Land | Special Issue : Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section

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26 pages, 4088 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Effect of Papyrus Wetlands on Flow Regulation in a Tropical River Catchment

by Alem Oyarmoi, Stephen Birkinshaw, Caspar J. M. Hewett and Hayley J. Fowler

Land 2023, 12(12), 2158; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12122158 - 12 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1774

Abstract

Africa has the largest area of wetlands of international importance, and papyrus constitutes the most dominant species for many of these wetlands. This hydrological modelling study assesses and quantifies the impacts of these papyrus wetlands on historical baseflow and quickflow, as well as [...] Read more.

Africa has the largest area of wetlands of international importance, and papyrus constitutes the most dominant species for many of these wetlands. This hydrological modelling study assesses and quantifies the impacts of these papyrus wetlands on historical baseflow and quickflow, as well as future flood and low flows in the Mpologoma catchment in Uganda. Assessment over the historic period shows that wetlands strongly attenuate quickflow while moderately enhancing baseflow. They play a moderating role in most months, except for the first dry season (June and July), due to the reversal of flows between wetlands and rivers that often occur during this period. Annual estimates show that wetlands are four times better at regulating quickflow than baseflow. Examination of changes at 2 and 4 °C global warming levels (GWLs) indicate that wetlands will play critical roles in mitigating flood risks, with a lesser role in supporting low flows. Wetlands are predicted to lower future mean flood magnitude by 5.2 and 7.8% at GWL2 and GWL4, respectively, as well as halving the average number of flood events in a year, irrespective of the warming level. This work shows that papyrus-dominated wetlands strongly influence catchment hydrology, with significant roles on quickflow, including floods, and highlights the need for their conservation and protection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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15 pages, 15294 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Exploring the Effects of Climate Change on Farming System Choice: A Farm-Level Space-for-Time Approach

by Paulo Flores Ribeiro and José Lima Santos

Land 2023, 12(12), 2113; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12122113 - 27 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1829

Abstract

Climate change is expected to affect the agricultural sector in ways that are often unclear to predict. If in the short- and medium-terms farmers may adapt to climate change by adjusting their agricultural practices, in the long-term, these adjustments may become insufficient, forcing [...] Read more.

Climate change is expected to affect the agricultural sector in ways that are often unclear to predict. If in the short- and medium-terms farmers may adapt to climate change by adjusting their agricultural practices, in the long-term, these adjustments may become insufficient, forcing farmers to change their farming systems. The extent and direction in which these farming system transitions will occur is still a subject that is underexplored in the literature. We propose a new framework to explore the effect of climate change on the choice of farming system while controlling the effect of other drivers that are also known to influence the farming system choice. Using a spatially explicit farming system choice model developed by a previous study in an extensive agricultural region of southern Portugal, we applied a space-for-time approach to simulate the effect of climate change on the future dynamics of the farming systems in the study area. The results suggest that climate change will force many farmers to change the farming system in a foreseeable future. The extent of the projected changes in farming systems is likely to trigger significant social, economic, and environmental impacts, which should require early attention from policy makers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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14 pages, 4732 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Resilience of Stream Ecosystems to Rainfall Impact

by Yujin Park, Junga Lee, Se-Rin Park and Sang-Woo Lee

Land 2023, 12(11), 2072; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112072 - 17 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1318

Abstract

In Republic of Korea, pronounced seasonal precipitation variability poses substantial challenges for stream water quality management and the effective utilization of water resources. Ecologically degraded streams are particularly vulnerable to these fluctuations, which can exacerbate their already fragile condition. We assessed the resilience [...] Read more.

In Republic of Korea, pronounced seasonal precipitation variability poses substantial challenges for stream water quality management and the effective utilization of water resources. Ecologically degraded streams are particularly vulnerable to these fluctuations, which can exacerbate their already fragile condition. We assessed the resilience of reference and impaired streams in response to rainfall through water quality system performance (WQSP). The WQSP is quantified as the concentration of BOD, T-N, and T-P, which represent streams’ eutrophication and anaerobic conditions and respond quickly to disturbances. Reference and impaired streams are classified according to the biological condition and habitat environment of the streams in the Han River watershed of Republic of Korea. The resilience of the stream ecosystem was estimated using WQSP, the linear multiple regression model, and the generalized additive model for rainfall and WQSP. The WQSP reference streams have a lower sensitivity to disturbance and recover more quickly from the influence of rainfall; therefore, they have higher resilience than impaired streams to rainfall events. This study facilitates understanding changes in stream ecosystems of varying conditions in response to rainfall for ensuring long-term stability and adaptability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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16 pages, 6785 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Delineation of Urban Development Boundary and Carbon Emission Effects in Xuzhou City, China

by Haitao Ji, Xiaoshun Li, Yiwei Geng, Xin Chen, Yuexiang Wang, Jumei Cheng and Zhuang Chen

Land 2023, 12(9), 1819; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12091819 - 21 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1471

Abstract

Urban development boundary (UDB) has always served as a crucial aspect of urban sprawl research. The objective of this paper is to investigate boundary delineation and carbon emission effects. Firstly, we examined the patterns of land use changes. Additionally, this paper utilized the [...] Read more.

Urban development boundary (UDB) has always served as a crucial aspect of urban sprawl research. The objective of this paper is to investigate boundary delineation and carbon emission effects. Firstly, we examined the patterns of land use changes. Additionally, this paper utilized the FLUS model and land use carbon emission calculation model to delineate UDB and calculate carbon emission effects within UDB under typical scenarios. The research results are as follows: (1) Xuzhou city witnessed a significant increase in both forest land and construction land from 2010 to 2020. (2) Under the CPS, the area of cultivated land increased by 217.05 km² compared to the NDS. The UDB area under the NDS and CPS was 971.50 km² and 968.99 km², respectively. (3) Compared to the NDS, the CPS led to a net carbon emission increase of 4759.93 t within the UDB. Therefore, we should enhance the carbon sequestration and emission reduction capacity of the agricultural system. This study is beneficial for expanding the depth of research on the UDB and guiding the low-carbon urban development. We sincerely encourage readers to download this paper to improve this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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23 pages, 5804 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

New Insights into Urbanization Based on Global Mapping and Analysis of Human Settlements in the Rural–Urban Continuum

by Xiyu Li, Le Yu and Xin Chen

Land 2023, 12(8), 1607; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12081607 - 15 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3010

Abstract

The clear boundary between urban and rural areas is gradually disappearing, and urban and rural areas are two poles of a gradient with many continuous human settlements in between, which is a concept known as the rural–urban continuum. Little is known about the [...] Read more.

The clear boundary between urban and rural areas is gradually disappearing, and urban and rural areas are two poles of a gradient with many continuous human settlements in between, which is a concept known as the rural–urban continuum. Little is known about the distribution and change trajectories of the various types in the rural–urban continuum across the globe. Therefore, using global land-cover data (FROM-GLC Plus) and global population data (Worldpop) based on the decision-making tree method, this study proposed a method and classification system for global rural–urban continuum mapping and produced the mapping results on a global scale in the Google Earth Engine platform. With the expansion of built-up areas and the increase in population, the global human settlements follow the pattern that develops from wildland to villages (isolated—sparse—dense), and then to towns (sparse—dense), and finally to urban areas (edge—center). From a regional perspective, there are some obvious differences: Africa is dominated by sparse villages; Asia has the highest proportion of densely clustered towns; the proportion of dense villages in Europe is high. Rural–urban continuum mapping and analysis provide a database and new insights into urbanization and differences between urban and rural areas around the world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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21 pages, 3494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Contribution of Land Registration to Sustainable Land Management in East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia

by Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw

Land 2023, 12(6), 1157; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061157 - 31 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1968

Abstract

Land registration programs on a large scale aimed at strengthening the land rights of farm households in Ethiopia have been executed in different degrees across different regions since 1998. This study investigates the contribution of land registration on the perceived tenure security of [...] Read more.

Land registration programs on a large scale aimed at strengthening the land rights of farm households in Ethiopia have been executed in different degrees across different regions since 1998. This study investigates the contribution of land registration on the perceived tenure security of farmers, farmer confidence, women and marginalized groups, and sustainable land-management practice after receiving a land holding certificate in the dryland areas of East Gojjam Zone, Ethiopia. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 385 households selected by using stratified random sampling techniques. Furthermore, focus group discussions and key informants are primary data sources. According to an investigation of qualitative and quantitative data, 163 households have a mean of 0.40 ha of agricultural land on steep slope areas, and approximately 26% of households are afraid of land redistribution and farm loss in the next five years. Moreover, 22% of households fear the government taking their farm plot at any time. Respondents, on the other hand, believe that land registration has reduced the landlessness of women, the disabled, and the poorest of the poor while increasing the landlessness of youths. After land registration, household participation in land-management practices increased by 15%. Despite this, the difference in the mean of major crop yields per household is insignificant, except for wheat, which decreased significantly at the p < 0.1 level. The study determined household head age, household size, land management training and advice, livestock holdings, and the mean distance from farm to settlement as influential factors for increasing construction of water-harvesting systems. Land registration, in general, enhances land tenure security, land-management practice, and land rights of women and marginalized groups of societies, but did not improve crop productivity. The findings should persuade policymakers to address potential sources of insecurity, such as future land redistribution issues. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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15 pages, 5989 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Forest Transition and Fuzzy Environments in Neoliberal Mexico

by Cynthia Simmons, Marta Astier, Robert Walker, Jaime Fernando Navia-Antezana, Yan Gao, Yankuic Galván-Miyoshi and Dan Klooster

Land 2023, 12(4), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040840 - 6 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2324

Abstract

Although deforestation remains a continuing threat to both the natural world and its resident human populations, a countervailing land cover dynamic has been observed in many nations. This process of landscape turnaround, the so-called forest transition, holds the potential of regenerating ecosystem services [...] Read more.

Although deforestation remains a continuing threat to both the natural world and its resident human populations, a countervailing land cover dynamic has been observed in many nations. This process of landscape turnaround, the so-called forest transition, holds the potential of regenerating ecosystem services by sparing land from agricultural activities and abandoning it to forest succession. Here, we present a case study of a long-term process of forest transition that is ongoing in the Patzcuaro watershed of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The research to be discussed comprises a remote sensing analysis designed to (1) capture the land cover impacts of a multidecadal process of trade liberalization (1996–2018); (2) ascertain the role that land tenure plays in land use dynamics affecting forest cover, and (3) resolve forest cover types into native forest, secondary vegetation, and “commodity” covers of fruit trees, in this case, avocado. Mexico presents a useful case for addressing these three design elements. Our analysis, undertaken for both private property and collective modes of resource management in five communities, reveals a forest transition annualized at 20 ha-yr⁻¹, or a gain of eight percent for the period. This translates into a relative rate of forest transition of 0.39%-yr⁻¹ which is three times faster than what is occurring in the temperate biome on a national scale (0.07%-yr⁻¹). Most of the forest transition is occurring on private holdings and stems from field abandonment as farming systems intensify production with avocado plantations and cow–calf operations. As this study demonstrates, forest transitions are not occurring ubiquitously across nations but instead are highly localized occurrences driven by a myriad of distal and proximate factors involving disparate sets of stakeholders. Consequently, policy makers who are keen to expand forest transitions to fulfill their national climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement must first promote research into the complexity of landscapes and drivers of land change at regional and local scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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18 pages, 3878 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Do Rising Farmland Costs Affect Fertilizer Use Efficiency? Evidence from Gansu and Jiangsu, China

by Yuan Qi, Xin Chen, Jiaqing Zhang, Yaoyao Li and Daolin Zhu

Land 2022, 11(10), 1730; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11101730 - 6 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1943

Abstract

As the farmland transfer market in China develops, moderate-scale operations increasingly grow but without much improvement in fertilizer use efficiency. This study theoretically analyzes the mechanism and effect of rising farmland costs on fertilizer use efficiency using multiple quadratic regression and mediating effects [...] Read more.

As the farmland transfer market in China develops, moderate-scale operations increasingly grow but without much improvement in fertilizer use efficiency. This study theoretically analyzes the mechanism and effect of rising farmland costs on fertilizer use efficiency using multiple quadratic regression and mediating effects models. It empirically tests a micro-sample of 806 farmers in Gansu and Jiangsu provinces in China from two dimensions: the full samples and farmer heterogeneity. The results showed 0.544 as the average fertilizer use efficiency (hereinafter, fe) of farmers in Gansu and Jiangsu, highlighting the severe loss of fe caused by excessive fertilizer inputs. The multiple quadratic regression model further revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between farmland costs and fe, with the U-shaped curve showing a remarkable inflection point at the USD 708/mu mark. When farmland costs are excessive (cost > CNY 708/mu), the increase in farmland costs inhibits the fe. An investigation of the corresponding impact mechanism for this scenario (i.e., cost > USD 708/mu) revealed that farmland costs directly suppress fe (−0.485) by distorting the fertilizer factor substitution effect and indirectly suppress fe (−0.037) by impeding the technology spillover effect of production specialization and production scale-up. We also found heterogeneity between two groups: ordinary farmers and new agricultural operators (e.g., large grain and family farmers), with the peak kernel density function of fe of new agricultural operators (0.85) being much higher than that of ordinary farmers (0.30). Moreover, the multiple quadratic regression between the groups revealed a lower inflection point for ordinary farmers (CNY 638/mu) than new agricultural operators (CNY 823/mu), highlighting that the fe of ordinary farmers was more likely to be inhibited by the excessive rise in farmland costs. To promote the sustainable development of China’s agricultural production, we propose reducing the cost of farmland, promoting service-scale operations, and fostering new agricultural operators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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Review

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39 pages, 454 KiB

Open AccessReview

Ill Fares the Land: Confronting Unsustainability in the U.K. Food System through Political Agroecology and Degrowth

by Mark Tilzey

Land 2024, 13(5), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050594 - 29 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1124

Abstract

The U.K. food system exhibits strong unsustainability indicators across multiple dimensions, both in terms of food and nutritional insecurity and in terms of adverse climate change, biodiversity, and physical resource impacts. These indices of an unsustainable and inequitable social metabolism are the result [...] Read more.

The U.K. food system exhibits strong unsustainability indicators across multiple dimensions, both in terms of food and nutritional insecurity and in terms of adverse climate change, biodiversity, and physical resource impacts. These indices of an unsustainable and inequitable social metabolism are the result of capitalist agriculture and society in general and, more specifically, of neoliberal and austerity policies adopted with vigour since the global financial crisis. The causal, capitalistic, and, latterly, more neoliberal bases of the U.K. food system are delineated in the first section of the paper. These bases are then detailed in terms of their impacts in exacerbating climate change, biodiversity (and resource) decline and loss, and food and nutritional insecurity. The political narratives and policy frameworks available to dissemble, mitigate, or, more rarely, to address (resolve) these impacts are then delineated. It is argued that the only policy framework available that strongly integrates food security (social equity) with ecological sustainability is political agroecology and an accompanying degrowth strategy. The final section of the paper details what political agroecology and degrowth might entail for the U.K. food system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

25 pages, 3937 KiB

Open AccessReview

Exploring the Ecological Effects of Rural Land Use Changes: A Bibliometric Overview

by Haojun Xie, Quan Sun and Wei Song

Land 2024, 13(3), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030303 - 28 Feb 2024

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2995

Abstract

Land use change is a significant contributor to global environmental change. The expansion of urban areas has increasingly impacted rural ecological environments, in particular the shift from agro-ecosystems to urban ecosystems, leading to alterations in land use patterns. Rural land use has led [...] Read more.

Land use change is a significant contributor to global environmental change. The expansion of urban areas has increasingly impacted rural ecological environments, in particular the shift from agro-ecosystems to urban ecosystems, leading to alterations in land use patterns. Rural land use has led to economic, social, and environmental problems, including poor economic efficiency, emissions of pollutants, and increased environmental crises. The research of alterations in rural land use and their consequential environmental ramifications has garnered escalating attention, evolving into an indispensable subject of inquiry within pertinent academic disciplines. This study aims to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the ecological impacts of rural land use change. We examined 1237 literature sources through the Web of Science database and conducted a bibliometric analysis utilizing the Bibliometrix tool. Secondly, based on the results of bibliometric analysis, we conducted a review study on the impact of rural land use changes on the ecological environment, clarified the current research status in this field, and looked forward to future research directions. The study’s findings indicate that there has been a steady rise in publication volume from 1982 to 2023 and a significant potential for growth. The top three journals by publication volume are Sustainability, Land Use Policy, and Land. (2) A total of 4768 scholars from 95 countries or regions have contributed publications in this domain, notably led by researchers and institutions predominantly based in China. Developed nations, exemplified by the U.S., exhibit a notable citation frequency and robust research prowess within this field. (3) Land use, urbanization, China, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and remote sensing emerge as keywords of elevated frequency within the field, indicative of the scholarly emphasis on these subjects. (4) Studies in this domain are directed towards evaluating the effects on intrinsic components of the environment, including but not limited to soil quality, atmospheric conditions, water resources, and biodiversity. The implementation of sustainable rural land use strategies is essential for the realization of rural development and environmental protection. In future research efforts, the use of remote sensing technology holds immense potential as a robust technical tool for investigating both land use change and rural ecology, offering viable strategies for addressing environmental challenges in specific, localized regions. The results of this study can assist in comprehending the current state and direction of research in this field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers for Land Systems and Global Change Section)

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