassland resulted in a decline in soil carbon stocks, and changes of grassland to forest and grassland to arable resulted in increased soil carbon stocks in this area. Across the whole area simulated, the total carbon stocks in 2010 had decreased due to land use change by 6.5% from the 1979 value. By 2050, a further decrease of 21.9% is expected according to the 2050 plan for land use and the continuing losses from the soils due to previous land use changes.     

森林土地利用变化及其对碳循环的影响

由于人口剧增，人类活动的影响不断加大，在过去100年全球土地利用／土地覆被发生了巨大的变化。最常见的土地利用变化是由森林转变为农业用地。森林砍伐使森林生态系统地上部生物量大大减少，砍伐后作农业用地，降低了植被生产力，减少了土壤有机质的输入，增强了腐殖质的矿化作用，有机质分解速率增加，有机碳贮量随之降低，从而影响到森林生态系统的碳循环，使大量碳元素释放到大气中，引起温室效应，导致全球变暖。另一个常见的土地利用变化是植树造林和森林恢复，这一过程可以增加森林生态系统的碳储量，从而减缓大气CO2体积分数的上升。     

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.     

A novel participatory and remote-sensing-based approach to mapping annual land use change on forest frontiers in Laos,Myanmar, and Madagascar

Tropical forests are under pressure from both commercial and smallholder agriculture. Forest frontiers are seeing dynamic land use changes that frequently lead to land system regime shifts, posing challenges for the sustainability of entire local social-ecological systems. Monitoring highly dynamic land use change and detecting land system regime shifts is methodologically challenging due to trade-offs between spatial and temporal data resolution. We propose an innovative approach that combines analysis of very-high-resolution satellite imagery with participatory mapping based on workshops and field walks. Applying it in Laos, Myanmar, and Madagascar, we were able to collect annual land use information over several decades. Unlike conventional land use change mapping approaches, which assess only few points in time, our approach provides information at a temporal resolution that enables detection of gradual and abrupt land system regime shifts.     

Indirect land use change from ethanol production: the case of sugarcane expansion at the farm level on the Brazilian Cerrado

The expansion of sugarcane production in the Brazilian Cerrado has resulted in indirect land use change (ILUC), occurring when displaced land uses in one location are reallocated to another. Studies, however, usually identify ILUC at the regional or national level far from the original area of a displaced land use. This study examines the occurrence of ILUC due to sugarcane expansion for ethanol production at the farm level in the Brazilian Cerrado. It fills a gap in the literature by examining socioeconomic, policy and farm-level factors that influence ILUC at the farm level in the Brazilian Cerrado using face-to-face enumerated surveys. Results indicate that ILUC did occur at the farm (producer) scale and farmers who undertook ILUC intensified agricultural production on their farms. Results inform policymakers on how the intensification of agricultural practices may make it potentially difficult to keep protected lands out of production, reducing the environmental benefits from sugarcane-based biofuel production.     

城市化趋势下城郊土地利用结构变化的区位分析--以杭州市为例

以杭州市区为研究区，利用近卜年的土地利用系列统计资料和遥感解译数据，采用统计分析和区位原理，经过数值计算，分析了杭州市区扩建过程中土地利用动态变化特点，重点讨论了耕地和农作物播种面积的时空动态过程。通过区位商数和分离指数的计算分析，揭示了未来土地利用方式的时空变化趋势。研究结果表明，居民工矿用地和耕地面积的变化最为明显；农作物播种面积的递减速率高于耕地面积的递减速率；蔬菜播种面积的区域不平衡性最大，集中程度高。萧山区是未来主要的菜篮子工程发展区。     

An assessment of the causes and consequences of agricultural land abandonment in Europe

ABSTRACT

The agriculture sector is the principal source of income for around 20% of the EU-26 population, which live in predominantly rural regions that would be devastated without its contribution. Moreover, the combined agricultural and food sector forms an important part of the EU economy, accounting for 15 million jobs (8.3% of total employment) and 4.4% of GDP. The 12 million active farmers across Europe today, have an average farm size of about 15 ha, and are expected to meet the needs of 500 million Europeans. In addition, they are also expected to promote a sustainable and balanced development of their land, also in areas where production conditions are difficult. Yet, despite the relevance of the sector, the use of land for agriculture purposes is not very sustainable. Among other issues, there is a serious problem in respect of the abandonment of agricultural land. Based on the perceived need for research on this topic, the aim of this paper is to examine the causes and consequences of agricultural land abandonment, outlining its social, economic and environmental impacts, as well as the implications for territorial integration.     

Tracking land cover change along the western edge of the U.S. Corn Belt from 1984 through 2016 using satellite sensor data: observed trends and contributing factors

The Cropland Data Layers (CDL) are high-resolution geo-referenced data products made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the CDL lacks in its ability to be employed as a tool to identify the impact of the gradually evolving drivers of land use change, e.g., climate change, due to its limited historical depth. We implement a robust, phenology-based satellite image classification algorithm to identify historical cropland allocation in eastern South Dakota and North Dakota predating the initial CDL by 13 and 22 years, respectively. Five major land covers, i.e., corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and grass (including native grass, hay and pasture) are identified using archived Landsat-5 surface reflectance data, while achieving CDL-like accuracy. The long-term rate of grassland loss during 1985–2011 is found to be significantly lower (26,781 hectares or 1.5% annually) relative to the near-term rate of grassland loss during 2006-’11 (84,545 hectares or 5.2% annually). We find similar discrepancy in regional corn expansion rates. Our value-added raster data provide opportunities for improved identification of land use drivers, whereas relying solely on the CDL’s restricted historical extent may lead to biased land use change estimates and misguide policy.     

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.     

区域及全球尺度的NPP过程模型和NPP对全球变化的响应

植被净第一性生产力（NPP）不仅是表征植被活动和生态过程的关键参数,而且是判定生态系统碳汇和反映生态系统对全球变化响应的主要因子。当前,模型模拟成为大尺度NPP研究的主要手段,而在众多NPP估算模型中,过程模型逐渐趋于主导地位。虽然目前有关NPP的研究有很多,但还没有关注于大尺度上应用的过程模型及其模拟的NPP对全球变化的响应。因此本文主要侧重于 NPP 过程模型在区域及全球尺度上的应用,具体包含以下内容,①进一步将区域及全球尺度的NPP过程模型分为静态植被模型和动态植被模型。②阐明这些模型间存在的区别与联系。③归纳出NPP过程模型在区域及全球尺度上应用的3大挑战：时空尺度转换、多源数据的获取与融合以及模型模拟结果的验证与评价,并根据其解决方案总结出通用的模型应用框架。④从气候变化、大气成分变化和土地利用/土地覆盖变化3个方面探讨NPP对全球变化的响应机制,以期找到NPP变化的规律与模式。最后根据NPP模型的发展对未来区域及全球尺度的NPP过程模型进行展望,认为未来模型的综合性将更高,机理性也将更强,同时与全球变化研究结合得更加紧密,且基于多个已有模型的混合模型也是未来NPP模型发展的一个重要方向。此外,本文认为对NPP模拟结果的尺度效应研究也是未来NPP研究的热点之一。     

区域土地利用变化对土壤磷含量的影响评价研究

研究土壤磷含量的时空演变规律对改善土地管理水平和提高土壤质量具有重要的指导作用。文章选取江苏省原锡山市作为研究区域,以1982年和2005年土壤全磷和速效磷含量作为研究对象,研究探讨土地利用变化对土壤磷含量的影响,进而表明人类活动对生态系统和环境的影响。通过统计分析表明,20年来原锡山市土壤全磷含量降低0.48g·kg-1,土壤速效磷含量升高26.16mg·kg-1。通过变异函数分析,20年来原锡山市全磷和速效磷的变异函数理论模型都是指数型,但块金方差与基台值的比值、自相关阀值发生了较大变化;Kriging插值分析结果表明,1982年全磷和速效磷的分布比较简单;2005年全磷分布较为简单,土壤速效磷分布较为复杂。Kriging插值分析还表明,20年来原锡山市土壤全磷含量降低,空间变异显著;土壤速效磷含量升高,空间变异显著。     

珠江三角洲土地利用变化对特征大气污染物扩散的影响

在珠江三角洲两种下垫面条件下,应用CALPUFF大气污染扩散模式,对特征污染物SO2、SO42-的扩散进行数值模拟,探讨大规模土地利用变化,尤其是城镇建设用地增加,对珠江三角洲地区大气污染物扩散的影响,并通过对4个典型区污染物月均质量浓度变化特征分析,揭示土地利用变化对不同地区的污染物分布的影响机制。模拟结果表明：土地利用变化,尤其是城镇建设用地增加,不利于污染物扩散,污染源下风方向地区受影响较大,污染物质量浓度明显升高,SO2和 SO42-年均质量浓度分别增加14.07%和3.31%;受影响范围、变化幅度与污染源排污强度呈正相关,变化幅度亦与污染源距离远近呈负相关。土地利用变化后,尤其是城镇建设用地增加,四个典型区 SO2月均质量浓度都表现为升高趋势,且冬季 SO2质量浓度升高幅度最大,夏季升高幅度最小,临近污染源密集区的两个典型区SO2月均质量浓度分别增加33.6%和26.3%。土地利用变化不仅改变局地的污染扩散,也会对区域的污染扩散有一定影响,尤其对污染源分布密集区的大气污染物扩散影响强度最大。因此,建议人类在城市化建设过程中尽可能保留自然斑块,消除人工下垫面对污染物扩散的负面影响。     

土地生态系统健康研究的主要内容及面临的问题

生态系统健康研究是资源环境可持续利用研究中的一个热点。在归纳土地生态系统具有尺度的宏观性、对象的地域性、空间的开放性和动态性、问题的复杂性等特征的基础上，提出了开展土地生态系统健康研究的内容应包括土地生态系统健康的机理、评价和管理等三个主要方面。结合我国的土地资源状况，指出我国开展土地生态系统健康研究面临着包括人口密度过大，土地资源压力大；我国地域辽阔，气候类型多样，社会经济区域发展不均衡，全国各地土地生态系统的区域分异性很强等主要问题。