Land Use Change

Changes in grassland management intended to increase productivity can lead to sequestration of substantial amounts of atmospheric C in soils. Management-intensive grazing (MiG) can increase forage production in mesic pastures, but potential impacts on soil C have not been evaluated. We sampled four pastures (to 50 cm depth) in Virginia, USA, under MiG and neighboring pastures that were extensively grazed or

The last decade has seen a remarkable increase in the number of modeling tools available to examine future land-use and land-cover (LULC) change. Integrated modeling frameworks, agent-based models, cellular automata approaches, and other modeling techniques have substantially improved the representation of complex LULC systems, with each method using a different strategy to address complexity. However, despite the development of new and better modeling tools, the use of these tools is limited for actual planning, decision-making, or policy-making purposes. LULC modelers have become very adept at creating tools for modeling LULC change, but complicated models and lack of transparency limit their utility for decision-makers. The complicated nature of many LULC models also makes it impractical or even impossible to perform a rigorous analysis of modeling uncertainty. This paper provides a review of land-cover modeling approaches and the issues causes by the complicated nature of models, and provides suggestions to facilitate the increased use of LULC models by decision-makers and other stakeholders. The utility of LULC models themselves can be improved by 1) providing model code and documentation, 2) through the use of scenario frameworks to frame overall uncertainties, 3) improving methods for generalizing key LULC processes most important to stakeholders, and 4) adopting more rigorous standards for validating models and quantifying uncertainty. Communication with decisionmakers and other stakeholders can be improved by increasing stakeholder participation in all stages of the modeling process, increasing the transparency of model structure and uncertainties, and developing user-friendly decision-support systems to bridge the link between LULC science and policy. By considering these options, LULC science will be better positioned to support decision-makers and increase real-world application of LULC modeling results.

Water table across much of the western Victoria, Australia have been declining for at least the last 10-15 years, and this is attributed to the consistently low rainfall for these years, but over the same period of time there has been substantial change in land use, with grazing land replaced by cropping and tree plantations appearing in some areas. Hence,

Meend is a common place-name or toponym in and around the Forest of Dean. It is a name that is familiar to most people in the locality, and the majority of these could probably describe the principal characteristics of a meend. These could usually include an open character, uncultivated and accessible for informal recreational use. The word is often used in association with “forest waste”. These areas lay outside the forest plantation inclosures and were historically exploited by local communities for grazing and as a source of bracken, gorse and brushwood. These practices have declined over the last half century. Most meends that still exist have one or more of these attributes. However, many more have been lost over the years, and exist only as distant memories, have had their names corrupted or absorbed, or appear only as forgotten names on modern maps. This paper seeks to shed some light on the origins of what is possibly the most important group of place and field names in and
around the Forest of Dean and points to areas of research that would yield dividends in uncovering the social and environmental origins of the forest.

The role of different agroforestry systems in the conservation of plant diversity and forest structure has not been directly compared in many agricultural dominated landscapes. In this study, we investigated tree diversity and forest structure in a complex agroforestry landscape traditionally grown for cocoa and mixed food crops and compared these to the natural forest in southeastern Ghana. The study

The maintenance of soil organic carbon (SOC) in terrestrial ecosystems is critical for long-term productivity. Simulation models of SOC dynamics are valuable tools in predicting the impacts of climate on carbon storage and developing management strategies for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, however, their utility is generally reduced due to need for specific data. The SOCRATES model is a

Rapid growth in population coupled with expansion of urban fringe and encroachment in the prime land is a matter of great concern for the authorities associated with the urban planning. Satellite remote sensing offers varied advantages and has been widely accepted as a technique for urban mapping as well as monitoring of changes in land use/ land cover. The expansion of sub-urban territory in Allahabad city of Uttar Pradesh State is a matter of concern for Planning Departments. Keeping this in view, it is planned to develop a remote sensing based methodology for the preparation of land use/ land cover map using digital image processing techniques for Allahabad city and to monitor the changes in various classes. For this, multi-date, multi-sensor remote sensing data of year 2000 (IRS-1D LISS-III) and year 1994 (IRS-1B LISS-II) has been used. Various land-use classes delineated include built-up, agriculture, sand, water, scrub and open/ barren land. The classification has been performed using maximum likelihood classifier in an iterative manner. Changes in area under major land use/ land cover types have been determined through the comparison of their spatial extent in 1994 and 2000. It is observed that there has been an increase of nearly 8.0 sq. km in built up area, coupled with decrease of about 20 sq. km and 2.5 sq. km in agriculture and scrub respectively in 6 years. The planning agencies in Allahabad city are expected to be benefited by the usage of remote sensing based methodology for achieving a balanced and sustainable development in the region.

Pollution of inland waters by agricultural, industrial and municipal wastes is a global problem and a common phenomenon in developing countries. These anthropogenic activities within the landscape facilitate the transfer of nutrients into aquatic ecosystems, sometimes leading to eutrophication which has adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. Deposition of nutrient-rich sediments washed into rivers and stream is common during rainy season in places where the riparian buffer zones have been destroyed. River Isiukhu watershed land use comprises sugar-cane farm, forested, peri-urban and mixed agriculture from upstream to downtream. The research employed stratified random sampling. Nitrate-nitrogen was determined through ultra-violet screening spectrophotometric method while phosphatephosphorus through ascorbic acid method. Data analyses were done using Statistical Analysis System, version 9.1. Land use had a significant effect of both nitrate-nitrogen (F=1372.25, p<0.05) and phosphat...

Species ranges often change in relation to multiple environmental and demographic factors. Innovative behaviors may affect these changes by facilitating the use of novel habitats, although this idea has been little explored. Here, we investigate the importance of behavior during range change, using a 25-year population expansion of Bonelli's eagle in southern Portugal. This unique population is almost exclusively tree nesting, while all other populations in western Europe are predominantly cliff nesting. During 1991-2014, we surveyed nest sites and estimated the year when each breeding territory was established. We approximated the boundaries of 84 territories using Dirichlet tessellation and mapped topography, land cover, and the density of human infrastructures in buffers (250, 500, and 1,000 m) around nest and random sites. We then compared environmental conditions at matching nest and random sites within territories using conditional logistic regression, and used quantile regression to estimate trends in nesting habitats in relation to the year of territory establishment. Most nests (>85%, n = 197) were in eucalypts, maritime pines, and cork oaks. Nest sites were farther from the nests of neighboring territories than random points, and they were in areas with higher terrain roughness, lower cover by agricultural and built-up areas, and lower road and powerline densities. Nesting habitat selection varied little with year of territory establishment, although nesting in eucalypts increased, while cliff nesting and cork oak nesting, and terrain roughness declined. Our results suggest that the observed expansion of Bonelli's eagles was facilitated by the tree nesting behavior, which allowed the colonization of areas without cliffs. However, all but a very few breeding pairs settled in habitats comparable to those of the initial population nucleus, suggesting that after an initial trigger possibly facilitated by tree nesting, the habitat selection remained largely conservative. Overall, our study supports recent calls to incorporate information on behavior for understanding and predicting species range shifts. K E Y W O R D S Aquila fasciata, behavioral innovation, conditional logistic regression, conservation, habitat selection, quantile regression, range expansion

The topic of land recycling is a permanent issue in Saxony-Anhalt – in Germany – in Europe. The remediation and revitalisation of brownfield sites and vacant commercial buildings is highly interesting both from an urban development and from an environmental point of view. Brownfield development can help to reduce land take and to strengthen the central areas of our cities and municipalities. Each specialist discipline views such projects from its own perspective – from the remediation of contaminated sites, via real estate development, to urban and environmental planning. For a successful and efficient project implementation, a good cooperation of the different experts and authorities is of great importance. In the Interreg project “GreenerSites” such cooperations are sought and promoted in order to jointly develop a comprehensive perspective: land recycling as a component of resource-saving urban development. Among other things, the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Regional Development and Transport is responsible for the development of a site information system for online collaboration between public institutions. This webGIS tool is presented in the article. Moreover, the paper deals with fundamental questions of land take, land recycling as well as GIS-based methods of brownfield management.

Land use/ land cover is an important component in understanding the interactions of the human activities
with the environment and thus it is necessary to monitor and detect the changes to maintain a sustainable
environment. Land use/ land cover change study is very important aspect of the natural resources data
base study. The knowledge of land use and land cover is important for many planning and management
activities as it is considered as an essential element for modeling and understanding the earth’s features.
The present study aims to find out the land use/land cover features of in and around Rajampet of Kadapa
District, Andhra Pradesh, India. The total area of the region is 316.88 sq.km. The study has made use of
high resolution IRS LISS III satellite imagery for identifying the land use/land cover classes. ERDAS
and ArcGIS software were used to demarcate the land use/land cover features of study area. Remote
sensing and GIS provide consistent and accurate base line information than many of the conventional
surveys employed for such a task. The land use and land cover analysis in and around Rajampeta area
has been attempted based on thematic mapping of the area consisting of built-up land, agriculture land,
water bodies, forest and waste land using the satellite image. The research concludes that there is a rapid
expansion of built-up area. In the study area the major part is occupied by the cultivated land. Land use
and land cover information, when used along with information on other natural resources, like water,
soil, hydro-geomorphology, etc. will help in the optimal land use planning at the macro and micro level.

The region between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro cities, one of the most developed in the country, characterized by high population density and large industrial poles. In addition, stands out for its great ecological importance, because it concentrates one of the largest remnants of the Atlantic forest biome in Brazil. The high economic and industrial development of the region made great pressure on the occupation and land use, which has gone through several cycles of exploration, since deforestation occurred in the past by the exploitation of coffee crops and farming and the current associated with the commercial exploitation of eucalyptus plantations. So, in order to assess the impacts of land cover and uses changes (LCLUC) in the region described above were carried out numerical simulations (ETA40km model downscaling for 10 km) whereas three different scenarios, that is, potential vegetation cover (without human action), vegetation cover and current land use and expansion of the culture. In General, the ETA model managed to represent the regional circulations maritime breezes and mountain-valley, which contribute to the total volume of precipitation in summer (DJF) over the study region. It was found that the intensity of these changes caused MUCT circulations locations, mainly the mountain valley, which led to increased moisture convergence on the mountain tops and, consequently, to increased precipitation in these areas. In addition, it was found that the most important restorative mechanism related to the impacts of LCLUC in the distribution and intensity of precipitation in the region is the mechanism study of vegetation (forest Breeze). From analyses considering observed data of precipitation, there was an increase in the number of extreme precipitation events in some regions in the Vale do Paraíba, although the most significant changes in precipitation have been observed on the higher areas. Thus, the analysis of the observational data and simulations with the ETA model converged to the result that the LCLUC study region that have occurred in recent decades, have led to increased precipitation in some areas.  Finally, we highlight that the diagnosis of the evolution of land use and its climatic implications are essential to guide decision makers, in particular of government sectors and civil defense, mainly because the region incorporate mountain regions highly vulnerable to natural disasters.

Riparian vegetation performs important
ecosystem functions, since it maintains regional
biodiversity and provides a range of environmental
services. However, anthropogenic activity, land use
type, and edge effects are factors that modify the
riparian species assemblage and properties. The
present study analyzes the influence of adjacent land
use on the structure and diversity of riparian vegetation
in four hydrographic regions that form the
watershed of the river Duero, in the state of Michoaca
´n, Mexico. Using a survey of woody plants of dbh
C 2.5 cm in ten different 0.1 ha sites, we found that
the average number of stems and individuals was
lower under agricultural (AGR) and urban (URB) land
use, compared to forested areas (FOR). The proportion
of multistemmed plants differs among land uses: this
value was greater in AGR than in the FOR and URB
categories. This proportion also differed among the
four hydrographic regions. The land use type FOR
presented the highest alpha and beta diversity, with a
high number of native species occurring only in areas defined by this land use. The results indicate that the
category FOR plays an important role in the conservation
of regional flora and is a possible source of
germplasm for restoration programs in sites degraded
by human disturbance. This study shows how anthropogenic
activities affect riparian vegetation and highlights
the importance of further study of this
ecosystem to apply sustainable management strategies
that are compatible with its conservation.

A study of the hydrologic effects of catchment change from pasture to plantation was carried out in Gatum, south-western Victoria, Australia. This study describes the hydrologic characteristics of two adjacent catchments: one with 97% grassland and the other one with 62% Eucalyptus globulus plantations. Streamflow from both catchments was intermittent during the 20-month study period. Monthly streamflow was always greater in the pasture-dominated catchment compared with the plantation
catchment because of lower evapotranspiration in the pasture-based catchment. This difference in streamflow was also observed even during summer 2010/2011 when precipitation was 74% above average (1954–2012) summer rainfall. Streamflow peaks in the plantation-based catchment were smaller than in the pasture-dominated system. Flow duration curves show differences between the pasture and plantation-dominated catchments and affect both high-flow and low-flow periods. Groundwater levels fell (up to 4.4 m) in the plantation catchment during the study period but rose (up to 3.2 m) in the pasture catchment. Higher evapotranspiration in the plantation catchment resulted in falling groundwater levels and greater disconnection of the
groundwater system from the stream, resulting in lower baseflow contribution to streamflow. Salt export from each catchment increases with increasing flow and is higher at the pasture catchment, mainly because of the higher flow. Reduced salt loading to streams due to tree planting is generally considered environmentally beneficial in saline areas of south-eastern Australia, but this benefit is offset by reduced total streamflow.