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Land
Special Issues
Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene
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Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2024) | Viewed by 20437

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ioannis P. Kokkoris

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: conservation ecology; biodiversity; biomonitoring; inventory and mapping of flora and habitat types/vegetation types; mapping and assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem services; GIS and remote sensing; environmental management; sustainable development; environmental policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dimitris Skuras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Industrial, Innovation and Regional Economics, Department of Economics, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: environmental and climate change issues in agricultural and rural economies; environmental and climate change evaluation of rural development programmes
Prof. Dr. Panayotis Dimopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: mapping and assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem services; biodiversity and ecosystem services; inventory and mapping of flora and habitat types/vegetation types; monitoring and conservation status assessment of habitats and species; conservation management of species and habitat types; conservation policy and national biodiversity strategy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Current global trends and new needs for clean energy production, food security, biodiversity conservation and social equity and justice urge for win-win solutions via innovative approaches on a variety of sectors of the economy and the subsequent land-use management and policy. However, the ever-growing human population and its concentration in specific areas and parts of the world, and the consequent urgent need for resources and land, challenges the application of scientific findings and recommendations to the real world. Following the outcomes of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) reports, the provisions of the Convention on Biodiversity, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 and the EU Green Deal, the need for case-specific studies and assessments on land-use management, spatial planning, biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services are now at the top of the policy agenda. Herewith, it is of urgent need to provide scientific evidence and relevant solutions for land-use management based on ecosystem condition amelioration and maintenance of natural capital,  allowing opportunities for equitable development and allocation of appropriate financial resources.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute in this Special Issue (SI) of Land which deals with large to small scale assessments on land exploitation schemes and land-use characteristics, identification and mapping of landscape patterns and relevant abiotic and biotic attributes,  and their importance for  the local, regional and global economy and well-being.

This SI aims to: (a) promote best practices from the local to the international level, including IT solutions, (b) investigate the interplay among human-induced and natural areas, (c) present mapping, aerial and satellite imagery analysis and remote-sensing methods to support spatial planning, (d) identify wilderness areas in the landscape, (e) highlight the importance of ecosystem services in contemporary development strategies, and  policies, (f) integrate natural capital accounting into spatial planning,  (g) provide scientific policy evaluation (h) assess policy implications and governance practice.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following: mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, ecology, sustainable development, natural resources management, natural capital accounting, spatial analysis, remote sensing, land-use management, policymaking, regional policy. Manuscripts that deal with ecosystem amelioration, landscape restoration,  and the identification and role of the integration of the cultural landscape into spatial planning, are also welcome.

Papers published in this Special Issue will contribute to better understanding the contemporary role of land exploitation and the importance of specific spatial and temporal patterns among natural, semi-natural and human-made ecosystems as a crucial parameter of decision and policy drafting to provide sustainable future conditions and human well-being.

We look forward to receiving your contributions

Dr. Ioannis P. Kokkoris
Prof. Dr. Dimitris Skuras
Prof. Dr. Panayotis Dimopoulos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biodiversity conservation
  • ecosystem services
  • Farm to Fork
  • mapping
  • management
  • natural capital accounting
  • policymaking
  • policy evaluation
  • regional policy
  • rural development policy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3722 KiB  
Article
Eco-Cultural Development of a Restored Lake Environment: The Case Study of Lake Karla (Thessaly, Greece)
by Georgia Trakala, Achilleas Tsiroukis and Aristotelis Martinis
Land 2023, 12(6), 1227; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061227 - 13 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1885
Abstract
Lake Karla is the first reconstructed lake in the EU, supporting agriculture, biodiversity and cultural activities and being part of the Natura 2000 protected area network. In order to investigate opportunities for the sustainable development of the wider lake area, this study aims [...] Read more.
Lake Karla is the first reconstructed lake in the EU, supporting agriculture, biodiversity and cultural activities and being part of the Natura 2000 protected area network. In order to investigate opportunities for the sustainable development of the wider lake area, this study aims to identify and assess current ecosystem services in the catchment basin of lake Karla with focus on cultural ecosystem services and in particular on eco-cultural tourism routes and trails. Based on recent literature and field surveys the main results of the study include mapping of ecosystem types and a first overview of potential ecosystem services. Additionally, mapping, assessment and proposal of selected eco-cultural routes alongside with estimation on their carrying capacity is also presented. Finally, discussion on future steps and policy recommendations is provided, towards the integrated, sustainable management of the protected area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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19 pages, 3324 KiB  
Article
Cultivated Land-Use Benefit Evaluation and Obstacle Factor Identification: Empirical Evidence from Northern Hubei, China
by Jing Zhu, Xuetao Li, Xiaochun Zeng, Kaiyang Zhong and Yifan Xu
Land 2022, 11(9), 1386; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091386 - 24 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2100
Abstract
The benefit of cultivated land use is an essential indicator for measuring the optimal allocation of cultivated land resources and the high-quality development of agriculture. Taking Shiyan City, Xiangyang City, and Suizhou City in Northern Hubei as the research objects, this paper presents [...] Read more.
The benefit of cultivated land use is an essential indicator for measuring the optimal allocation of cultivated land resources and the high-quality development of agriculture. Taking Shiyan City, Xiangyang City, and Suizhou City in Northern Hubei as the research objects, this paper presents an evaluation index system for cultivated land use efficiency from the perspectives of ecology, economy, and society. The entropy TOPSIS method and the obstacle degree model were applied to estimate the cultivated land use efficiency and identify obstacle factors in the three study areas from 2010 to 2020, and the results were as follows. (1) The comprehensive benefit level of cultivated land utilization in Northern Hubei showed an upward trend, and the individual benefit levels of cultivated land utilization in different cities were significantly different. Xiangyang City had outstanding economic performance, Shiyan City had the fastest growth rate of ecological benefits, and various benefits of Suizhou City were “steady”. (2) The fluctuation ranges of the obstacle factors for cultivated land use were relatively large in the Northern Hubei region. From 2010 to 2016, the effective irrigation index, land-averaged fertilizer input level, agricultural input–output ratio, and per capita income of farmers were the main factors restricting the improvement of cultivated land utilization efficiency in Northern Hubei. During 2017–2020, the per capita pesticide input level, per capita grain output, forest coverage rate, land output rate, and agricultural mechanization efficiency became the main obstacles restricting the improvement of cultivated land-use efficiency. (3) All cities of Northern Hubei should take measures according to local conditions, implement specific policies to address the restrictive factors of cultivated land use, improve the level of cultivated land-use benefit in the region, and promote the coordination and unity of the economic, ecological, and social benefits of cultivated land use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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21 pages, 1070 KiB  
Article
Divergence between Willingness and Behavior of Farmers to Purchase Socialized Agricultural Services: From a Heterogeneity Perspective of Land Scale
by Meng Qu, Kai Zhao, Renhui Zhang, Yuan Gao and Jing Wang
Land 2022, 11(8), 1121; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081121 - 22 Jul 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2764
Abstract
The low-level dilemma of farmers’ Socialized Agricultural Services (SAS) purchases is a realistic problem facing the construction of socialized service systems in China’s major grain-producing areas. Existing research lacks the necessary attention on the decision-making mechanism of farmers’ purchases of SAS, resulting in [...] Read more.
The low-level dilemma of farmers’ Socialized Agricultural Services (SAS) purchases is a realistic problem facing the construction of socialized service systems in China’s major grain-producing areas. Existing research lacks the necessary attention on the decision-making mechanism of farmers’ purchases of SAS, resulting in a large gap between theoretical research and real-world problems. Based on the data of 638 households in China’s main grain-producing areas, this paper empirically analyzes the influence mechanism of heterogeneous land scale on deviation between farmers’ willingness and behavior to purchase SAS, and discusses the heterogeneity of the influence mechanism under different production links. The findings indicate that the degree of divergence between farmers’ willingness to purchase SAS and their behavior is large. (1) There is a significant threshold effect of land scale on the degree of divergence between farmers’ willingness and behavior to purchase SAS, and the threshold value is ten mu. The increase in land scale will significantly enlarge the divergence between small-scale farmers’ purchase willingness and behavior. However, it will significantly reduce the divergence between large-scale farmers’ purchase willingness and behavior. (2) From the demand side, household income and health will significantly reduce the divergence among farmers of different business sizes. Family burden and land fragmentation are essential factors affecting the degree of divergence of small-scale farmers, while education and the value of their own machinery significantly affect the degree of divergence of large-scale farmers. From the supply side, whether there are local suppliers and their matching degree with farmers significantly reduces the divergence among farmers of different business scales. However, small-scale farmers are more sensitive to the price and quality of agricultural services, while large-scale farmers have higher requirements for the degree of regulation of supplying agents. (3) There is heterogeneity in the influence mechanisms of divergence between farmers’ willingness to purchase SAS and their behavior under different product segments. In addition, our findings highlight how to realize the transformation from declarative preference to explicit preference in promoting farmers’ purchases of SAS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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32 pages, 3927 KiB  
Article
The Culture-Centered Development Potential of Communities in Făgăraș Land (Romania)
by Daniela Sorea, Codrina Csesznek and Gabriela Georgeta Rățulea
Land 2022, 11(6), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11060837 - 3 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2500
Abstract
Făgăraș Land (Romania) is a very old administrative formation with its own identity, preserved from the beginning of the Middle Ages. The mapping of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) highlighted the groups of caroling lads as the main strategic heritage resource, but also [...] Read more.
Făgăraș Land (Romania) is a very old administrative formation with its own identity, preserved from the beginning of the Middle Ages. The mapping of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) highlighted the groups of caroling lads as the main strategic heritage resource, but also the existence of many other ICH resources that can be exploited towards the sustainable development of the area. These include local soups, an ICH gastronomic resource that can help build the area’s tourism brand. All resources, together with the peculiarities of the local medieval history, the memory of the anti-communist resistance in the Făgăraș Mountains and the religious pilgrimage to the local Orthodox monasteries, support the configuration of Făgăraș Land as a multidimensional associative cultural landscape. The content analysis of the information on ICH available on the official websites of the administrative territorial units (ATUs), correlated with the data from the interviews with local leaders, highlighted the types of local narratives regarding the capitalization of cultural resources and the openness to culture-centered community-based development, namely glocal, dynamic local and static local visions. The unitary and integrated approach of tourist resources, tourism social entrepreneurship, support from the local commons and a better management of the local cultural potential are ways to capitalize on belonging to the Făgăraș Land cultural landscape, towards sustainable community development of the area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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20 pages, 4016 KiB  
Article
National Park and UNESCO Global Geopark of Chelmos-Vouraikos (Greece): Floristic Diversity, Ecosystem Services and Management Implications
by Maria Tsakiri, Eleni Koumoutsou, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, Panayiotis Trigas, Eleni Iliadou, Dimitris Tzanoudakis, Panayotis Dimopoulos and Gregoris Iatrou
Land 2022, 11(1), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11010033 - 25 Dec 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3853
Abstract
This study highlights the importance of including detailed (local-scale) biodiversity and ecosystem services data for land-use management and promotion of protected areas using the National Park and UNESCO Global Geopark of Chelmos-Vouraikos (Greece) as a case study. Along with the conducted field surveys [...] Read more.
This study highlights the importance of including detailed (local-scale) biodiversity and ecosystem services data for land-use management and promotion of protected areas using the National Park and UNESCO Global Geopark of Chelmos-Vouraikos (Greece) as a case study. Along with the conducted field surveys and literature review for the National Park’s flora documentation, ecosystem type mapping and assessment of ecosystem services have been performed, following National and European Union (EU) guidelines for the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) implementation across EU Member States. Main results include floristic diversity indicators, ecosystem type mapping and assessment, and ecosystem services identification and assessment of their actual and potential supply. By this, a scientifically informed baseline dataset was developed to support management and policy needs towards a holistic National Park management and a sustainable spatial planning for protected areas. Additionally, local scale ecosystem type and ecosystem services data have been produced as input for the MAES implementation in Greece and the EU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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25 pages, 4695 KiB  
Article
Research on the Influencing Factors of Urban Ecological Carrying Capacity Based on a Multiscale Geographic Weighted Regression Model: Evidence from China
by Ke Liu, Xinyue Xie and Qian Zhou
Land 2021, 10(12), 1313; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121313 - 28 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2584
Abstract
Based on the comprehensive evaluation method, a comprehensive urban ecological carrying capacity (UECC) evaluation system is established. It includes ecological support, ecological resilience, and ecological pressure. Multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) was used to conduct a thorough examination of the spatial and temporal [...] Read more.
Based on the comprehensive evaluation method, a comprehensive urban ecological carrying capacity (UECC) evaluation system is established. It includes ecological support, ecological resilience, and ecological pressure. Multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) was used to conduct a thorough examination of the spatial and temporal patterns, and the factors that influenced the UECC of 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2019. The results show that (1) China’s UECC index ranges from 0.0233 to 0.2811 in 2019, which is still at a low level. (2) The spatial distribution is relatively stable: high-value agglomerations of UECC are distributed primarily in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, while low-value agglomerations are primarily distributed in the regions in the Central Plains. (3) All influencing factors have a positive effect on the improvement of UECC and are heterogeneous in spatial distribution. Lastly, this paper gives corresponding suggestions, so that governments can formulate differentiated policies and effectively improve UECC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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17 pages, 14806 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Modelling Population Density Estimation Based on Impervious Surfaces
by Jinyu Zang, Ting Zhang, Longqian Chen, Long Li, Weiqiang Liu, Lina Yuan, Yu Zhang, Ruiyang Liu, Zhiqiang Wang, Ziqi Yu and Jia Wang
Land 2021, 10(8), 791; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10080791 - 28 Jul 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2851
Abstract
Population data are key indicators of policymaking, public health, and land use in urban and ecological systems; however, traditional censuses are time-consuming, expensive, and laborious. This study proposes a method of modelling population density estimations based on remote sensing data in Hefei. Four [...] Read more.
Population data are key indicators of policymaking, public health, and land use in urban and ecological systems; however, traditional censuses are time-consuming, expensive, and laborious. This study proposes a method of modelling population density estimations based on remote sensing data in Hefei. Four models with impervious surface (IS), night light (NTL), and point of interest (POI) data as independent variables are constructed at the township scale, and the optimal model was applied to pixels to obtain a finer population density distribution. The results show that: (1) impervious surface (IS) data can be effectively extracted by the linear spectral mixture analysis (LSMA) method; (2) there is a high potential of the multi-variable model to estimate the population density, with an adjusted R2 of 0.832, and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.420 from 10-fold cross validation recorded; (3) downscaling the predicted population density from the township scale to pixels using the multi-variable stepwise regression model achieves a more refined population density distribution. This study provides a promising method for the rapid and effective prediction of population data in interval years, and data support for urban planning and population management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land Use Futures for a Sustainable Anthropocene)
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