scholarly journals Limited Economic-Ecological Trade-Offs in a Shifting Agricultural Landscape: A Case Study From Kern County, California

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariani C. Wartenberg ◽  
Diana Moanga ◽  
Matthew D. Potts ◽  
Van Butsic
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
C Sequestration ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Kern County ◽  
Agricultural Ecosystem ◽  
Trade Offs

Increasing global food production and livelihoods while maintaining ecosystem health will require significant changes in the way existing farming landscapes are managed. To this end, developing a systemic understanding of the economic and ecological impacts of different cropping systems, and identifying trade-offs and synergies between them, is crucial to inform decision-making for policy makers and landowners. Here, we investigate the impacts of agricultural land-use change for 15 distinct crops in Kern County, California, by looking at spatial and temporal changes in ecosystem indicators. We focus our analysis on three agricultural ecosystem pressures (water use, soil erosion, and pesticide use) and three agricultural ecosystem services (profits, calorie production, and C sequestration). Between 2002 and 2018, agriculture in Kern County underwent a shift from annual row crop to nut tree crop production. At the landscape-scale, we found high increases in ecosystem service provision (total profits, calorie production, and annual C sequestration increased by 105, 29, and 37%, respectively), coupled with smaller changes in ecosystem pressures (total soil erosion and evapotranspiration increased by 10 and 5%, respectively, and total pesticide use declined by 4%). We identified no salient trade-offs or synergies among crops. Our results illustrate that in the highly productive agricultural hotspot of Kern County, a combination of changes in land-cover allocation or land-use efficiency may have mitigated stronger negative environmental impacts following a broad shift from annual to perennial crops.

Crop transitions can drive economic and ecological shifts in an established farming landscape: a case study from California

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariani Wartenberg ◽  
Diana Moanga ◽  
Matthew Potts ◽  
Van Butsic
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Farming Landscapes

<p>Meeting growing challenges to maintain food production and rural livelihoods while minimizing land degradation will require significant changes in the way existing farming landscapes are managed. A systemic understanding of the agroecological impacts of land-use change in established farming landscapes, and the identification of significant trade-offs or synergies, are crucial to inform farm management and land-use governance solutions. Here, we focus on land-use change impacts in an already established farming landscape. We investigate spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural land-use change from 2002 to 2018, in Kern County, California. Our study region is one of the major agricultural production hotspots in the United States, and has undergone a recent agricultural land-use transition from annual to perennial cropping systems. In this study we analyzed parcel-level data documenting changes in the land-use footprint for individual crops, ranging from annual crops like wheat and cotton to perennial tree crops like almonds and pistachios. We assess how land-use change impacted ecosystem pressures and service indicators selected for their relevance in an agricultural context, including water-use, soil erosion, profit and carbon sequestration. Our results indicate no salient trade-offs or synergies among individual crops, and illustrate the possibility of limited economic-ecological trade-offs associated with a shift from annual to perennial crops in a well-established agricultural landscape. We further discuss the relevance of our findings in the context of land-ownership consolidation and changing export dynamics in the study area.</p>

Impacts of agricultural land use changes on pesticide use in French agriculture

2016 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Urruty ◽  
Tanguy Deveaud ◽  
Hervé Guyomard ◽  
Jean Boiffin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Pesticide Use

scholarly journals Spatial Estimation of Soil Erosion Using RUSLE Modeling: A case study of Dolakha District, Nepal

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawan Thapa
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Erosion Risk ◽  
Spatial Estimation ◽  
The North ◽  
Soil Erosion Rate ◽  
Severe Erosion

Abstract Background: Soil erosion causes topsoil loss, which decreases fertility in agricultural land. Spatial estimation of soil erosion essential for an agriculture-dependent country like Nepal for developing its control plans. This study evaluated impacts on Dolakha using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model; analyses the effect of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) on soil erosion. Results: The soil erosion rate categorized into six classes based on the erosion severity, and 5.01% of the areas found under extreme severe erosion risk (> 80 Mg ha-1yr-1) addressed by decision-makers for reducing its rate and consequences. Followed by 10 % classified between high and severe range from 10 to 80 Mg ha-1yr-1. While 15% and 70% of areas remained in a moderate and low-risk zone, respectively. Result suggests the area of the north-eastern part suffers from a high soil erosion risk due to steep slope. Conclusions: The result produces a spatial distribution of soil erosion over Dolakha, which applied for conservation and management planning processes, at the policy level, by land-use planners and decision-makers.

scholarly journals Then and Now: Understanding Change on an Agricultural Landscape

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Pardy
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Phosphorus Pollution ◽  
Land Use And Management

Freshwater eutrophication typically driven by non-point source phosphorus pollution is one of the worlds’ most prevalent and vexing environmental problems with the Laurentian Great Lakes on the Canada – United States border. During 1975 – 1977, the Pollution from Land Use Activities Reference Group examined eleven agricultural watersheds in order to investigate the impacts of land use activities on surface water quality. This study examined how agricultural land use and management has transformed in two watersheds, Nissouri Creek and Big Creek. The goal of this study was to quantify the phosphorus mass balance change within the watersheds. During 2015 – 2019 land use and management practices survey data was collected. Results of this study showed Nissouri Creek is now depleting -2.19 kilograms of phosphorus per hectare of agricultural land, while Big Creek is still accumulating 4.77 kilograms of phosphorus per hectare of agricultural land. This study can guide efforts to limit the long-term losses of phosphorus in the Laurentian Great Lakes and elsewhere.

Ecosystem Valuation of Agricultural Land Use Change

2022 ◽  
pp. 90-126
Author(s):  
Dimple Behal
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Agricultural Ecosystem ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Rapid Pace

With the rapid pace of urbanization, land-use change is essential for economic and social progress; however, it does not come without costs. With such rapid urbanization, there comes pressure on the land and its resources, like that of food and timber production with a significant impact on the livelihood of millions of people. With the loss of agricultural land due to developmental activities, future agriculture would be very intensive. Therefore, it is likely with the existing pattern of allocating land uses for future development that we may lose the ecosystem services and highly productive agricultural lands. The value of these ecosystem services to agriculture is enormous and often underappreciated. The study focuses on identifying underlying causes of the land-use change, ecosystem services affected due to land-use change in peri-urban areas of Chandigarh using spatial mapping of affected ecosystem services and suggesting proposals for promoting agricultural ecosystem values using economically-informed policy instruments.

Agricultural land use and management weaken the soil erosion induced by extreme rainstorms

2020 ◽  
Vol 301 ◽  
pp. 107047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianqiao Han ◽  
Wenyan Ge ◽  
Zhe Hei ◽  
Chenyu Cong ◽  
Chunling Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Land Use ◽  
Land Use And Management ◽  
Extreme Rainstorms

scholarly journals Estimating Human Impacts on Soil Erosion Considering Different Hillslope Inclinations and Land Uses in the Coastal Region of Syria

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safwan Mohammed ◽  
Hazem G. Abdo ◽  
Szilard Szabo ◽  
Quoc Bao Pham ◽  
Imre J. Holb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Water Erosion ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Erosion Processes

Soils in the coastal region of Syria (CRoS) are one of the most fragile components of natural ecosystems. However, they are adversely affected by water erosion processes after extreme land cover modifications such as wildfires or intensive agricultural activities. The main goal of this research was to clarify the dynamic interaction between erosion processes and different ecosystem components (inclination, land cover/land use, and rainy storms) along with the vulnerable territory of the CRoS. Experiments were carried out in five different locations using a total of 15 erosion plots. Soil loss and runoff were quantified in each experimental plot, considering different inclinations and land uses (agricultural land (AG), burnt forest (BF), forest/control plot (F)). Observed runoff and soil loss varied greatly according to both inclination and land cover after 750 mm of rainfall (26 events). In the cultivated areas, the average soil water erosion ranged between 0.14 ± 0.07 and 0.74 ± 0.33 kg/m2; in the BF plots, mean soil erosion ranged between 0.03 ± 0.01 and 0.24 ± 0.10 kg/m2. The lowest amount of erosion was recorded in the F plots where the erosion ranged between 0.1 ± 0.001 and 0.07 ± 0.03 kg/m2. Interestingly, the General Linear Model revealed that all factors (i.e., inclination, rainfall and land use) had a significant (p < 0.001) effect on the soil loss. We concluded that human activities greatly influenced soil erosion rates, being higher in the AG lands, followed by BF and F. Therefore, the current study could be very useful to policymakers and planners for proposing immediate conservation or restoration plans in a less studied area which has been shown to be vulnerable to soil erosion processes.

scholarly journals Application of Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (Rusle) Model to Assess Soil Erosion in “Kalu Ganga” River Basin in Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. D. Panditharathne ◽  
N. S. Abeysingha ◽  
K. G. S. Nirmanee ◽  
Ananda Mallawatantri
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Universal Soil Loss Equation ◽  
Rusle Model ◽  
Soil Loss Equation

Soil erosion is one of the main forms of land degradation. Erosion contributes to loss of agricultural land productivity and ecological and esthetic values of natural environment, and it impairs the production of safe drinking water and hydroenergy production. Thus, assessment of soil erosion and identifying the lands more prone to erosion are vital for erosion management process. Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (Rusle) model supported by a GIS system was used to assess the spatial variability of erosion occurring at Kalu Ganga river basin in Sri Lanka. Digital Elevation Model (30 × 30 m), twenty years’ rainfall data measured at 11 rain gauge stations across the basin, land use and soil maps, and published literature were used as inputs to the model. The average annual soil loss in Kalu Ganga river basin varied from 0 to 134 t ha−1 year−1 and mean annual soil loss was estimated at 0.63 t ha−1 year−1. Based on erosion estimates, the basin landscape was divided into four different erosion severity classes: very low, low, moderate, and high. About 1.68% of the areas (4714 ha) in the river basin were identified with moderate to high erosion severity (>5 t ha−1 year−1) class which urgently need measures to control soil erosion. Lands with moderate to high soil erosion classes were mostly found in Bulathsinghala, Kuruwita, and Rathnapura divisional secretarial divisions. Use of the erosion severity information coupled with basin wide individual RUSLE parameters can help to design the appropriate land use management practices and improved management based on the observations to minimize soil erosion in the basin.

scholarly journals Environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces: Case study of Horný Tisovník, Slovakia

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Slámová ◽  
Jana Krčmářová ◽  
Pavel Hronček ◽  
Mariana Kaštierová
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Agricultural Terraces ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract The cadastral district of Horný Tisovník represents a traditionally managed Carpathian mountain agricultural landscape with extensive terraces. It was historically governed by two counties with different feudal economic systems - agricultural and industrial. This paper aims to enrich traditional methods in environmental history. We applied geospatial statistics and multivariate data analysis for the assessment of environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces. Using linear models, the hypothesis was tested that the terrace distribution is functionally related to selected factors (affiliation to the historic counties; average altitude and slope; distance from water, buildings and settlements; units of natural potential vegetation; and current land use). Significantly greater amounts of terraces were located in the agricultural county compared to the industrial county. A principal component analysis showed the coincidence between the current agricultural land use and higher concentrations of terraces occurring in lower altitudes, closer to settlements and buildings, and within the unit of Carpathian oak-hornbeam forests. These findings regarding the most significant factors influencing the distribution of terraces are used in proposals for incentives to improve the management of the traditional agricultural landscape.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document