The effect of fine-scale variations in agricultural land use on the abundance of red-winged blackbirds

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1951-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Clark ◽  
Patrick J. Weatherhead
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Agelaius Phoeniceus ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Sharp Decline ◽  
Corn Production ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Feeding Habitat

We used censuses of breeding red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and of land use to test the prediction that blackbirds should be most abundant where there is a mix of hayfield (breeding habitat) and corn production (feeding habitat) but fewer birds where either habitat predominates. Red-winged blackbird abundance increased in response to increases in both hayfields and cropland. Multivariate analysis including hayfield, cropland, and wetland abundance as explanatory variables explained substantially more variation in blackbird abundance than any of the variables could by themselves. Although our analyses indicated some evidence of a decline in numbers of blackbirds when either hayfields or cropland became very abundant, none of the areas censused approached true monoculture and therefore the conditions under which a sharp decline in the blackbird population was predicted were not encountered. However, evidence from other locations and local population trends suggest that the prediction is correct.

Corruption risks in the sphere of land relations and directions of their minimization

Ekonomika APK ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 321 (7) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
Oksana Rykovska
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Population ◽  
National Level ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Land Relations ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Land Transactions ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of the article is to identify corruption risks in the field of land relations, identify specific factors confirming the existence of a corruption component in agricultural land use to create a system of preventive measures and establish regulatory fuses, limit corruption influence on land transactions and protect human rights. Research methods. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis (to determine the sources of corruption schemes in the field of land relations); correlation analysis (to establish the relationship between corruption and land use concentration); empirical (on the study of the consequences of corruption offenses in the field of land relations) and abstract-logical (to summarize the conclusions and formulate proposals). Research results. Identification of the main sources of corruption schemes in the field of agricultural land use contributes to the development of effective methods to combat these offenses. According to research by foreign scholars, the system of preventing abuse of office and obtaining illegal benefits by officials at all levels of government is built through: overcoming the monopoly, as the exclusive right of government agencies to carry out and control land transactions; clear legislative regulation of mechanisms of purchase and sale and other transactions with agricultural land; introduction of mechanisms of publicity, transparency and information openness in the land market. Disclosure of intentions to conduct land transactions, opening of operations, dissemination of information on approved agreements will reduce the interest of corrupt officials and protect legal actions. In addition to the types of corruption in the field of agricultural land use identified by the NACP, specific factors are outlined that confirm the existence of a corruption component, including: 1) conclusion of large land agreements (concentration of land use); 2) investment flows into land assets from offshore zones; 3) discretionary powers of a single body of executive power in the field of disposal of agricultural land. The establishment of regulatory safeguards on additional to generally accepted factors of corruption will limit the corrupt impact on land transactions and protect the rights of low-income people, small landholdings and other types of socio-economic exclusion. Scientific novelty сonsists in substantiating the need to single out large land agreements (concentration of land use) as transactions with significant corruption risk, when developing mechanisms to combat corruption at the national level. Practical significance. Addendum to the draft Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2021-2025 in terms of identifying key issues in the field of land relations by developing a special mechanism for concluding large agreements (land use concentration) with mandatory verification of sources of funds, verification of information on ultimate beneficial owners and verification of corporate structure permanent monitoring of the impact of concentrated land use on the observance of the rights of the local population and preservation of the environment will become an effective preventive anti-corruption measure in the field of land relations. Figs.: 3. Refs.: 27.

scholarly journals Agroforestry Systems of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: Land Use for Biocultural Diversity Conservation

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Mariana Vallejo ◽  
M. Isabel Ramírez ◽  
Alejandro Reyes-González ◽  
Jairo López-Sánchez ◽  
Alejandro Casas
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Biocultural Diversity ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Human Settlements

The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico, is the semiarid region with the richest biodiversity of North America and was recently recognized as a UNESCO's World Heritage site. Original agricultural practices remain to this day in agroforestry systems (AFS), which are expressions of high biocultural diversity. However, local people and researchers perceive a progressive decline both in natural ecosystems and AFS. To assess changes in location and extent of agricultural land use, we carried out a visual interpretation of very-high resolution imagery and field work, through which we identified AFS and conventional agricultural systems (CAS) from 1995 to 2003 and 2012. We analyzed five communities, representative of three main ecological and agricultural zones of the region. We assessed agricultural land use changes in relation to conspicuous landscape features (relief, rivers, roads, and human settlements). We found that natural ecosystems cover more than 85% of the territory in each community, and AFS represent 51% of all agricultural land. Establishment and permanence of agricultural lands were strongly influenced by gentle slopes and the existence of roads. Contrary to what we expected, we recorded agricultural areas being abandoned, thus favoring the regeneration of natural ecosystems, as well as a 9% increase of AFS over CAS. Agriculture is concentrated near human settlements. Most of the studied territories are meant to preserve natural ecosystems, and traditional AFS practices are being recovered for biocultural conservation.

scholarly journals An Integrated Economic, Environmental and Social Approach to Agricultural Land-Use Planning

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 364
Author(s):  
Sahar Shahpari ◽  
Janelle Allison ◽  
Matthew Tom Harrison ◽  
Roger Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Climate Type ◽  
Crop Selection ◽  
Regional Impacts ◽  
Farmer Decision Making

Agricultural land-use change is a dynamic process that varies as a function of social, economic and environmental factors spanning from the local to the global scale. The cumulative regional impacts of these factors on land use adoption decisions by farmers are neither well accounted for nor reflected in agricultural land use planning. We present an innovative spatially explicit agent-based modelling approach (Crop GIS-ABM) that accounts for factors involved in farmer decision making on new irrigation adoption to enable land-use predictions and exploration. The model was designed using a participatory approach, capturing stakeholder insights in a conceptual model of farmer decisions. We demonstrate a case study of the factors influencing the uptake of new irrigation infrastructure and land use in Tasmania, Australia. The model demonstrates how irrigated land-use expansion promotes the diffusion of alternative crops in the region, as well as how coupled social, biophysical and environmental conditions play an important role in crop selection. Our study shows that agricultural land use reflected the evolution of multiple simultaneous interacting biophysical and socio-economic drivers, including soil and climate type, crop and commodity prices, and the accumulated effects of interactive decisions of farmers.

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