Quantifying the Effects of Historical Land Cover Conversion Uncertainty on Global Carbon and Climate Estimates

DOE PAGES

Di Vittorio, A. V.; Mao, J.; Shi, X.; ...

2018-01-03

Previous studies have examined land use change as a driver of global change, but the translation of land use change into land cover conversion has been largely unconstrained. In this paper, we quantify the effects of land cover conversion uncertainty on the global carbon and climate system using the integrated Earth System Model. Our experiments use identical land use change data and vary land cover conversions to quantify associated uncertainty in carbon and climate estimates. Land cover conversion uncertainty is large, constitutes a 5 ppmv range in estimated atmospheric CO 2 in 2004, and generates carbon uncertainty that is equivalentmore » to 80% of the net effects of CO 2 and climate and 124% of the effects of nitrogen deposition during 1850–2004. Additionally, land cover uncertainty generates differences in local surface temperature of over 1°C. Finally, we conclude that future studies addressing land use, carbon, and climate need to constrain and reduce land cover conversion uncertainties.« less

Quantifying the Effects of Historical Land Cover Conversion Uncertainty on Global Carbon and Climate Estimates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Di Vittorio, A. V.; Mao, J.; Shi, X.

Previous studies have examined land use change as a driver of global change, but the translation of land use change into land cover conversion has been largely unconstrained. In this paper, we quantify the effects of land cover conversion uncertainty on the global carbon and climate system using the integrated Earth System Model. Our experiments use identical land use change data and vary land cover conversions to quantify associated uncertainty in carbon and climate estimates. Land cover conversion uncertainty is large, constitutes a 5 ppmv range in estimated atmospheric CO 2 in 2004, and generates carbon uncertainty that is equivalentmore » to 80% of the net effects of CO 2 and climate and 124% of the effects of nitrogen deposition during 1850–2004. Additionally, land cover uncertainty generates differences in local surface temperature of over 1°C. Finally, we conclude that future studies addressing land use, carbon, and climate need to constrain and reduce land cover conversion uncertainties.« less

43 CFR 3140.3-1 - Conversion applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Conversion applications. 3140.3-1 Section 3140.3-1 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND... Conversion of Existing Oil and Gas Leases and Valid Claims Based on Mineral Locations § 3140.3-1 Conversion...

Predicted avian responses to bioenergy development scenarios in an intensive agricultural landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Uden, Daniel R.; Allen, Craig R.; Mitchell, Rob B.; McCoy, Tim D.; Guan, Qingfeng

2015-01-01

Conversion of native prairie to agriculture has increased food and bioenergy production but decreased wildlife habitat. However, enrollment of highly erodible cropland in conservation programs has compensated for some grassland loss. In the future, climate change and production of second-generation perennial biofuel crops could further transform agricultural landscapes and increase or decrease grassland area. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is an alternative biofuel feedstock that may be economically and environmentally superior to maize (Zea mays) grain for ethanol production on marginally productive lands. Switchgrass could benefit farmers economically and increase grassland area, but there is uncertainty as to how conversions between rowcrops, switchgrass monocultures and conservation grasslands might occur and affect wildlife. To explore potential impacts on grassland birds, we developed four agricultural land-use change scenarios for an intensively cultivated landscape, each driven by potential future climatic changes and ensuing irrigation limitations, ethanol demand, commodity prices, and continuation of a conservation program. For each scenario, we calculated changes in area for landcover classes and predicted changes in grassland bird abundances. Overall, birds responded positively to the replacement of rowcrops with switchgrass and negatively to the conversion of conservation grasslands to switchgrass or rowcrops. Landscape context and interactions between climate, crop water use, and irrigation availability could influence future land-use, and subsequently, avian habitat quality and quantity. Switchgrass is likely to provide higher quality avian habitat than rowcrops but lower quality habitat than conservation grasslands, and therefore, may most benefit birds in heavily cultivated, irrigation dependent landscapes under warmer and drier conditions, where economic profitability may also encourage conversions to drought tolerant bioenergy feedstocks.

Land cover and landscape changes in Shaanxi Province during China's Grain for Green Program (2000-2010).

PubMed

Chen, Hai; Marter-Kenyon, Jessica; López-Carr, David; Liang, Xiao-ying

2015-10-01

This study examines landscape changes in the context of China's national Grain for Green (GFG) policy, one of the world's largest "payment for environmental/ecosystem services" (PES) programs. We explored landscape structures and dynamics between 2000 and 2010 in Shaanxi Province, the Chinese province with the greatest amount of cropland conversion and reforestation in recent decades. We used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)-derived data and landscape metrics for six land cover classes to determine (1) the major land cover changes during enforcement of the policy, (2) the spatial and temporal variations in these changes, and (3) the effects of land cover changes on landscape structure and dynamics. The results suggested that provincial-level land cover changes modestly reflected the goals of the GFG. Over the 10-year study period, the forest and grassland coverages expanded from 95,737.9 to 97,017.4 km(2) and from 37,235.9 to 40,613.1 km(2), respectively, while the cropland coverage decreased from 59,222.8 to 54,007.6 km(2). The conversion direction differed regionally: the targeted croplands in Shanbei, namely, types III and IV, were mainly transformed into grassland while those in Shannan were mainly transformed into forestland. Reforestation was associated with increased inter-landscape aggregation and connection. Despite this large-scale reforestation trend, we found notable and significant differences in the land cover changes at the subprovincial level.

Benefits, costs, and livelihood implications of a regional payment for ecosystem service program.

PubMed

Zheng, Hua; Robinson, Brian E; Liang, Yi-Cheng; Polasky, Stephen; Ma, Dong-Chun; Wang, Feng-Chun; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Daily, Gretchen C

2013-10-08

Despite broad interest in using payment for ecosystem services to promote changes in the use of natural capital, there are few expost assessments of impacts of payment for ecosystem services programs on ecosystem service provision, program cost, and changes in livelihoods resulting from program participation. In this paper, we evaluate the Paddy Land-to-Dry Land (PLDL) program in Beijing, China, and associated changes in service providers' livelihood activities. The PLDL is a land use conversion program that aims to protect water quality and quantity for the only surface water reservoir that serves Beijing, China's capital city with nearly 20 million residents. Our analysis integrates hydrologic data with household survey data and shows that the PLDL generates benefits of improved water quantity and quality that exceed the costs of reduced agricultural output. The PLDL has an overall benefit-cost ratio of 1.5, and both downstream beneficiaries and upstream providers gain from the program. Household data show that changes in livelihood activities may offset some of the desired effects of the program through increased expenditures on agricultural fertilizers. Overall, however, reductions in fertilizer leaching from land use change dominate so that the program still has a positive net impact on water quality. This program is a successful example of water users paying upstream landholders to improve water quantity and quality through land use change. Program evaluation also highlights the importance of considering behavioral changes by program participants.

Benefits, costs, and livelihood implications of a regional payment for ecosystem service program

PubMed Central

Zheng, Hua; Robinson, Brian E.; Liang, Yi-Cheng; Polasky, Stephen; Ma, Dong-Chun; Wang, Feng-Chun; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Daily, Gretchen C.

2013-01-01

Despite broad interest in using payment for ecosystem services to promote changes in the use of natural capital, there are few expost assessments of impacts of payment for ecosystem services programs on ecosystem service provision, program cost, and changes in livelihoods resulting from program participation. In this paper, we evaluate the Paddy Land-to-Dry Land (PLDL) program in Beijing, China, and associated changes in service providers’ livelihood activities. The PLDL is a land use conversion program that aims to protect water quality and quantity for the only surface water reservoir that serves Beijing, China’s capital city with nearly 20 million residents. Our analysis integrates hydrologic data with household survey data and shows that the PLDL generates benefits of improved water quantity and quality that exceed the costs of reduced agricultural output. The PLDL has an overall benefit–cost ratio of 1.5, and both downstream beneficiaries and upstream providers gain from the program. Household data show that changes in livelihood activities may offset some of the desired effects of the program through increased expenditures on agricultural fertilizers. Overall, however, reductions in fertilizer leaching from land use change dominate so that the program still has a positive net impact on water quality. This program is a successful example of water users paying upstream landholders to improve water quantity and quality through land use change. Program evaluation also highlights the importance of considering behavioral changes by program participants. PMID:24003160

Land use change and its driving forces toward mutual conversion in Zhangjiakou City, a farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China.

PubMed

Liu, Chao; Xu, Yueqing; Sun, Piling; Huang, An; Zheng, Weiran

2017-09-14

Land use/cover change (LUCC), a local environmental issue of global importance, and its driving forces have been crucial issues in geography and environmental research. Previous studies primarily focused on major driving factors in various land use types, with few explorations of differences between driving forces of mutual land use type conversions, especially in fragile eco-environments. In this study, Zhangjiakou City, in a farming-pastoral ecotone in Northern China, was taken as an example to analyze land use change between 1989 and 2015, and explore the driving forces of mutual land use type conversions using canonical correlation analysis. Satellite images and government statistics, including social-economic and natural data, were used as sources. Arable land, forestland, and grassland formed the main land use structure. From 1989 to 2015 forestland, orchard land, and construction land significantly increased, while arable land, grassland, unused land, and water areas decreased. Conversions from grassland to forestland; from arable land to orchard land, forestland and construction land; and from unused land to grassland and forestland were the primary land use changes. Among these, the conversion from grassland to forestland had the highest ranking. Average annual precipitation and per capita net income of rural residents positively affected the conversion of arable land to forestland and unused land to grassland. GDP, total population, and urbanization rate contributed most significantly to converting arable land to construction land; total retail sales of social consumer goods, average annual temperature, and GDP had important positive influences in converting arable land to orchard land.

Changing scene highlights III. [Iowa State University

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fassel, V. A.; Harl, Neil E.; Legvold, Sam

1979-01-01

The research programs in progress at Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, are reviewed: hydrogen (storage), materials, catalysts, TRISTAN (their laboratory isotope separator), coal preparation, coal classification, land reclamation (after surface mining, nitinol, neutron radiography, grain dust explosions, biomass conversion, etc). (LTC)

Agricultural Land Conversion: Background and Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furuseth, Owen J.

1982-01-01

Analyzes forces contributing to the conversion of agricultural land for other uses, causes for the depletion of the land, major issues surrounding the loss of farmland, and current policies designed to control haphazard land conversion. Concludes that the United States lacks a national farmland protection policy. (KC)

43 CFR 3474.3 - Bond conversions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Bond conversions. 3474.3 Section 3474.3 Public Lands: Interior Regulations Relating to Public Lands (Continued) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT....3 Bond conversions. (a) The authorized officer shall notify those leaseholders who have nationwide...

Potential future land use threats to California's protected areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara Sue; Sleeter, Benjamin Michael; Davis, Adam Wilkinson

2015-01-01

Increasing pressures from land use coupled with future changes in climate will present unique challenges for California’s protected areas. We assessed the potential for future land use conversion on land surrounding existing protected areas in California’s twelve ecoregions, utilizing annual, spatially explicit (250 m) scenario projections of land use for 2006–2100 based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios to examine future changes in development, agriculture, and logging. We calculated a conversion threat index (CTI) for each unprotected pixel, combining land use conversion potential with proximity to protected area boundaries, in order to identify ecoregions and protected areas at greatest potential risk of proximal land conversion. Our results indicate that California’s Coast Range ecoregion had the highest CTI with competition for extractive logging placing the greatest demand on land in close proximity to existing protected areas. For more permanent land use conversions into agriculture and developed uses, our CTI results indicate that protected areas in the Central California Valley and Oak Woodlands are most vulnerable. Overall, the Eastern Cascades, Central California Valley, and Oak Woodlands ecoregions had the lowest areal percent of protected lands and highest conversion threat values. With limited resources and time, rapid, landscape-level analysis of potential land use threats can help quickly identify areas with higher conversion probability of future land use and potential changes to both habitat and potential ecosystem reserves. Given the broad range of future uncertainties, LULC projections are a useful tool allowing land managers to visualize alternative landscape futures, improve planning, and optimize management practices.

Determinants of Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Conversion in 25 EU Countries.

PubMed

Ustaoglu, Eda; Williams, Brendan

2017-10-01

Agricultural land conversion is resulting from ongoing complex interaction between the physical environment, policy settings and socio-economic factors. Case studies of the determinants of agricultural land conversion potentially contribute to the analysis of the main causes of land-use change. This can assist authorities and policy makers in understanding the relative importance of a wide range of factors on urban expansion and associated agricultural land-use change. This paper explores the determinants of agricultural land conversion to urban uses in the studied 25 European Union countries between 2000 and 2006. European-level as well as region-specific land-use changes are studied. The research is using the spatial data adapted from European Corine Land Cover maps of 2000 and 2006 and utilised other European sources regarding socio-economic, natural, geological, climate, and policy-related data. The differences in urbanisation processes observed in different regions in Europe emphasise the regional variations of urban conversion process of agricultural land use. This study identifies a combination of socio-economic drivers, policy-related factors, nature and location-based factors as key influences on agricultural land conversion processes in Europe. Specifically we found that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies were influential in curbing urbanisation and reducing agricultural land consumption.

Determinants of Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land Conversion in 25 EU Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ustaoglu, Eda; Williams, Brendan

2017-10-01

Agricultural land conversion is resulting from ongoing complex interaction between the physical environment, policy settings and socio-economic factors. Case studies of the determinants of agricultural land conversion potentially contribute to the analysis of the main causes of land-use change. This can assist authorities and policy makers in understanding the relative importance of a wide range of factors on urban expansion and associated agricultural land-use change. This paper explores the determinants of agricultural land conversion to urban uses in the studied 25 European Union countries between 2000 and 2006. European-level as well as region-specific land-use changes are studied. The research is using the spatial data adapted from European Corine Land Cover maps of 2000 and 2006 and utilised other European sources regarding socio-economic, natural, geological, climate, and policy-related data. The differences in urbanisation processes observed in different regions in Europe emphasise the regional variations of urban conversion process of agricultural land use. This study identifies a combination of socio-economic drivers, policy-related factors, nature and location-based factors as key influences on agricultural land conversion processes in Europe. Specifically we found that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies were influential in curbing urbanisation and reducing agricultural land consumption.

Land suitability assessment on a watershed of Loess Plateau using the analytic hierarchy process.

PubMed

Yi, Xiaobo; Wang, Li

2013-01-01

In order to reduce soil erosion and desertification, the Sloping Land Conversion Program has been conducted in China for more than 15 years, and large areas of farmland have been converted to forest and grassland. However, this large-scale vegetation-restoration project has faced some key problems (e.g. soil drying) that have limited the successful development of the current ecological-recovery policy. Therefore, it is necessary to know about the land use, vegetation, and soil, and their inter-relationships in order to identify the suitability of vegetation restoration. This study was conducted at the watershed level in the ecologically vulnerable region of the Loess Plateau, to evaluate the land suitability using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results showed that (1) the area unsuitable for crops accounted for 73.3% of the watershed, and the main factors restricting cropland development were soil physical properties and soil nutrients; (2) the area suitable for grassland was about 86.7% of the watershed, with the remaining 13.3% being unsuitable; (3) an area of 3.95 km(2), accounting for 66.7% of the watershed, was unsuitable for forest. Overall, the grassland was found to be the most suitable land-use to support the aims of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in the Liudaogou watershed. Under the constraints of soil water shortage and nutrient deficits, crops and forests were considered to be inappropriate land uses in the study area, especially on sloping land. When selecting species for re-vegetation, non-native grass species with high water requirements should be avoided so as to guarantee the sustainable development of grassland and effective ecological functioning. Our study provides local land managers and farmers with valuable information about the inappropriateness of growing trees in the study area along with some information on species selection for planting in the semi-arid area of the Loess Plateau.

Land Suitability Assessment on a Watershed of Loess Plateau Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

PubMed Central

Yi, Xiaobo; Wang, Li

2013-01-01

In order to reduce soil erosion and desertification, the Sloping Land Conversion Program has been conducted in China for more than 15 years, and large areas of farmland have been converted to forest and grassland. However, this large-scale vegetation-restoration project has faced some key problems (e.g. soil drying) that have limited the successful development of the current ecological-recovery policy. Therefore, it is necessary to know about the land use, vegetation, and soil, and their inter-relationships in order to identify the suitability of vegetation restoration. This study was conducted at the watershed level in the ecologically vulnerable region of the Loess Plateau, to evaluate the land suitability using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results showed that (1) the area unsuitable for crops accounted for 73.3% of the watershed, and the main factors restricting cropland development were soil physical properties and soil nutrients; (2) the area suitable for grassland was about 86.7% of the watershed, with the remaining 13.3% being unsuitable; (3) an area of 3.95 km2, accounting for 66.7% of the watershed, was unsuitable for forest. Overall, the grassland was found to be the most suitable land-use to support the aims of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in the Liudaogou watershed. Under the constraints of soil water shortage and nutrient deficits, crops and forests were considered to be inappropriate land uses in the study area, especially on sloping land. When selecting species for re-vegetation, non-native grass species with high water requirements should be avoided so as to guarantee the sustainable development of grassland and effective ecological functioning. Our study provides local land managers and farmers with valuable information about the inappropriateness of growing trees in the study area along with some information on species selection for planting in the semi-arid area of the Loess Plateau. PMID:23922723

Can we manage tropical landscapes? – an answer from the Caribbean perspective.

Treesearch

Ariel E. Lugo

2002-01-01

Humans have used Caribbean island landscapes for millennia. The conversion of wild lands to built-up lands or to agricultural lands in these tropical countries follows predictable patterns. Conversion of moist forest life zones and fertile flatlands is faster than conversion of wet and rain forest life zones and low fertility steep lands. In Puerto Rico, these trends...

MULTI-TEMPORAL REMOTE SENSING ANALYTICAL APPROACHES FOR CHARACTERIZING LANDSCAPE CHANGE

EPA Science Inventory

Changes in landscape composition and function result from both acute land-cover conversions and chronic landscape changes. Land-cover conversions are typically mediated by human land-use activities (e.g. conversion from forest to agriculture), while more subtle chronic l...

Land-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, T. S.; Sleeter, B. M.; Sherba, J.; Cameron, D.

2014-12-01

Human land use will increasingly contribute to habitat losses and water shortages in California, given future population projections and associated demand for agricultural land. Understanding how land-use change may impact future water use and where existing protected areas may be threatened by land-use conversion will be important if effective, sustainable management approaches are to be implemented. We used a state-and-transition simulation modeling (STSM) framework to simulate spatially-explicit (1 km2) historical (1992-2010) and future (2011-2060) land-use change for 52 California counties within the Mediterranean California ecoregion. Historical land use change estimates were derived from the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program (FMMP) dataset and attributed with county-level agricultural water-use data from the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR). Six future alternative land-use scenarios were developed and modeled using the historical land-use change estimates and land-use projections based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2 and B1 scenarios. Resulting spatial land-use scenario outputs were combined based on scenario agreement and a land conversion threat index developed to evaluate vulnerability of existing protected areas. Modeled scenario output of county-level agricultural water use data were also summarized, enabling examination of alternative water use futures. We present results of two separate applications of STSM of land-use change, demonstrating the utility of STSM in analyzing land-use related impacts on water resources as well as potential threats to existing protected land. Exploring a range of alternative, yet plausible, land-use change impacts will help to better inform resource management and mitigation strategies.

The Energy Lands Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, fiscal year 1976

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maberry, John O.

1978-01-01

The Energy Lands Program of the U.S. Geological Survey comprises several projects that conduct basic and interpretive earth-science investigations into the environmental aspects of energy-resource recovery, transmission, and conversion. More than half the coal reserves of the United States occur west of the Mississippi River; therefore, the program concentrates mostly on coal-producing regions in the Western interior. Additional studies involve the oil-shale region in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, and coal-related work in Alaska and Appalachia. The work is done both by USGS personnel and under USGS grants and contracts through the Energy Lands Program to universities, State Geological Surveys, and private individuals. Maps and reports characterizing many aspects of environmental earth science are being prepared for areas of Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Types of studies underway include bedrock, surficial, and interpretive geology; engineering geology, geochemistry of surface materials and plants; climatic conditions as they influence rehabilitation potential of mined lands; and feasibility of surface vs. underground mining. The purpose common to all investigations in the Energy Lands Program is to provide timely earth-science information for use by managers, policy-makers, engineers, scientists, planners, and others, in order to contribute to an environmentally sound, orderly, and safe development of the energy resources of the Nation.

The effects of environmental and socioeconomic factors on land-use changes: a study of Alberta, Canada.

PubMed

Ruan, Xiaofeng; Qiu, Feng; Dyck, Miles

2016-08-01

Various environmental and socioeconomic issues have been attributed to land-use changes, and therefore, the underlying mechanisms merit investigation and quantification. This study assesses a comprehensive series of land-use conversions that were implemented over a recent 12-year period in the province of Alberta, Canada, where rapid economic and population growth has occurred. Spatial autocorrelation models are applied to identify the comprehensive effects of environmental and socioeconomic factors in each conversion case. The empirical results show that the impacts of key environmental and socioeconomic factors varied in intensity depending on the type of land-use conversion involved. Overall, land suitability for agricultural uses, road density, elevation, and population growth were found to be significant predictors of land-use changes. High land suitability, low elevation, and moderate road density were associated with land conversion for agricultural purposes.

[Effects of converting cultivated land into forest land on the characteristics of soil organic carbon in limestone mountain area in Ruichang, Jiangxi].

PubMed

Liu, Yuan-qiu; Wang, Fang; Ke, Guo-qing; Wang, Ying-ying; Guo, Shen-mao; Fan, Cheng-fang

2011-04-01

Taking the forest lands having been converted from cultivated land for 5 years in Ruichang City of Jiangxi Province as test objects, this paper studied the characteristics of soil organic carbon (SOC) under 4 different conversion models (forest-seedling integration, pure medicinal forest, bamboo-broadleaved mixed forest, and multi-species mixed forest). After the conversion from cultivated land into forestlands, the contents of SOC, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and mineralizable carbon (PMC) in 0-20 cm soil layer increased by 24.4%, 29%, and 18.4%, respectively, compared with those under the conversion from cultivated land into wasteland (P < 0.05), which indicated that the conversion from cultivated land into forest lands significantly increased the SOC content and SOC storage. The SOC, MBC, and PMC contents in 0-10 cm soil layer were significantly higher than those in 10-20 cm soil layer (P < 0.01), and the differences between the soil layers of the four forest lands were higher than those of the wasteland. Among the 4 conversion models, forest-seedling integration had more obvious effects on SOC.

MODIS Vegetative Cover Conversion and Vegetation Continuous Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, Mark; Townshend, John; Hansen, Matthew; DiMiceli, Charlene; Sohlberg, Robert; Wurster, Karl

Land cover change occurs at various spatial and temporal scales. For example, large-scale mechanical removal of forests for agro-industrial activities contrasts with the small-scale clearing of subsistence farmers. Such dynamics vary in spatial extent and rate of land conversion. Such changes are attributable to both natural and anthropogenic factors. For example, lightning- or human-ignited fires burn millions of acres of land surface each year. Further, land cover conversion requires ­contrasting with the land cover modification. In the first instance, the dynamic represents extensive categorical change between two land cover types. Land cover modification mechanisms such as selective logging and woody encroachment depict changes within a given land cover type rather than a conversion from one land cover type to another. This chapter describes the production of two standard MODIS land products used to document changes in global land cover. The Vegetative Cover Conversion (VCC) product is designed primarily to serve as a global alarm for areas where land cover change occurs rapidly (Zhan et al. 2000). The Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product is designed to continuously ­represent ground cover as a proportion of basic vegetation traits. Terra's launch in December 1999 afforded a new opportunity to observe the entire Earth every 1.2 days at 250-m spatial resolution. The MODIS instrument's appropriate spatial and ­temporal resolutions provide the opportunity to substantially improve the characterization of the land surface and changes occurring thereupon (Townshend et al. 1991).

Land-Use Conversion Changes the Multifractal Features of Particle-Size Distribution on the Loess Plateau of China

PubMed Central

Sun, Caili; Liu, Guobin; Xue, Sha

2016-01-01

Analyzing the dynamics of soil particle-size distributions (PSDs), soil nutrients, and erodibility are very important for understanding the changes of soil structure and quality after long-term land-use conversion. We applied multifractal Rényi spectra (Dq) and singularity spectra (f(α)) to characterize PSDs 35 years after conversions from cropland to shrubland with Caragana microphylla (shrubland I), shrubland with Hippophae rhamnoides (shrubland II), forested land, and grassland on the Loess Plateau of China. Multifractal parameters (capacity dimension (D0), entropy dimension (D1), D1/D0, correlation dimension (D2), and Hölder exponent of order zero (α0)) were used to analyze the changes of PSDs. Dq and f(α) characterized the PSDs well and sensitively represented the changes in PSDs after conversion. All types of land-use conversion significantly improved the properties of the topsoil (0–10 cm), but the effect of shrubland I and even forested land decreased with depth. All types of land-use conversion significantly increased D1 and D2 in the topsoil, and D1 and D2 in the 10–50 cm layers of shrubland II, forested land, and grassland and D1 in the 50–100 cm layers of shrubland II were significantly higher relative to the control. Both D1 and D2 were positively correlated with the contents of soil nutrients and fine particles and were negatively correlated with soil erosion, indicating that D1 and D2 were potential indices for quantifying changes in soil properties and erosion. In conclusion, all types of land-use conversion significantly improved the conditions of the topsoil, but conversion from cropland to shrubland II, forested land, and grassland, especially shrubland II and grassland, were more effective for improving soil conditions in deeper layers. PMID:27527201

Satellites monitor Atlanta regional development

USGS Publications Warehouse

Todd, William J.; Blackmon, C.C.; Rudasill, R.G.

1979-01-01

Since the adoption of a Regional Development Plan in 1975, the Atlanta Regional Commission has investigated methods for monitoring regional development patterns in a periodic, efficient manner. A promising approach appears to be the use of Landsat satellite data. In cooperation with the Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, the commission used machine processing of digital temporal overlays of Landsat data collected in 1972, 1974 and 1976 to detect land use and land cover changes in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Results of the analysis revealed the conversion of forested and open space areas to residential, commercial and industrial land use in the urban-rural fringe zone from 1972 to 1974 and from 1974 to 1976. The study indicated that a land use and land cover change-detection program may be used to revise small-area forecasts of land use, population and employment made by planning models.

Forest-land conversion, ecosystem services, and economic issues for policy: a review

Treesearch

Robert A. Smail; David J. Lewis

2009-01-01

The continued conversion and development of forest land pose a serious threat to the ecosystem services derived from forested landscapes. We argue that developing an understanding of the full range of consequences from forest conversion requires understanding the effects of such conversion on both components of ecosystem services: products and processes....

Land use change and conversion effects on ground water quality trends: An integration of land change modeler in GIS and a new Ground Water Quality Index developed by fuzzy multi-criteria group decision-making models.

PubMed

Shooshtarian, Mohammad Reza; Dehghani, Mansooreh; Margherita, Ferrante; Gea, Oliveri Conti; Mortezazadeh, Shima

2018-04-01

This study aggregated Land Change Modeller (LCM) as a useful model in GIS with an extended Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI) developed by fuzzy Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making models to investigate the effect of land use change and conversion on groundwater quality being supplied for drinking. The model's performance was examined through an applied study in Shiraz, Iran, in a five year period (2011 to 2015). Four land use maps including urban, industrial, garden, and bare were employed in LCM model and the impact of change in area and their conversion to each other on GWQI changes was analysed. The correlation analysis indicated that increase in the urban land use area and conversion of bare to the residential/industrial land uses, had a relation with water quality decrease. Integration of LCM and GWQI can accurately and logically provide a numerical analysis of the possible impact of land use change and conversion, as one of the influencing factors, on the groundwater quality. Hence, the methodology could be used in urban development planning and management in macro level. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Wetland Conservation Effects Assessment Project

Treesearch

Megan Lang; Greg McCarty; Mark Walbridge; Patrick Hunt; Tom Ducey; Clinton Church; Jarrod Miller; Laurel Kluber; Ali Sadeghi; Martin Rabenhorst; Amir Sharifi; In-Young Yeo; Andrew Baldwin; Margaret Palmer; Tom Fisher; Dan Fenstermaher; Sanchul Lee; Owen McDonough; Metthea Yepsen; Liza McFarland; Anne Gustafson; Rebecca Fox; Chris Palardy; William Effland; Mari-Vaughn Johnson; Judy Denver; Scott Ator; Joseph Mitchell; Dennis Whigham

2016-01-01

Wetlands impart many important ecosystem services, including maintenance of water quality, regulation of the climate and hydrological flows, and enhancement of biodiversity through the provision of food and habitat. The conversion of natural lands to agriculture has led to broad scale historic wetland loss, but current US Department of Agriculture conservation programs...

Prime agricultural land monitoring and assessment component of the California Integrated Remote Sensing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estes, J. E.; Tinney, L. R. (Principal Investigator); Streich, T.

1981-01-01

The use of digital LANDSAT techniques for monitoring agricultural land use conversions was studied. Two study areas were investigated: one in Ventura County and the other in Fresno County (California). Ventura test site investigations included the use of three dates of LANDSAT data to improve classification performance beyond that previously obtained using single data techniques. The 9% improvement is considered highly significant. Also developed and demonstrated using Ventura County data is an automated cluster labeling procedure, considered a useful example of vertical data integration. Fresno County results for a single data LANDSAT classification paralleled those found in Ventura, demonstrating that the urban/rural fringe zone of most interest is a difficult environment to classify using LANDSAT data. A general raster to vector conversion program was developed to allow LANDSAT classification products to be transferred to an operational county level geographic information system in Fresno.

Revealing Land Cover Change in California With Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potter, Christopher; Genovese, Vanessa; Gross, Peggy; Boriah, Shyam; Steinbach, Michael; Kumar, Vipin

2007-06-01

The conversion of natural land cover into human-dominated cover types continues to be a change of global proportions with many unknown environmental consequences. Noteworthy conversions of this type include tree stand harvests in forested regions, urbanization, and agricultural intensification in former woodland and natural grassland areas. Determining where, when, and why natural ecosystem conversions occur is a crucial scientific concern [Foley et al., 2005]. Characteristics of the land cover can have important impacts on local climate, radiation balance, biogeochemistry, hydrology and the diversity and abundance of terrestrial species [Randerson et al., 2006]. Consequently, understanding trends in land cover conversion at local scales is a requirement for making useful numerical predictions about other regional and global changes. It is urgent that accurate, timely, and economical tools be made available to document these conversions and aid in the management of their impacts.

Effects of Land-Use Conversion from Double Rice Cropping to Vegetables on Methane and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Southern China

PubMed Central

Yuan, Ye; Dai, Xiaoqin; Wang, Huimin; Xu, Ming; Fu, Xiaoli; Yang, Fengting

2016-01-01

Compared with CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are potent greenhouse gases in terms of their global warming potentials. Previous studies have indicated that land-use conversion has a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. However, little is known regarding the impact of converting rice (Oryza sativa L.) to vegetable fields, an increasing trend in land-use change in southern China, on CH4 and N2O fluxes. The effects of converting double rice cropping to vegetables on CH4 and N2O fluxes were examined using a static chamber method in southern China from July 2012 to July 2013. The results indicate that CH4 fluxes could reach 31.6 mg C m−2 h−1 under rice before land conversion. The cumulative CH4 emissions for fertilized and unfertilized rice were 348.9 and 321.0 kg C ha−1 yr−1, respectively. After the land conversion, the cumulative CH4 emissions were −0.4 and 1.4 kg C ha−1 yr−1 for the fertilized and unfertilized vegetable fields, respectively. Similarly, the cumulative N2O fluxes under rice were 1.27 and 0.56 kg N ha−1 yr−1 for the fertilized and unfertilized treatments before the land conversion and 19.2 and 8.5 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively, after the land conversion. By combining the global warming potentials (GWPs) of both gases, the overall land-use conversion effect was minor (P = 0.36) with fertilization, but the conversion reduced GWP by 63% when rice and vegetables were not fertilized. Increase in CH4 emissions increased GWP under rice compared with vegetables with non-fertilization, but increased N2O emissions compensated for similar GWPs with fertilization under rice and vegetables. PMID:27195497

Effects of Land-Use Conversion from Double Rice Cropping to Vegetables on Methane and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Southern China.

PubMed

Yuan, Ye; Dai, Xiaoqin; Wang, Huimin; Xu, Ming; Fu, Xiaoli; Yang, Fengting

2016-01-01

Compared with CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are potent greenhouse gases in terms of their global warming potentials. Previous studies have indicated that land-use conversion has a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. However, little is known regarding the impact of converting rice (Oryza sativa L.) to vegetable fields, an increasing trend in land-use change in southern China, on CH4 and N2O fluxes. The effects of converting double rice cropping to vegetables on CH4 and N2O fluxes were examined using a static chamber method in southern China from July 2012 to July 2013. The results indicate that CH4 fluxes could reach 31.6 mg C m-2 h-1 under rice before land conversion. The cumulative CH4 emissions for fertilized and unfertilized rice were 348.9 and 321.0 kg C ha-1 yr-1, respectively. After the land conversion, the cumulative CH4 emissions were -0.4 and 1.4 kg C ha-1 yr-1 for the fertilized and unfertilized vegetable fields, respectively. Similarly, the cumulative N2O fluxes under rice were 1.27 and 0.56 kg N ha-1 yr-1 for the fertilized and unfertilized treatments before the land conversion and 19.2 and 8.5 kg N ha-1 yr-1, respectively, after the land conversion. By combining the global warming potentials (GWPs) of both gases, the overall land-use conversion effect was minor (P = 0.36) with fertilization, but the conversion reduced GWP by 63% when rice and vegetables were not fertilized. Increase in CH4 emissions increased GWP under rice compared with vegetables with non-fertilization, but increased N2O emissions compensated for similar GWPs with fertilization under rice and vegetables.

Practicalities of methodologies in monitoring morest degradation in the tropics

Treesearch

Yoshiyuki Kiyono

2013-01-01

Conversion of natural forest to agricultural land is one of the most important forms of land-use change affecting both carbon stock and biodiversity. When the agricultural land contains trees, e.g. fallow-land forest of slash-and-burn agriculture, the conversion can be categorized into forest degradation when the forest definition covers such vegetation. One practical...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hellwinckel, Chad; Clark, Christopher; Langholtz, Matthew

We used a socioeconomic model to estimate the land-use implications on the U.S. Conservation Reserve Program from potential increases in second-generation biofuel production. A baseline scenario with no second-generation biofuel production is compared to a scenario where the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) volumes are met by 2022. We allow for the possibility of converting expiring CRP lands to alternative uses such as conventional crops, dedicated second-generation biofuel crops, or harvesting existing CRP grasses for biomass. Our results indicate that RFS2 volumes (RFS2-v) can be met primarily with crop residues (78% of feedstock demand) and woody residues (19% of feedstock demand)more » compared with dedicated biomass (3% of feedstock demand), with only minimal conversion of cropland (0.27 million hectares, <1% of total cropland), pastureland (0.28 million hectares of pastureland, <1% of total pastureland), and CRP lands (0.29 million hectares of CRP lands, 3% of existing CRP lands) to biomass production. Meeting RFS2 volumes would reduce CRP re-enrollment by 0.19 million hectares, or 4%, below the baseline scenario where RFS2 is not met. Yet under RFS2-v scenario, expiring CRP lands are more likely to be converted to or maintain perennial cover, with 1.78 million hectares of CRP lands converting to hay production, and 0.29 million hectares being harvested for existing grasses. A small amount of CRP is harvested for existing biomass, but no conversion of CRP to dedicated biomass crops, such as switchgrass, are projected to occur. Although less land is enrolled in CRP under RFS2-v scenario, total land in perennial cover increases by 0.15 million hectares, or 2%, under RFS2-v. Sensitivity to yield, payment and residue retention assumptions are evaluated.« less

Soil respiration and carbon loss relationship with temperature and land use conversion in freeze-thaw agricultural area.

PubMed

Ouyang, Wei; Lai, Xuehui; Li, Xia; Liu, Heying; Lin, Chunye; Hao, Fanghua

2015-11-15

Soil respiration (Rs) was hypothesized to have a special response pattern to soil temperature and land use conversion in the freeze-thaw area. The Rs differences of eight types of land use conversions during agricultural development were observed and the impacts of Rs on soil organic carbon (SOC) loss were assessed. The land use conversions during last three decades were categorized into eight types, and the 141 SOC sampling sites were grouped by conversion type. The typical soil sampling sites were subsequently selected for monitoring of soil temperature and Rs of each land use conversion types. The Rs correlations with temperature at difference depths and different conversion types were identified with statistical analysis. The empirical mean error model and the biophysical theoretical model with Arrhenius equation about the Rs sensitivity to temperature were both analyzed and shared the similar patterns. The temperature dependence of soil respiration (Q10) analysis further demonstrated that the averaged value of eight types of land use in this freeze-thaw agricultural area ranged from 1.15 to 1.73, which was lower than the other cold areas. The temperature dependence analysis demonstrated that the Rs in the top layer of natural land covers was more sensitive to temperature and experienced a large vertical difference. The natural land covers exhibited smaller Rs and the farmlands had the bigger value due to tillage practices. The positive relationships between SOC loss and Rs were identified, which demonstrated that Rs was the key chain for SOC loss during land use conversion. The spatial-vertical distributions of SOC concentration with the 1.5-km grid sampling showed that the more SOC loss in the farmland, which was coincided with the higher Rs in farmlands. The analysis of Rs dynamics provided an innovative explanation for SOC loss in the freeze-thaw agricultural area. The analysis of Rs dynamics provided an innovative explanation for SOC loss in the freeze-thaw agricultural area. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Conservation Reserve Program effects on floodplain land cover management.

PubMed

Jobe, Addison; Kalra, Ajay; Ibendahl, Elise

2018-05-15

Growing populations and industrialized agriculture practices have eradicated much of the United States wetlands along river floodplains. One program available for the restoration of floodplains is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The current research explores the effects CRP land change has on flooding zones, utilizing Flood Modeller and HEC-RAS. Flood Modeller is proven a viable tool for flood modeling within the United States when compared to HEC-RAS. Application of the software is used in the Nodaway River system located in the western halves of Iowa and Missouri to model effects of introducing new forest areas within the region. Flood stage during the conversion first decreases in the early years, before rising to produce greater heights. Flow velocities where CRP land is present are reduced for long-term scopes. Velocity reduction occurs as the Manning's roughness increases due to tree diameter and brush density. Flood zones become more widespread with the implementation of CRP. Future model implementations are recommended to witness the effects of smaller flood recurrence intervals. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental impact of converting Conservation Reserve Program land to perennial bioenergy crops in Illinois.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanc-Betes, E.; Hudiburg, T. W.; Khanna, M.; DeLucia, E. H.

2017-12-01

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels by the 20% by 2022 mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act would require 35 billion Ga of ethanol and the loss of 9 to 12 Mha of food producing land to biofuel production, challenging our ability to develop a sustainable bioenergy source while meeting the food demands of a growing population. There are currently 8.5 Mha of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a US government funded program to incentivize the retirement of environmentally sensitive cropland out of conventional crop production. About 63% of CRP land area could potentially be converted to energy crops, contributing to biofuel targets without displacing food. With high yields and low fertilization and irrigation requirements, perennial cellulosic crops (e.g. switchgrass and Miscanthus) not only would reduce land requirements by up to 15% compared to prairies or corn-based biofuel, but also serve other conservation goals such as C sequestration in soils, and water and air quality improvement. Here, we use the DayCent biogeochemical model to assess the potential of CRP land conversion to switchgrass or Miscanthus to provide a sustainable source of biofuel, reduce GHG emissions and increase soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in the area of Illinois, which at present contributes to 10% of the biofuel production in the US. Model simulations indicate that the replacement of traditional corn-soy rotation with CRP reduces GHG emissions by 3.3 Mg CO2-eq ha-1 y-1 and increases SOC storage at a rate of 0.5 Mg C ha-1 y-1. Conversion of CRP land to cellulosic perennials would further reduce GHG emissions by 1.1 Mg CO2-eq ha-1 y-1 for switchgrass and 6.2 Mg CO2-eq ha-1 y-1 for Miscanthus, and increase C sequestration in soils (1.7 Tg C for switchgrass and 7.7 Tg C for Miscanthus in 30 years). Cellulosic energy crops would increase average annual yields by approximately 5.6 Mg ha-1 for switchgrass and 13.6 Mg ha-1 for Miscanthus, potentially producing 78 and 188 million Ga of bioethanol annually, respectively. This represents an increase of 5% and 12% in the Illinois annual biofuel production, displacing up to 4% of current fossil fuel consumption in the state of Illinois without detriment for food production.

Simulating the conversion of rural settlements to town land based on multi-agent systems and cellular automata.

PubMed

Liu, Yaolin; Kong, Xuesong; Liu, Yanfang; Chen, Yiyun

2013-01-01

Rapid urbanization in China has triggered the conversion of land from rural to urban use, particularly the conversion of rural settlements to town land. This conversion is the result of the joint effects of the geographic environment and agents involving the government, investors, and farmers. To understand the dynamic interaction dominated by agents and to predict the future landscape of town expansion, a small town land-planning model is proposed based on the integration of multi-agent systems (MAS) and cellular automata (CA). The MAS-CA model links the decision-making behaviors of agents with the neighbor effect of CA. The interaction rules are projected by analyzing the preference conflicts among agents. To better illustrate the effects of the geographic environment, neighborhood, and agent behavior, a comparative analysis between the CA and MAS-CA models in three different towns is presented, revealing interesting patterns in terms of quantity, spatial characteristics, and the coordinating process. The simulation of rural settlements conversion to town land through modeling agent decision and human-environment interaction is very useful for understanding the mechanisms of rural-urban land-use change in developing countries. This process can assist town planners in formulating appropriate development plans.

Influences of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development.

PubMed

Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

2015-01-01

Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management.

Influences of Different Land Use Spatial Control Schemes on Farmland Conversion and Urban Development

PubMed Central

Zhou, Min; Tan, Shukui; Zhang, Lu

2015-01-01

Land use planning is always officially implemented as an effective tool to control urban development and protect farmland. However, its impact on land use change remains untested in China. Using a case study of Hang-Jia-Hu region, the main objective of this paper was to investigate the influence of different land use spatial control schemes on farmland conversion and urban development. Comparisons of farmland conversion and urban development patterns between the urban planning area and the non-urban planning area were characterized by using remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics. Results indicated that farmland conversion in the non-urban planning area was more intensive than that in the urban planning area, and that farmland patterns was more fragmented in the non-urban planning area. Built-up land patterns in the non-urban planning area showed a trend of aggregation, while those in the urban planning area had a dual trend of fragmentation and aggregation. Existing built-up areas had less influence on built-up land sprawl in the non-urban planning area than that in the urban planning area. Built-up land sprawl in the form of continuous development in the urban planning area led to farmland conversion; and in the non-urban planning area, built-up land sprawl in the form of leapfrogging development resulted in farmland areal declines and fragmentation. We argued that it is a basic requirement to integrate land use plans in urban and non-urban planning areas for land use planning and management. PMID:25915897

A methodology for determining operational priorities for prevention and suppression of wildland fires

Treesearch

F. Rodríguez y Silva; J.R. Molina Martínez; Armando González-Cabán

2014-01-01

Traditional uses of the forest (timber, forage) have been giving way to other uses more in demand (recreation, ecosystem services). An observable consequence of this process of forest land use conversion is an increase in more difficult and extreme wildfires. Wildland forest management and protection program budgets are limited, and managers are requesting help in...

ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE LARGE-SCALE BIOSPHERE–ATMOSPHERE EXPERIMENT IN AMAZONIA: EARLY RESULTS.

Treesearch

M. Keller; A. Alencar; G. P. Asner; B. Braswell; M. Bustamente; E. Davidson; T. Feldpausch; E. Fern ndes; M. Goulden; P. Kabat; B. Kruijt; F. Luizao; S. Miller; D. Markewitz; A. D. Nobre; C. A. Nobre; N. Priante Filho; H. Rocha; P. Silva Dias; C von Randow; G. L. Vourlitis

2004-01-01

The Large-scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) is a multinational, interdisciplinary research program led by Brazil. Ecological studies in LBA focus on how tropical forest conversion, regrowth, and selective logging influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes, and the prospect for sustainable land use in the Amazon region. Early...

Land use legacy effects on structure and composition of subtropical dry forests in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Treesearch

Emily E. Atkinson; Erika Marín-Spiotta

2015-01-01

Tropical dry forests are subject to intense human pressure and land change, including conversion to agricultural crops, pasture or agroforestry, and urban encroachment. Decades, and even centuries, of conversion, expansion, regrowth, and changing land-use practices can result in a mosaic of secondary growth patches with different land-use histories. Whereas post-...

Carbon benefits from protected areas in the conterminous United States

Treesearch

Daolan Zheng; Linda S. Heath; Mark J. Ducey

2013-01-01

Conversion of forests to other land cover or land use releases the carbon stored in the forests and reduces carbon sequestration potential of the land. The rate of forest conversion could be reduced by establishing protected areas for biological diversity and other conservation goals. The purpose of this study is to quantify the efficiency and potential of forest land...

Land-use threats and protected areas: a scenario-based, landscape level approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara S.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sleeter, Rachel R.; Soulard, Christopher E.

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic land use will likely present a greater challenge to biodiversity than climate change this century in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Even if species are equipped with the adaptive capacity to migrate in the face of a changing climate, they will likely encounter a human-dominated landscape as a major dispersal obstacle. Our goal was to identify, at the ecoregion-level, protected areas in close proximity to lands with a higher likelihood of future land-use conversion. Using a state-and-transition simulation model, we modeled spatially explicit (1 km2) land use from 2000 to 2100 under seven alternative land-use and emission scenarios for ecoregions in the Pacific Northwest. We analyzed scenario-based land-use conversion threats from logging, agriculture, and development near existing protected areas. A conversion threat index (CTI) was created to identify ecoregions with highest projected land-use conversion potential within closest proximity to existing protected areas. Our analysis indicated nearly 22% of land area in the Coast Range, over 16% of land area in the Puget Lowland, and nearly 11% of the Cascades had very high CTI values. Broader regional-scale land-use change is projected to impact nearly 40% of the Coast Range, 30% of the Puget Lowland, and 24% of the Cascades (i.e., two highest CTI classes). A landscape level, scenario-based approach to modeling future land use helps identify ecoregions with existing protected areas at greater risk from regional land-use threats and can help prioritize future conservation efforts.

A high-resolution and harmonized model approach for reconstructing and analyzing historic land changes in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, R.; Herold, M.; Verburg, P. H.; Clevers, J. G. P. W.

2012-10-01

Currently, up to 30% of global carbon emission is estimated to originate from land use and land changes. Existing historic land change reconstructions on the European scale do not sufficiently meet the requirements of greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate assessments, due to insufficient spatial and thematic detail and the consideration of various land change types. This paper investigates if the combination of different data sources, more detailed modeling techniques and the integration of land conversion types allow us to create accurate, high resolution historic land change data for Europe suited for the needs of GHG and climate assessments. We validated our reconstruction with historic aerial photographs from 1950 and 1990 for 73 sample sites across Europe and compared it with other land reconstructions like Klein Goldewijk et al. (2010, 2011), Ramankutty and Foley (1999), Pongratz et al. (2008) and Hurtt et al. (2006). The results indicate that almost 700 000 km2 (15.5%) of land cover in Europe changes over the period 1950 to 2010, an area similar to France. In Southern Europe the relative amount was almost 3.5% higher than average (19%). Based on the results the specific types of conversion, hot-spots of change and their relation to political decisions and socio-economic transitions were studied. The analysis indicate that the main drivers of land change over the studied period were urbanization, the reforestation program after the timber shortage since the Second World War, the fall of the Iron Curtain, Common Agricultural Policy and accompanying afforestation actions of the EU. Compared to existing land cover reconstructions, the new method takes stock of the harmonization of different datasets by achieving a high spatial resolution and regional detail with a full coverage of different land categories. These characteristic allow the data to be used to support and improve ongoing GHG inventories and climate research.

Simulation of Runoff Changes Caused by Cropland to Forest Conversion in the Upper Yangtze River Region, SW China

PubMed Central

Yu, Pengtao; Wang, Yanhui; Coles, Neil; Xiong, Wei; Xu, Lihong

2015-01-01

The "Grain for Green Project" is a country-wide ecological program to converse marginal cropland to forest, which has been implemented in China since 2002. To quantify influence of this significant vegetation change, Guansihe Hydrological (GSH) Model, a validated physically-based distributed hydrological model, was applied to simulate runoff responses to land use change in the Guansihe watershed that is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River basin in Southwestern China with an area of only 21.1 km2. Runoff responses to two single rainfall events, 90 mm and 206 mm respectively, were simulated for 16 scenarios of cropland to forest conversion. The model simulations indicated that the total runoff generated after conversion to forest was strongly dependent on whether the land was initially used for dry croplands without standing water in fields or constructed (or walled) paddy fields. The simulated total runoff generated from the two rainfall events displayed limited variation for the conversion of dry croplands to forest, while it strongly decreased after paddy fields were converted to forest. The effect of paddy terraces on runoff generation was dependent on the rainfall characteristics and antecedent moisture (or saturation) conditions in the fields. The reduction in simulated runoff generated from intense rainfall events suggested that afforestation and terracing might be effective in managing runoff and had the potential to mitigate flooding in southwestern China. PMID:26192181

Agricultural conversion reduces biospheric vegetation productivity in the absence of external inputs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, W. K.; Cleveland, C. C.; Reed, S.; Running, S. W.

2013-12-01

Increasing global population, energy demand, and standard of living has driven humanity to co-opt a growing share of the planet's natural resources resulting in many well-known environmental trade-offs. Here, we explored the impact of global-scale agricultural production on a basic resource fundamental to life on Earth: global terrestrial vegetation growth (net primary production; NPP). First, we compared current rates of agricultural NPP - derived from crop-specific agricultural statistics - with rates of natural NPP - derived from satellite measurements. Next, we disaggregated our results by climate zone, conversion type, crop type, management intensity, and region to identify where agricultural conversion has driven significant degradation of biospheric NPP. At the global-scale, our data indicate that agricultural conversion has resulted in a ~7% reduction in biospheric NPP (ΔNPP), although the impact varied widely at the pixel level. Positive ΔNPP values, signifying an increase in NPP due to agricultural conversion, occurred only in areas receiving significant external water and nutrient inputs (i.e., intensively managed areas). Conversely, negative ΔNPP values, signifying a reduction in NPP due to agricultural conversion, occurred over ~90% of agricultural lands globally, with the largest reductions in areas formerly occupied by tropical forests and savannas (71% and 66% reductions in NPP, respectively). Without new global-scale policies that explicitly consider changes in NPP due to land cover conversion, future demand-driven increases in agricultural output - likely dependent on some level of expansion into natural ecosystems - could continue to drive net declines in biospheric NPP, with potential detrimental consequences for global carbon storage. A spatially explicit estimate of the effect of agricultural land cover conversion on natural primary production for 20 staple crops. ΔNPP was estimated independently for a) irrigated, b) high input, c) low input, and d) subsistence management intensities. All remaining vegetated land is represented in grey, while barren land is represented in white. Globally, agricultural land cover conversion has reduced natural primary production by 3.0 × 0.68 Pg C y-1 (i.e., a ~7% reduction in biospheric NPP), with a disproportionately large percentage of this reduction attributable to the conversion of temperate (~44%) and tropical (~50%) ecosystems.

Electrofuels: A New Paradigm for Renewable Fuels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Conrado, Robert J.; Haynes, Chad A.; Haendler, Brenda E.

2013-01-01

Biofuels are by now a well-established component of the liquid fuels market and will continue to grow in importance for both economic and environmental reasons. To date, all commercial approaches to biofuels involve photosynthetic capture of solar radiation and conversion to reduced carbon; however, the low efficiency inherent to photosynthetic systems presents significant challenges to scaling. In 2009, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) created the Electrofuels program to explore the potential of nonphotosynthetic autotrophic organisms for the conversion of durable forms of energy to energy-dense, infrastructure-compatible liquid fuels. The Electrofuels approach expands the boundariesmore » of traditional biofuels and could offer dramatically higher conversion efficiencies while providing significant reductions in requirements for both arable land and water relative to photosynthetic approaches. The projects funded under the Electrofuels program tap the enormous and largely unexplored diversity of the natural world, and may offer routes to advanced biofuels that are significantly more efficient, scalable and feedstock-flexible than routes based on photosynthesis. Here, we describe the rationale for the creation of the Electrofuels program, and outline the challenges and opportunities afforded by chemolithoautotrophic approaches to liquid fuels.« less

Simulating the Conversion of Rural Settlements to Town Land Based on Multi-Agent Systems and Cellular Automata

PubMed Central

Liu, Yaolin; Kong, Xuesong; Liu, Yanfang; Chen, Yiyun

2013-01-01

Rapid urbanization in China has triggered the conversion of land from rural to urban use, particularly the conversion of rural settlements to town land. This conversion is the result of the joint effects of the geographic environment and agents involving the government, investors, and farmers. To understand the dynamic interaction dominated by agents and to predict the future landscape of town expansion, a small town land-planning model is proposed based on the integration of multi-agent systems (MAS) and cellular automata (CA). The MAS-CA model links the decision-making behaviors of agents with the neighbor effect of CA. The interaction rules are projected by analyzing the preference conflicts among agents. To better illustrate the effects of the geographic environment, neighborhood, and agent behavior, a comparative analysis between the CA and MAS-CA models in three different towns is presented, revealing interesting patterns in terms of quantity, spatial characteristics, and the coordinating process. The simulation of rural settlements conversion to town land through modeling agent decision and human-environment interaction is very useful for understanding the mechanisms of rural-urban land-use change in developing countries. This process can assist town planners in formulating appropriate development plans. PMID:24244472

A high-resolution and harmonized model approach for reconstructing and analysing historic land changes in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, R.; Herold, M.; Verburg, P. H.; Clevers, J. G. P. W.

2013-03-01

Human-induced land use changes are nowadays the second largest contributor to atmospheric carbon dioxide after fossil fuel combustion. Existing historic land change reconstructions on the European scale do not sufficiently meet the requirements of greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate assessments, due to insufficient spatial and thematic detail and the consideration of various land change types. This paper investigates if the combination of different data sources, more detailed modelling techniques, and the integration of land conversion types allow us to create accurate, high-resolution historic land change data for Europe suited for the needs of GHG and climate assessments. We validated our reconstruction with historic aerial photographs from 1950 and 1990 for 73 sample sites across Europe and compared it with other land reconstructions like Klein Goldewijk et al. (2010, 2011), Ramankutty and Foley (1999), Pongratz et al. (2008) and Hurtt et al. (2006). The results indicate that almost 700 000 km2 (15.5%) of land cover in Europe has changed over the period 1950-2010, an area similar to France. In Southern Europe the relative amount was almost 3.5% higher than average (19%). Based on the results the specific types of conversion, hot-spots of change and their relation to political decisions and socio-economic transitions were studied. The analysis indicates that the main drivers of land change over the studied period were urbanization, the reforestation program resulting from the timber shortage after the Second World War, the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Common Agricultural Policy and accompanying afforestation actions of the EU. Compared to existing land cover reconstructions, the new method considers the harmonization of different datasets by achieving a high spatial resolution and regional detail with a full coverage of different land categories. These characteristics allow the data to be used to support and improve ongoing GHG inventories and climate research.

Conversion of grazed pastures to energy cane as a biofuel feedstock alters seasonal soil GHG fluxes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Changes in land use can profoundly affect the climate through variations in the emission of soil GHG. Global demands for biofuel feedstock is accelerating land use change by prompting the conversion of marginal land and managed ecosystems to highly productive second-generation bioenergy crops such a...

Conversions of forest land: trends, determinants, projections, and policy considerations

Treesearch

Ralph Alig; Susan Stewart; David Wear; David Nowak

2010-01-01

Forest land conversion leads to ecological effects (e.g., changes in water quality and wildlife habitat) and socioeconomic effects (e.g., expanding urban-forest interface, reduced long-term timber production possibilities and loss of open space). Socioeconomic drivers of land use change such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially...

36 CFR 72.36 - Land ownership, control and conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Land ownership, control and..., Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.36 Land ownership, control and conversion. Section 1010 of the Act provides...-grantee must demonstrate, at the time of grant approval, that it has adequate tenure and control of the...

36 CFR 72.36 - Land ownership, control and conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Land ownership, control and..., Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.36 Land ownership, control and conversion. Section 1010 of the Act provides...-grantee must demonstrate, at the time of grant approval, that it has adequate tenure and control of the...

36 CFR 72.36 - Land ownership, control and conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Land ownership, control and..., Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.36 Land ownership, control and conversion. Section 1010 of the Act provides...-grantee must demonstrate, at the time of grant approval, that it has adequate tenure and control of the...

36 CFR 72.36 - Land ownership, control and conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Land ownership, control and..., Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.36 Land ownership, control and conversion. Section 1010 of the Act provides...-grantee must demonstrate, at the time of grant approval, that it has adequate tenure and control of the...

36 CFR 72.36 - Land ownership, control and conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Land ownership, control and..., Rehabilitation and Innovation § 72.36 Land ownership, control and conversion. Section 1010 of the Act provides...-grantee must demonstrate, at the time of grant approval, that it has adequate tenure and control of the...

The driving forces of land change in the Northern Piedmont of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Auch, Roger F.; Napton, Darrell E.; Kambly, Steven; Moreland, Thomas R.; Sayler, Kristi L.

2012-01-01

Driving forces facilitate or inhibit land-use/land-cover change. Human driving forces include political, economic, cultural, and social attributes that often change across time and space. Remotely sensed imagery provides regional land-change data for the Northern Piedmont, an ecoregion of the United States that continued to urbanize after 1970 through conversion of agricultural and forest land covers to developed uses. Eight major driving forces facilitated most of the land conversion; other drivers inhibited or slowed change. A synergistic web of drivers may be more important in understanding land change than individual drivers by themselves.

Factors Influencing Farmers' Willingness to Participate in the Conversion of Cultivated Land to Wetland Program in Sanjiang National Nature Reserve, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chunli; Robinson, Daniel; Wang, Jing; Liu, Jibin; Liu, Xiaohui; Tong, Lianjun

2011-01-01

Sanjiang National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a state-owned natural wetland in China that has suffered severe degradation due to cultivation and wetland reclamation by farmers. As a consequence, the conversion of cultivated land to wetlands (CCW) was proposed by the government of Heilongjiang province and the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) project team in 2007. We suggest that voluntary participation in the CCW could be an important tool for accomplishing the integrated objectives of wetland conservation and local development. The purpose of this study was to examine the main factors that influence farmers' willingness to participate in the CCW through a field investigation and a questionnaire. Based on the data from our questionnaire, which provided an effective sample of 310 households in 11 villages, the influencing factors of farmers' willingness to participate were analyzed through binary logistic regression analyses. It was concluded that age, education, the amount of cultivated land, geographical location, and the perceived benefits and risks were important factors for participation. Furthermore, suggestions for improving the wetland compensation system and providing alternative livelihoods are proposed to strengthen participation.

Satellite and earth science data management activities at the U.S. geological survey's EROS data center

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carneggie, David M.; Metz, Gary G.; Draeger, William C.; Thompson, Ralph J.

1991-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, the national archive for Landsat data, has 20 years of experience in acquiring, archiving, processing, and distributing Landsat and earth science data. The Center is expanding its satellite and earth science data management activities to support the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Program. The Center's current and future data management activities focus on land data and include: satellite and earth science data set acquisition, development and archiving; data set preservation, maintenance and conversion to more durable and accessible archive medium; development of an advanced Land Data Information System; development of enhanced data packaging and distribution mechanisms; and data processing, reprocessing, and product generation systems.

Consequences of buffelgrass pasture development for primary productivity, perennial plant richness, and vegetation structure in the drylands of Sonora, Mexico.

PubMed

Franklin, Kimberly; Molina-Freaner, Francisco

2010-12-01

In large parts of northern Mexico native plant communities are being converted to non-native buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) pastures, and this conversion could fundamentally alter primary productivity and species richness. In Sonora, Mexico land conversion is occurring at a regional scale along a rainfall-driven gradient of primary productivity, across which native plant communities transition from desert scrub to thorn scrub. We used a paired sampling design to compare a satellite-derived index of primary productivity, richness of perennial plant species, and canopy-height profiles of native plant communities with buffelgrass pastures. We sampled species richness across a gradient of primary productivity in desert scrub and thorn scrub vegetation to examine the influence of site productivity on the outcomes of land conversion. We also examined the influence of pasture age on species richness of perennial plants. Index values of primary productivity were lower in buffelgrass pastures than in native vegetation, which suggests a reduction in primary productivity. Land conversion reduced species richness by approximately 50% at local and regional scales, reduced tree and shrub cover by 78%, and reduced canopy height. Land conversion disproportionately reduced shrub species richness, which reflects the common practice among Sonoran ranchers of conserving certain tree and cactus species. Site productivity did not affect the outcomes of land conversion. The age of a buffelgrass pasture was unrelated to species richness within the pasture, which suggests that passive recovery of species richness to preconversion levels is unlikely. Our findings demonstrate that land conversion can result in large losses of plant species richness at local and regional scales and in substantial changes to primary productivity and vegetation structure, which casts doubt on the feasibility of restoring native plant communities without active intervention on the part of land managers. © 2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

Implications of land-use change on forest carbon stocks in the eastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puhlick, Joshua; Woodall, Christopher; Weiskittel, Aaron

2017-02-01

Given the substantial role that forests play in removing CO2 from the atmosphere, there has been a growing need to evaluate the carbon (C) implications of various forest management and land-use decisions. Although assessment of land-use change is central to national-level greenhouse gas monitoring guidelines, it is rarely incorporated into forest stand-level evaluations of C dynamics and trajectories. To better inform the assessment of forest stand C dynamics in the context of potential land-use change, we used a region-wide repeated forest inventory (n = 71 444 plots) across the eastern United States to assess forest land-use conversion and associated changes in forest C stocks. Specifically, the probability of forest area reduction between 2002-2006 and 2007-2012 on these plots was related to key driving factors such as proportion of the landscape in forest land use, distance to roads, and initial forest C. Additional factors influencing the actual reduction in forest area were then used to assess the risk of forest land-use conversion to agriculture, settlement, and water. Plots in forests along the Great Plains had the highest periodic (approximately 5 years) probability of land-use change (0.160 ± 0.075; mean ± SD) with forest conversion to agricultural uses accounting for 70.5% of the observed land-use change. Aboveground forest C stock change for plots with a reduction in forest area was -4.2 ± 17.7 Mg ha-1 (mean ± SD). The finding that poorly stocked stands and/or those with small diameter trees had the highest probability of conversion to non-forest land uses suggests that forest management strategies can maintain the US terrestrial C sink not only in terms of increased net forest growth but also retention of forest area to avoid conversion. This study highlights the importance of considering land-use change in planning and policy decisions that seek to maintain or enhance regional C sinks.

Natural Resource Information System. Volume 2: System operating procedures and instructions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

A total computer software system description is provided for the prototype Natural Resource Information System designed to store, process, and display data of maximum usefulness to land management decision making. Program modules are described, as are the computer file design, file updating methods, digitizing process, and paper tape conversion to magnetic tape. Operating instructions for the system, data output, printed output, and graphic output are also discussed.

Rural Household Preferences for Active Participation in “Payment for Ecosystem Service” Programs: A Case in the Miyun Reservoir Catchment, China

PubMed Central

Jiang, Xuemei; Zhang, Kebin; Yang, Xiaohui

2017-01-01

Many payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs, such as the Slope Land Conversion Program (SLCP), are passive and require full participation by impacted households. In contrast, this study considers the alternative of “active and incomplete” participation in PES programs, in which participants are not obliged to contract their own land, and have the right to select into the program or not. This type of program has been popular over the last decade in China; however, there have been few studies on the characteristics of willingness to participate and implementation. As such, this paper uses the Choice Experiment (CE) method to explore ways for inducing effective program participation, by analyzing the effects of different regime attributes. The case study used to analyze participation utility was the Jing-Ji Afforestation Program for Ecological and Water Protection (JAPEWP), a typical active-participation forestry PES program, and a key source of water near Beijing in the Miyun Reservoir Catchment (MRC). Analyzing rural household survey data indicated that the program faces a variety of challenges, including long-term maintenance, implementation performance, cost-effectiveness, and monitoring approaches. There are also challenges with one-size-fits-all payment strategies, due to ineffective program participation or imperfect implementation regimes. In response, this study proposes several policies, including providing secure and complete land tenure to the participants, creating more local off-farm employment opportunities, designing performance-based monitoring systems that are integrated with financial incentives, applying differentiated payment strategies, providing capacity building to support forestation activities, and establishing a comprehensive implementation regime that would address these challenges. These policy conclusions provide valuable lessons for other active-participation PES programs as well. PMID:28046106

Rural Household Preferences for Active Participation in "Payment for Ecosystem Service" Programs: A Case in the Miyun Reservoir Catchment, China.

PubMed

Li, Hao; Bennett, Michael T; Jiang, Xuemei; Zhang, Kebin; Yang, Xiaohui

2017-01-01

Many payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs, such as the Slope Land Conversion Program (SLCP), are passive and require full participation by impacted households. In contrast, this study considers the alternative of "active and incomplete" participation in PES programs, in which participants are not obliged to contract their own land, and have the right to select into the program or not. This type of program has been popular over the last decade in China; however, there have been few studies on the characteristics of willingness to participate and implementation. As such, this paper uses the Choice Experiment (CE) method to explore ways for inducing effective program participation, by analyzing the effects of different regime attributes. The case study used to analyze participation utility was the Jing-Ji Afforestation Program for Ecological and Water Protection (JAPEWP), a typical active-participation forestry PES program, and a key source of water near Beijing in the Miyun Reservoir Catchment (MRC). Analyzing rural household survey data indicated that the program faces a variety of challenges, including long-term maintenance, implementation performance, cost-effectiveness, and monitoring approaches. There are also challenges with one-size-fits-all payment strategies, due to ineffective program participation or imperfect implementation regimes. In response, this study proposes several policies, including providing secure and complete land tenure to the participants, creating more local off-farm employment opportunities, designing performance-based monitoring systems that are integrated with financial incentives, applying differentiated payment strategies, providing capacity building to support forestation activities, and establishing a comprehensive implementation regime that would address these challenges. These policy conclusions provide valuable lessons for other active-participation PES programs as well.

Land Change Trends in the Great Plains: Linkages to Climate Variability and Socioeconomic Drivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drummond, M. A.

2009-12-01

Land use and land cover change have complex linkages to climate variability and change, socioeconomic driving forces, and land management challenges. To assess these land change dynamics and their driving forces in the Great Plains, we compare and contrast contemporary land conversion across seventeen ecoregions using Landsat remote sensing data and statistical analysis. Large area change analysis in agricultural regions is often hampered by the potential for substantial change detection error and the tendency for land conversions to occur in relatively small patches at the local level. To facilitate a regional scale analysis, a statistical sampling design of randomly selected 10-km by 10-km blocks is used in order to efficiently identify the types and rates of land conversions for four time periods between 1972 and 2000, stratified by relatively homogenous ecoregions. Results show a range of rates and processes of land change that vary by ecoregion contingent on the prevailing interactions between socioeconomic and environmental factors such as climate variability, water availability, and land quality. Ecoregions have differential climate and biophysical advantages for agricultural production and other land use change. Human actions further strengthen or dampen the characteristics of change through farm policy, technological advances, economic opportunities, population and demographic shifts, and surface and groundwater irrigation.

Modeling effects of conservation grassland losses on amphibian habitat

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mushet, David M.; Neau, Jordan L.; Euliss, Ned H.

2014-01-01

Amphibians provide many ecosystem services valued by society. However, populations have declined globally with most declines linked to habitat change. Wetlands and surrounding terrestrial grasslands form habitat for amphibians in the North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). Wetland drainage and grassland conversion have destroyed or degraded much amphibian habitat in the PPR. However, conservation grasslands can provide alternate habitat. In the United States, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest program maintaining grasslands on agricultural lands. We used an ecosystem services model (InVEST) parameterized for the PPR to quantify amphibian habitat over a six-year period (2007–2012). We then quantified changes in availability of amphibian habitat under various land-cover scenarios representing incremental losses (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) of CRP grasslands from 2012 levels. The area of optimal amphibian habitat in the four PPR ecoregions modeled (i.e., Northern Glaciated Plains, Northwestern Glaciated Plains, Lake Agassiz Plain, Des Moines Lobe) declined by approximately 22%, from 3.8 million ha in 2007 to 2.9 million ha in 2012. These losses were driven by the conversion of CRP grasslands to croplands, primarily for corn and soybean production. Our modeling identified an additional 0.8 million ha (26%) of optimal amphibian habitat that would be lost if remaining CRP lands are returned to crop production. An economic climate favoring commodity production over conservation has resulted in substantial losses of amphibian habitat across the PPR that will likely continue into the future. Other regions of the world face similar challenges to maintaining amphibian habitats.

Urbanization on the US landscape: looking ahead in the 21st century.

Treesearch

Ralph J. Alig; Jeffrey D. Kline; Mark Lichtenstein

2004-01-01

Conversion of rural lands to urban and other built-up uses affects the mix of commodities and services produced from the global land base. In the United States, there was a 34% increase in the amount of land devoted to urban and built-up uses between 1982 and 1997. This increase came predominantly from the conversion of croplands and forestland, with the largest...

Environmental Costs of Government-Sponsored Agrarian Settlements in Brazilian Amazonia.

PubMed

Schneider, Maurício; Peres, Carlos A

2015-01-01

Brazil has presided over the most comprehensive agrarian reform frontier colonization program on Earth, in which ~1.2 million settlers have been translocated by successive governments since the 1970's, mostly into forested hinterlands of Brazilian Amazonia. These settlements encompass 5.3% of this ~5 million km2 region, but have contributed with 13.5% of all land conversion into agropastoral land uses. The Brazilian Federal Agrarian Agency (INCRA) has repeatedly claimed that deforestation in these areas largely predates the sanctioned arrival of new settlers. Here, we quantify rates of natural vegetation conversion across 1911 agrarian settlements allocated to 568 Amazonian counties and compare fire incidence and deforestation rates before and after the official occupation of settlements by migrant farmers. The timing and spatial distribution of deforestation and fires in our analysis provides irrefutable chronological and spatially explicit evidence of agropastoral conversion both inside and immediately outside agrarian settlements over the last decade. Deforestation rates are strongly related to local human population density and road access to regional markets. Agrarian settlements consistently accelerated rates of deforestation and fires, compared to neighboring areas outside settlements, but within the same counties. Relocated smallholders allocated to forest areas undoubtedly operate as pivotal agents of deforestation, and most of the forest clearance occurs in the aftermath of government-induced migration.

Environmental Costs of Government-Sponsored Agrarian Settlements in Brazilian Amazonia

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Brazil has presided over the most comprehensive agrarian reform frontier colonization program on Earth, in which ~1.2 million settlers have been translocated by successive governments since the 1970’s, mostly into forested hinterlands of Brazilian Amazonia. These settlements encompass 5.3% of this ~5 million km2 region, but have contributed with 13.5% of all land conversion into agropastoral land uses. The Brazilian Federal Agrarian Agency (INCRA) has repeatedly claimed that deforestation in these areas largely predates the sanctioned arrival of new settlers. Here, we quantify rates of natural vegetation conversion across 1911 agrarian settlements allocated to 568 Amazonian counties and compare fire incidence and deforestation rates before and after the official occupation of settlements by migrant farmers. The timing and spatial distribution of deforestation and fires in our analysis provides irrefutable chronological and spatially explicit evidence of agropastoral conversion both inside and immediately outside agrarian settlements over the last decade. Deforestation rates are strongly related to local human population density and road access to regional markets. Agrarian settlements consistently accelerated rates of deforestation and fires, compared to neighboring areas outside settlements, but within the same counties. Relocated smallholders allocated to forest areas undoubtedly operate as pivotal agents of deforestation, and most of the forest clearance occurs in the aftermath of government-induced migration. PMID:26247467

Impacts of urbanization on carbon balance in terrestrial ecosystems of the Southern United States.

PubMed

Zhang, Chi; Tian, Hanqin; Chen, Guangsheng; Chappelka, Arthur; Xu, Xiaofeng; Ren, Wei; Hui, Dafeng; Liu, Mingliang; Lu, Chaoqun; Pan, Shufen; Lockaby, Graeme

2012-05-01

Using a process-based Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model, we assessed carbon dynamics of urbanized/developed lands in the Southern United States during 1945-2007. The results indicated that approximately 1.72 (1.69-1.77) Pg (1P = 10(15)) carbon was stored in urban/developed lands, comparable to the storage of shrubland or cropland in the region. Urbanization resulted in a release of 0.21 Pg carbon to the atmosphere during 1945-2007. Pre-urbanization vegetation type and time since land conversion were two primary factors determining the extent of urbanization impacts on carbon dynamics. After a rapid decline of carbon storage during land conversion, an urban ecosystem gradually accumulates carbon and may compensate for the initial carbon loss in 70-100 years. The carbon sequestration rate of urban ecosystem diminishes with time, nearly disappearing in two centuries after land conversion. This study implied that it is important to take urbanization effect into account for assessing regional carbon balance. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

36 CFR 59.3 - Conversion requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... not been dedicated or managed for recreation/conservation use may be used as replacement land even if... proposed conversion and substitution constitute significant changes to the original Land and Water... approval is not necessarily required, however, for each and every facility use change. Rather, a project...

Valuing ecosystem and economic services across land-use scenarios in the Prairie Pothole Regions of the Dakotas, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gascoigne, William R.; Hoag, Dana; Koontz, Lynne; Tangen, Brian A.; Shaffer, Terry L.; Gleason, Robert A.

2011-01-01

This study uses biophysical values derived for the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota, in conjunction with value transfer methods, to assess environmental and economic tradeoffs under different policy-relevant land-use scenarios over a 20-year period. The ecosystem service valuation is carried out by comparing the biophysical and economic values of three focal services (i.e. carbon sequestration, reduction in sedimentation, and waterfowl production) across three focal land uses in the region [i.e. native prairie grasslands, lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs (CRP/WRP), and cropland]. This study finds that CRP/WRP lands cannot mitigate (hectare for hectare) the loss of native prairie from a social welfare standpoint. Land use scenarios where native prairie loss was minimized, and CRP/WRP lands were increased, provided the most societal benefit. The scenario modeling projected native prairie conversion to cropland over the next 20 years would result in a social welfare loss valued at over $4 billion when considering the study's three ecosystem services, and a net loss of about $3.4 billion when reductions in commodity production are accounted for.

SOC in Different Land Use Types: does Geomorphic Position Matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Y.; Sun, Q.; Wang, R.; Wang, Z.; Guo, S.

2016-12-01

Substantial research has been devoted to land use conversion induced changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN). However, most of the studies were based on local field plots, featuring single predominant landform (ex. rolling topography in Denmark, or Great Plain in the US). For regions integrated from complex landforms such as the Chinese Loess Plateau where tableland, sloping land and gullies are closely networked and each collectively covers a third of the area, the effects of land use changes to SOC and TN could spatially differ among geomorphic positions. So far, local farming management and policies on the Loess Plateau have often been guided by reports from single landform. To fully understand the potential effects of land use conversions to regional C and N cycling, a systematic investigation is highly in need to identify the relative contributions from different geomorphic positions. In this study on the Chinese Loess Plateau, soil profiles deep to 200 cm on three geomorphic positions (tableland, sloping land and gullies) were investigated, each having four types of land use (cropland, orchard, grassland, and woodland). The SOC and total N were measured and compared every layer of 20 cm. Our results show that: 1) the SOC stocks and TN in the surface soil (0-20 cm) was most enriched in downslope gullies and least stored in the summit tableland, demonstrating the erosional redistribution of SOC and TN along hillslopes. 2) After converting from cropland to grassland or woodland, the SOC stocks and TN in soil layer < 60 cm were significantly increased by 17-57% and 40-49%, demonstrating the benefits of land use conversion on SOC sequestration and N cycling. 3) More specifically, such positive increase of SOC stocks was more pronounced in the gullies than on the sloping land. 4) While the SOC stocks and TN in deep layers > 60 cm were more enriched on the tableland, the effects of land use conversions did not differ among the three geomorphic positions. Given the complexity of geomorphology on the Loess Plateau and its relevance of land use changes to regional ecosystem in China, the differentiated changes of SOC stocks and TN observed on tableland, sloping land and gullies highlight the necessity to properly account for the potential influence of geomorphic positions for each combination of land use and conversion.

The importance of land cover change across urban-rural typologies for climate modeling.

PubMed

Vargo, Jason; Habeeb, Dana; Stone, Brian

2013-01-15

Land cover changes affect local surface energy balances by changing the amount of solar energy reflected, the magnitude and duration over which absorbed energy is released as heat, and the amount of energy that is diverted to non-heating fluxes through evaporation. However, such local influences often are only crudely included in climate modeling exercises, if at all. A better understanding of local land conversion dynamics can serve to inform inputs for climate models and increase the role for land use planning in climate management policy. Here we present a new approach for projecting and incorporating metropolitan land cover change into mesoscale climate and other environmental assessment models. Our results demonstrate the relative contributions of different land development patterns to land cover change and conversion and suggest that regional growth management strategies serving to increase settlement densities over time can have a significant influence on the rate of deforestation per unit of population growth. Employing the approach presented herein, the impacts of land conversion on climate change and on parallel environmental systems and services, such as ground water recharge, habitat provision, and food production, may all be investigated more closely and managed through land use planning. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring and modeling land-use change in the Pearl River Delta, China, using satellite imagery and socioeconomic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seto, Karen Ching-Yee

Over the last two decades, rapid rates of economic growth in the People's Republic of China have converted large areas of natural ecosystems and agricultural lands to urban uses. The size and rate of these land-use changes may affect local and regional climate, biogeochemistry, and food supply. To assess these impacts, both the amount of land converted and its relation to socioeconomic drivers must be determined. This research combines satellite remote sensing, which is used to monitor land conversion, with socioeconomic data to model the economic and demographic drivers of land-use change in the Pearl River Delta of Southern China. This research modifies existing techniques and develops new methods to assess the type, amount, and timing of land-use change from annual Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images from 1988 to 1996. During this period, most of the land-use change is conversion of agricultural land to urban areas. Results indicate that urban areas, increased by over 300% between 1988 and 1996. Field assessments confirm these results and indicate that the land-use change map is highly accurate at 93.5%. To use these data as inputs to statistical models, the year of land conversion derived from satellite imagery must be unbiased. A new method that uses time series techniques identifies the date at which land-use changes occur from a sequential series of TM images. The accuracy and bias of the dates of change identified compare favorably to a more conventional remote sensing change detection technique and may have the additional advantages of reducing efforts required to assemble training data and to correct for atmospheric effects. Data on the quantity of land-use change and the timing of these changes are used in conjunction with socioeconomic data to estimate statistical models that identify and quantify the demographic and economic changes on two types of land conversion: urbanization of agricultural land and urbanization of natural vegetation. Results confirm conventional theory that wage differentials between urban and agricultural sectors, foreign direct investment, and income growth are important determinants of land-use change.

Monitoring forest/non-forest land use conversion rates with annual inventory data

Treesearch

Francis A. Roesch; Paul C. Van Deusen

2012-01-01

The transitioning of land from forest to other uses is of increasing interest as urban areas expand and the world’s population continues to grow. Also of interest, but less recognized, is the transitioning of land from other uses into forest. In this paper, we show how rates of conversion from forest to non-forest and non-forest to forest can be estimated in the US...

The Influences of Drought and Land-Cover Conversion on Inter-Annual Variation of NPP in the Three-North Shelterbelt Program Zone of China Based on MODIS Data

PubMed Central

Wu, Chaoyang; Zhang, Bing; Huete, Alfredo; Zhang, Xiaoyang; Sun, Rui; Lei, Liping; Huang, Wenjing; Liu, Liangyun; Liu, Xinjie; Li, Jun; Luo, Shezhou; Fang, Bin

2016-01-01

Terrestrial ecosystems greatly contribute to carbon (C) emission reduction targets through photosynthetic C uptake.Net primary production (NPP) represents the amount of atmospheric C fixed by plants and accumulated as biomass. The Three-North Shelterbelt Program (TNSP) zone accounts for more than 40% of China’s landmass. This zone has been the scene of several large-scale ecological restoration efforts since the late 1990s, and has witnessed significant changes in climate and human activities.Assessing the relative roles of different causal factors on NPP variability in TNSP zone is very important for establishing reasonable local policies to realize the emission reduction targets for central government. In this study, we examined the relative roles of drought and land cover conversion(LCC) on inter-annual changes of TNSP zone for 2001–2010. We applied integrated correlation and decomposition analyses to a Standardized Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and MODIS land cover dataset. Our results show that the 10-year average NPP within this region was about 420 Tg C. We found that about 60% of total annual NPP over the study area was significantly correlated with SPEI (p<0.05). The LCC-NPP relationship, which is especially evident for forests in the south-central area, indicates that ecological programs have a positive impact on C sequestration in the TNSP zone. Decomposition analysis generally indicated that the contributions of LCC, drought, and other Natural or Anthropogenic activities (ONA) to changes in NPP generally had a consistent distribution pattern for consecutive years. Drought and ONA contributed about 74% and 23% to the total changes in NPP, respectively, and the remaining 3% was attributed to LCC. Our results highlight the importance of rainfall supply on NPP variability in the TNSP zone. PMID:27348303

Oil palm land conversion in Pará, Brazil, from 2006-2014: evaluating the 2010 Brazilian Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benami, E.; Curran, L. M.; Cochrane, M.; Venturieri, A.; Franco, R.; Kneipp, J.; Swartos, A.

2018-03-01

Global models of biophysical suitability for oil palm consistently rank Brazil as having the greatest potential for expansion, with estimates as high as 238 Mha of suitable lands. In 2010, Brazil launched the Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program (SPOPP) to incentivize oil palm development without deforestation on as much as 30 Mha. Here we examine oil palm expansion before and after the SPOPP’s launch. In Pará, the major oil palm producing state in Brazil, we analyze the extent and change in oil palm cultivation from 2006-2014 using satellite imagery, ground-truthed verification, site-based interviews, and rural environmental (land) registration data. Between 2006-2014, oil palm area (≥9 ha) expanded >200% to ~219 000 ha. Of the ~148 000 ha of oil palm developed, ~91% converted pasturelands while ~8% replaced natural vegetation, including intact and secondary forests. Although >80% of all oil palm parcels rest <0.5 km from intact forests, direct conversion of intact forests declined from ~4% pre-SPOPP (2006-2010) to <1% post-SPOPP (2010-2014). Despite low and declining deforestation rates associated with oil palm expansion in Pará, our results also show a low area of oil palm development overall compared with reported land suitability. To explore potential contributing factors, we conducted semi-structured interviews with researchers, company representatives, and government officials involved in the sector to characterize the perceived factors influencing oil palm development and the role of agro-ecological suitability mapping among them. Interviews indicated that: (1) individual effects of suitability mapping efforts to encourage oil palm expansion on cleared areas, i.e. without deforestation, cannot be disentangled from pre-existing public and private deforestation reduction initiatives; and, (2) socio-economic constraints, e.g. high relative production costs and limited familiarity with this crop, appear to partially explain the major discrepancy between estimated potential suitable areas with realized oil palm development.

Linking Land Use Changes to Surface Water Quality Variability in Lake Victoria: Some Insights From Remote Sensing (GC41B-1101)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Limaye, Ashutosh; Mugo, Robinson; Wanjohi, James; Farah, Hussein; Wahome, Anastasia; Flores, Africa; Irwin, Dan

2016-01-01

Various land use changes driven by urbanization, conversion of grasslands and woodlands into farmlands, intensification of agricultural practices, deforestation, land fragmentation and degradation are taking place in Africa. In Kenya, agriculture is the main driver of land use conversions. The impacts of these land use changes are observable in land cover maps, and eventually in the hydrological systems. Reduction or change of natural vegetation cover types increases the speed of surface runoff and reduces water and nutrient retention capacities. This can lead to high nutrient inputs into lakes, resulting in eutrophication, siltation and infestation of floating aquatic vegetation. To assess if changes in land use could be contributing to increased phytoplankton blooms and sediment loads into Lake Victoria, we analyzed land use land cover data from Landsat, as well as surface chlorophyll-a and total suspended matter from MODIS-Aqua sensor.

Life on the Edge - Improved Forest Cover Mapping in Mixed-Use Tropical Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, C.; Mendenhall, C. D.; Daily, G.

2016-12-01

Tropical ecosystems and biodiversity are experiencing rapid change, primarily due to conversion of forest habitat to agriculture. Protected areas, while effective for conservation, only manage 15% of terrestrial area, whereas approximately 58% is privately owned. To incentivize private forest management and slow the loss of biodiversity, payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs were established in Costa Rica that pay landowners who maintain trees on their property. While this program is effective in improving livelihoods and preventing forest conversion, it is only managing payments to landowners on 1% of eligible, non-protected forested land.A major bottleneck for this program is access to accurate, national-scale tree cover maps. While the remote sensing community has made great progress in global-scale tree cover mapping, these maps are not sufficient to guide investments for PES programs. The major limitations of current global-scale tree-cover maps are that they a) do not distinguish between forest and agriculture and b) overestimate tree cover in mixed land-use areas (e.g. Global Forest Change overestimates by 20% on average in this region). This is especially problematic in biodiversity-rich Costa Rica, where small patches of forest intermix with agricultural production, and where the conservation value of tree-cover is high. To address this problem, we are developing a new forest cover mapping method that a) performs a least-squares spectral mixture analysis (SMA) using repeat Landsat imagery and canopy radiative transfer modeling: b) combines Landsat data, SMA results, and radar backscatter data using multi-sensor fusion techniques and: c) trains tree-cover classification models using high resolution data sets along a land use-intensity gradient. Our method predicted tree cover with 85% accuracy when compared to a fine-scale map of tree cover in a tropical, agricultural landscape, whereas the next-best method, the Global Forest Change map, predicted tree cover with 72% accuracy. Next steps will aim to test, improve, and apply this method globally to guide investments in nature in agricultural landscapes where forest stewardship will sustain biodiversity.

[Effects of land-use conversion from double rice cropping to vegetables on CO2 and CH4 fluxes in southern China].

PubMed

Yuan, Ye; Liu, Chang-hong; Dai, Xiao-qin; Wang, Hui-min

2015-01-01

In this study, the CO2 and CH4 fluxes in the first year after land use conversion from paddy rice to vegetables were measured by static opaque chamber and gas-chromatograph (GC) method to investigate the land conversion effects on soil CO2 and CH4 emissions. Our results showed that the differences in CO2 fluxes depended on the vegetable types, growing status and seasons. The CO2 flux from the vegetable field was greater than that from the paddy rice field when cowpea was planted, but was lower when pepper was planted. The CH4 flux significantly decreased from 6.96 mg C . m-2 . h-1 to -0.004 mg C . m-2 . h-1 with the land use conversion from rice to vegetables.The net carbon absorption ( CO2 + CH4) of the vegetable fields was 543 kg C . hm-2, significantly lower than that (3641 kg C . hm-2) of the rice paddies. However, no significant difference was found in their global warming impact. In addition, soil carbon content increased in vegetable fields compared to the paddy rice fields after a year of conversion, especially in the 10-20 cm soil layer.

Quantifying climate change mitigation potential in Great Plains wetlands for three greenhouse gas emission scenarios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Byrd, Kristin B.; Ratliff, Jamie L.; Wein, Anne; Bliss, Norman B.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sohl, Terry L.; Li, Zhengpeng

2015-01-01

We examined opportunities for avoided loss of wetland carbon stocks in the Great Plains of the United States in the context of future agricultural expansion through analysis of land-use land-cover (LULC) change scenarios, baseline carbon datasets and biogeochemical model outputs. A wetland map that classifies wetlands according to carbon pools was created to describe future patterns of carbon loss and potential carbon savings. Wetland avoided loss scenarios, superimposed upon LULC change scenarios, quantified carbon stocks preserved under criteria of carbon densities or land value plus cropland suitability. Up to 3420 km2 of wetlands may be lost in the region by 2050, mainly due to conversion of herbaceous wetlands in the Temperate Prairies where soil organic carbon (SOC) is highest. SOC loss would be approximately 0.20 ± 0.15 megagrams of carbon per hectare per year (MgC ha−1 yr−1), depending upon tillage practices on converted wetlands, and total ecosystem carbon loss in woody wetlands would be approximately 0.81 ± 0.41 MgC ha−1 yr−1, based on biogeochemical model results. Among wetlands vulnerable to conversion, wetlands in the Northern Glaciated Plains and Lake Agassiz Plains ecoregions exhibit very high mean SOC and on average, relatively low land values, potentially creating economically competitive opportunities for avoided carbon loss. This mitigation scenarios approach may be adapted by managers using their own preferred criteria to select sites that best meet their objectives. Results can help prioritize field-based assessments, where site-level investigations of carbon stocks, land value, and consideration of local priorities for climate change mitigation programs are needed.

State resource management and role of remote sensing. [California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, H. D.

1981-01-01

Remote sensing by satellite can provide valuable information to state officials when making decisions regarding resources management. Portions of California's investment for Prosperity program which seem likely candidates for remote sensing include: (1) surveying vegetation type, age, and density in forests and wildlife habitats; (2) controlling fires through chaparal management; (3) monitoring wetlands and measuring ocean biomass; (4) eliminating ground water overdraught; (5) locating crops in overdraught areas, assessing soil erosion and the areas of poorly drained soils and those affected by salt; (6) monitoring coastal lands and resources; (7) changes in landscapes for recreational purposes; (8) inventorying irrigated lands; (9) classifying ground cover; (10) monitoring farmland conversion; and (11) supplying data for a statewide computerized farmlands data base.

Detecting agricultural to urban land use change from multi-temporal MSS digital data. [Salt Lake County, Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ridd, M. K.; Merola, J. A.; Jaynes, R. A.

1983-01-01

Conversion of agricultural land to a variety of urban uses is a major problem along the Wasatch Front, Utah. Although LANDSAT MSS data is a relatively coarse tool for discriminating categories of change in urban-size plots, its availability prompts a thorough test of its power to detect change. The procedures being applied to a test area in Salt Lake County, Utah, where the land conversion problem is acute are presented. The identity of land uses before and after conversion was determined and digital procedures for doing so were compared. Several algorithms were compared, utilizing both raw data and preprocessed data. Verification of results involved high quality color infrared photography and field observation. Two data sets were digitally registered, specific change categories internally identified in the software, results tabulated by computer, and change maps printed at 1:24,000 scale.

Operational monitoring of land-cover change using multitemporal remote sensing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogan, John

2005-11-01

Land-cover change, manifested as either land-cover modification and/or conversion, can occur at all spatial scales, and changes at local scales can have profound, cumulative impacts at broader scales. The implication of operational land-cover monitoring is that researchers have access to a continuous stream of remote sensing data, with the long term goal of providing for consistent and repetitive mapping. Effective large area monitoring of land-cover (i.e., >1000 km2) can only be accomplished by using remotely sensed images as an indirect data source in land-cover change mapping and as a source for land-cover change model projections. Large area monitoring programs face several challenges: (1) choice of appropriate classification scheme/map legend over large, topographically and phenologically diverse areas; (2) issues concerning data consistency and map accuracy (i.e., calibration and validation); (3) very large data volumes; (4) time consuming data processing and interpretation. Therefore, this dissertation research broadly addresses these challenges in the context of examining state-of-the-art image pre-processing, spectral enhancement, classification, and accuracy assessment techniques to assist the California Land-cover Mapping and Monitoring Program (LCMMP). The results of this dissertation revealed that spatially varying haze can be effectively corrected from Landsat data for the purposes of change detection. The Multitemporal Spectral Mixture Analysis (MSMA) spectral enhancement technique produced more accurate land-cover maps than those derived from the Multitemporal Kauth Thomas (MKT) transformation in northern and southern California study areas. A comparison of machine learning classifiers showed that Fuzzy ARTMAP outperformed two classification tree algorithms, based on map accuracy and algorithm robustness. Variation in spatial data error (positional and thematic) was explored in relation to environmental variables using geostatistical interpolation techniques. Finally, the land-cover modification maps generated for three time intervals (1985--1990--1996--2000), with nine change-classes revealed important variations in land-cover gain and loss between northern and southern California study areas.

Land Conversion in Amazonia and Northern South America; Influences on Regional Hydrology and Ecosystem Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knox, Ryan Gary

A numerical model of the terrestrial biosphere (Ecosystem Demography Model) is compbined with an atmospheric model (Brazilian Regional Atmospheric Modeling System) to investigate how land conversion in the Amazon and Northern South America have changed the hydrology of the region, and to see if those changes are significant enough to produce an ecological response. Two numerical realizations of the structure and composition of terrestrial vegetation are used as boundary conditions in a simulation of the regional land surface and atmosphere. One realization seeks to capture the present day vegetation condition that includes human deforestation and land-conversion, the other is an estimate of the potential structure and composition of the region without human influence. Model output is assessed for consistent and significant differences in hydrometeorology. Locations that show compelling differences are taken as case studies. The seasonal biases in precipitation at these locations are then used to create perturbations to long-term climate datasets. These perturbations then drive long-term simulations of dynamic vegetation to see if the climate consistent with a potential regional vegetation could elicit a change in the vegetation equilibrium at the site. Results show that South American land conversion has had consistent impacts on the regional patterning of precipitation. At some locations, changes in precipitation are persistent and constitute a significant fraction of total precipitation. Land-conversion has decreased mean continental evaporation and increased mean moisture convergence. Case study simulations of long term vegetation dynamic indicate that a hydrologic climate consistent with regional potential vegetation can indeed have significant influence on ecosystem structure and composition, particularly in water limited growth conditions. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, libraries.mit.edu/docs - docs@mit.edu)

Assessment of the Soil Organic Carbon Sink in a Project for the Conversion of Farmland to Forestland: A Case Study in Zichang County, Shaanxi, China

PubMed Central

Mu, Lan; Liang, Yinli; Han, Ruilian

2014-01-01

The conversion of farmland to forestland not only changes the ecological environment but also enriches the soil with organic matter and affects the global carbon cycle. This paper reviews the influence of land use changes on the soil organic carbon sink to determine whether the Chinese “Grain-for-Green” (conversion of farmland to forestland) project increased the rate of SOC content during its implementation between 1999 and 2010 in the hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau in north-central China. The carbon sink was quantified, and the effects of the main species were assessed. The carbon sink increased from 2.26×106 kg in 1999 to 8.32×106 kg in 2010 with the sustainable growth of the converted areas. The black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) soil increased SOC content in the top soil (0–100 cm) in the initial 7-yr period, while the sequestration occurred later (>7 yr) in the 100–120 cm layer after the “Grain-for-Green” project was implemented. The carbon sink function measured for the afforested land provides evidence that the Grain-for-Green project has successfully excavated the carbon sink potential of the Shaanxi province and served as an important milestone for establishing an effective organic carbon management program. PMID:24736591

Distributed hydrological models to quantify ecosystem services and inform land use decisions in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilebore, Beccy; Willis, Kathy

2016-04-01

Landcover conversion is one of the largest anthropogenic threats to ecological services globally; in the EU around 1500 ha of biodiverse land are lost every day to changes in infrastructure and urbanisation. This land conversion directly affects key ecosystem services that support natural infrastructure, including water flow regulation and the mitigation of flood risks. We assess the sensitivity of runoff production to landcover in the UK at a high spatial resolution, using a distributed hydrologic model in the regional land-surface model JULES (Joint UK Land Environment Simulator). This work, as part of the wider initiative 'NaturEtrade', will create a novel suite of easy-to-use tools and mechanisms to allow EU landowners to quickly map and assess the value of their land in providing key ecosystem services.

Oak woodland economics: a contingent valuation of conversion alternatives

Treesearch

Richard P. Thompson; Jay E. Noel; Sarah P. Cross

2002-01-01

Decisions on how much land should be devoted to oak woodland preservation is ultimately determined by society's valuation of its benefits and relative scarcity. Scarcity value can be measured by people's willingness-to-pay (WTP) to prevent oak woodland conversion to higher value land uses. In this study, we used the contingent valuation (CV) method to...

computer land use mapping via TV waveform analysis of space photography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

An instrumentation and computer system which offers the potential for analyzing photogeographic distributions is described. To satisfy the requirement for computer acceptance, a television and waveform system was developed to transpose pictorial or iconic photo forms to the analytic. A video conversion was accomplished, and each pattern visible on the original photography was represented by a certain range of percentages. With spatial occurrences in digital form, a computer program was developed that could identify, analyze, and map geographic inputs.

A Flight Study of the Conversion Maneuver of a Tilt-Duct VTOL Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tapscott, Robert J.; Kelley, Henry L.

1960-01-01

Flight records are presented from an early flight test of a wing-tip mounted tilting-ducted-fan, vertical-take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft configuration. Time histories of the aircraft motions, control positions, and duct pitching-moment variation are presented to illustrate the characteristics of the aircraft in hovering, in conversion from hovering to forward flight, and in conversion from forward flight to hovering. The results indicate that during essentially continuous slow level- flight conversions, this aircraft experiences excessive longitudinal trim changes. Studies have shown that the large trim changes are caused primarily by the variation of aerodynamic moments acting on the duct units. Action of the duct-induced downwash on the horizontal stabilizer during the conversion also contributes to the longitudinal trim variations. Time histories of hovering and slow vertical descent in the final stages of landing in calm air show angular motions of the aircraft as great as +/- 10 deg. about all axes. Stick and pedal displacements required to control the aircraft during the landing maneuver were on the order of 50 to 60 percent of the total travel available.

Runoff and initial erosion assessment in fruit tree crops and improved forage pastures in the slopes of the Irazu Volcano (Costa Rica)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchamalo, Miguel; González-Rodrigo, Beatriz

2017-04-01

Costa Rica is located in the Central American tropical isthmus. It presents high precipitations (ranging from 1400-8500 mm) and protection levels (27% of national territory). However, intensive land use and increasing population in headwaters are major threats for water resource management in this country. Birrís Basin is a 4800 hectares sub-watershed of the River Reventazón Basin, the major hydroelectric source in Costa Rica. Birrís Basin was selected for its high estimated erosion rates and its potential for demonstrative projects (ICE, 1999). Some pilot projects have been developed in this watershed starting from 1999, when major Costa Rican energy producer, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, began with a long term watershed management program for the Reventazón Basin. This study aims at measuring runoff and initial splash and sheet erosion to assess the hydrological response of two pilot land use projects. Erosion and runoff plots were established and monitored in a one year period for two pilot projects (fruit trees and forage pastures) and their respective traditional land uses (vegetable crops and extensive pastures). Improved forage pastures showed reduced runoff by 73% and split erosion by 55% compared to prior extensive pastures. Conversion of vegetable crop lands into fruit tree plantations (apricot and avocado) made possible a 97% reduction of soil initial erosion. Land use pilot projects have succeeded in runoff and soil erosion reduction. Now it is time for a wider technology transfer program to expand improved land uses within Birrís Basin.

Spatial patterns of agricultural expansion determine impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage.

PubMed

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Sharp, Richard P; Mandle, Lisa; Sim, Sarah; Johnson, Justin; Butnar, Isabela; Milà I Canals, Llorenç; Eichelberger, Bradley A; Ramler, Ivan; Mueller, Carina; McLachlan, Nikolaus; Yousefi, Anahita; King, Henry; Kareiva, Peter M

2015-06-16

The agricultural expansion and intensification required to meet growing food and agri-based product demand present important challenges to future levels and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Influential actors such as corporations, governments, and multilateral organizations have made commitments to meeting future agricultural demand sustainably and preserving critical ecosystems. Current approaches to predicting the impacts of agricultural expansion involve calculation of total land conversion and assessment of the impacts on biodiversity or ecosystem services on a per-area basis, generally assuming a linear relationship between impact and land area. However, the impacts of continuing land development are often not linear and can vary considerably with spatial configuration. We demonstrate what could be gained by spatially explicit analysis of agricultural expansion at a large scale compared with the simple measure of total area converted, with a focus on the impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage. Using simple modeling approaches for two regions of Brazil, we find that for the same amount of land conversion, the declines in biodiversity and carbon storage can vary two- to fourfold depending on the spatial pattern of conversion. Impacts increase most rapidly in the earliest stages of agricultural expansion and are more pronounced in scenarios where conversion occurs in forest interiors compared with expansion into forests from their edges. This study reveals the importance of spatially explicit information in the assessment of land-use change impacts and for future land management and conservation.

Spatial patterns of agricultural expansion determine impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage

PubMed Central

Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Sharp, Richard P.; Mandle, Lisa; Sim, Sarah; Johnson, Justin; Butnar, Isabela; Milà i Canals, Llorenç; Eichelberger, Bradley A.; Ramler, Ivan; Mueller, Carina; McLachlan, Nikolaus; Yousefi, Anahita; King, Henry; Kareiva, Peter M.

2015-01-01

The agricultural expansion and intensification required to meet growing food and agri-based product demand present important challenges to future levels and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Influential actors such as corporations, governments, and multilateral organizations have made commitments to meeting future agricultural demand sustainably and preserving critical ecosystems. Current approaches to predicting the impacts of agricultural expansion involve calculation of total land conversion and assessment of the impacts on biodiversity or ecosystem services on a per-area basis, generally assuming a linear relationship between impact and land area. However, the impacts of continuing land development are often not linear and can vary considerably with spatial configuration. We demonstrate what could be gained by spatially explicit analysis of agricultural expansion at a large scale compared with the simple measure of total area converted, with a focus on the impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage. Using simple modeling approaches for two regions of Brazil, we find that for the same amount of land conversion, the declines in biodiversity and carbon storage can vary two- to fourfold depending on the spatial pattern of conversion. Impacts increase most rapidly in the earliest stages of agricultural expansion and are more pronounced in scenarios where conversion occurs in forest interiors compared with expansion into forests from their edges. This study reveals the importance of spatially explicit information in the assessment of land-use change impacts and for future land management and conservation. PMID:26082547

CO2 CH4 and N20 fluxes during land conversion in early bioenergy systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zenone, T.

2012-04-01

CO2 CH4 and N20 fluxes during land conversion in early bioenergy systems Terenzio Zenone1-2, Jiquan Chen1-2, Ilya Gelfand3-4, G. Philip Robertson3-4 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH USA 2 Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA 3 W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI USA 4Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI USA Environmental sustainability of bioenergy crop cultivation represents an important challenge and is a topic of intensive scientific and political debate worldwide due to increasing societal needs for renewable energy. Despite the increasing knowledge related to potential bioenergy systems, the effect of land use change (LUC) on GHG fluxes during the conversion remains poorly understood but is likely to be substantial. In order to tackle this issue the Great lake Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) has established a field experiment and deployed a cluster of eddy-covariance towers to quantify the magnitude and changes of ecosystem carbon assimilation, loss, and balance during the conversion and establishment years in a permanent prairie and four types of candidate biofuel systems [Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland, switchgrass, mixed-species restored prairie and corn]. Six sites were converted to soybean in 2009 before establishing the bioenergy systems in 2010 while one site was kept grassland as reference. Soil N2O and CH4 fluxes were measured biweekly with static chambers in four replicate locations in each fields, within the footprint of the eddy covariance tower using static chamber GHG flux protocols of the KBS LTER site. Our field observations, made between January 2009 through December 2010, showed that conversion of CRP to soybean induced net C emissions during the conversion year that ranging from 288 g C m-2, to 173 g C m-2 . while at the reference CRP grassland site net C balance were -42.9 and - 16.1 g C m-2 yr-1 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. N20 emissions were larger at the former grassland converted to bioenergy crops 12.3 (±3.4) N2O-N (g ha-1d-1 compare to unmanaged grassland 2.7 (±0.7) g ha-1d-1. CH4 emission were considerable lower and ranged from -0.7 (±0.4) CH4-C g ha-1d-1 at the sites converted to 0.8 (±1.8) CH4-C g ha-1d-1 at unmanaged grassland. The conversion of CRP lands has induced major CO2 emission over the two-year study period that can take many years to recover. The cumulative C balance of the ecosystems in the years after the conversion was under the strong influence of the C lost during the conversion phase and the C balance of the new biofuel crops. The carbon lost during the conversion year cannot be detected by variations of SOC (the conversion phase is too short of a period) or by simply measuring the biomass production before and after the conversion. EC technique was able to detect short term C change necessary to evaluate C debt in converted biofuel systems. For better understanding the complex mechanisms that influence the C balance during the LUC, this study underlines the need to study the GHG fluxes during the conversion phases of permanent ecosystems (e.g., permanent grassland, forests, etc.) into agricultural or bioenergy crops.

Greater transportation energy and GHG offsets from bioelectricity than ethanol.

PubMed

Campbell, J E; Lobell, D B; Field, C B

2009-05-22

The quantity of land available to grow biofuel crops without affecting food prices or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land conversion is limited. Therefore, bioenergy should maximize land-use efficiency when addressing transportation and climate change goals. Biomass could power either internal combustion or electric vehicles, but the relative land-use efficiency of these two energy pathways is not well quantified. Here, we show that bioelectricity outperforms ethanol across a range of feedstocks, conversion technologies, and vehicle classes. Bioelectricity produces an average of 81% more transportation kilometers and 108% more emissions offsets per unit area of cropland than does cellulosic ethanol. These results suggest that alternative bioenergy pathways have large differences in how efficiently they use the available land to achieve transportation and climate goals.

43 CFR 3140.4 - Conversion.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Conversion. 3140.4 Section 3140.4 Public... OF THE INTERIOR MINERALS MANAGEMENT (3000) LEASING IN SPECIAL TAR SAND AREAS Conversion of Existing Oil and Gas Leases and Valid Claims Based on Mineral Locations § 3140.4 Conversion. ...

Drivers of wetland conversion: a global meta-analysis.

PubMed

van Asselen, Sanneke; Verburg, Peter H; Vermaat, Jan E; Janse, Jan H

2013-01-01

Meta-analysis of case studies has become an important tool for synthesizing case study findings in land change. Meta-analyses of deforestation, urbanization, desertification and change in shifting cultivation systems have been published. This present study adds to this literature, with an analysis of the proximate causes and underlying forces of wetland conversion at a global scale using two complementary approaches of systematic review. Firstly, a meta-analysis of 105 case-study papers describing wetland conversion was performed, showing that different combinations of multiple-factor proximate causes, and underlying forces, drive wetland conversion. Agricultural development has been the main proximate cause of wetland conversion, and economic growth and population density are the most frequently identified underlying forces. Secondly, to add a more quantitative component to the study, a logistic meta-regression analysis was performed to estimate the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide, using globally-consistent biophysical and socioeconomic location factor maps. Significant factors explaining wetland conversion, in order of importance, are market influence, total wetland area (lower conversion probability), mean annual temperature and cropland or built-up area. The regression analyses results support the outcomes of the meta-analysis of the processes of conversion mentioned in the individual case studies. In other meta-analyses of land change, similar factors (e.g., agricultural development, population growth, market/economic factors) are also identified as important causes of various types of land change (e.g., deforestation, desertification). Meta-analysis helps to identify commonalities across the various local case studies and identify which variables may lead to individual cases to behave differently. The meta-regression provides maps indicating the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide based on the location factors that have determined historic conversions.

Drivers of Wetland Conversion: a Global Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

van Asselen, Sanneke; Verburg, Peter H.; Vermaat, Jan E.; Janse, Jan H.

2013-01-01

Meta-analysis of case studies has become an important tool for synthesizing case study findings in land change. Meta-analyses of deforestation, urbanization, desertification and change in shifting cultivation systems have been published. This present study adds to this literature, with an analysis of the proximate causes and underlying forces of wetland conversion at a global scale using two complementary approaches of systematic review. Firstly, a meta-analysis of 105 case-study papers describing wetland conversion was performed, showing that different combinations of multiple-factor proximate causes, and underlying forces, drive wetland conversion. Agricultural development has been the main proximate cause of wetland conversion, and economic growth and population density are the most frequently identified underlying forces. Secondly, to add a more quantitative component to the study, a logistic meta-regression analysis was performed to estimate the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide, using globally-consistent biophysical and socioeconomic location factor maps. Significant factors explaining wetland conversion, in order of importance, are market influence, total wetland area (lower conversion probability), mean annual temperature and cropland or built-up area. The regression analyses results support the outcomes of the meta-analysis of the processes of conversion mentioned in the individual case studies. In other meta-analyses of land change, similar factors (e.g., agricultural development, population growth, market/economic factors) are also identified as important causes of various types of land change (e.g., deforestation, desertification). Meta-analysis helps to identify commonalities across the various local case studies and identify which variables may lead to individual cases to behave differently. The meta-regression provides maps indicating the likelihood of wetland conversion worldwide based on the location factors that have determined historic conversions. PMID:24282580

[Spatiotemporal changes of wetlands in Hangzhou Bay Industrial Belt].

PubMed

Lu, Zhang-Wei; Wu, Ci-Fang; Yue, Wen-Ze; Liu, Yong; Ren, Li-Yan

2009-07-01

By using RS and GIS techniques, the spatiotemporal changes of wetlands in Hangzhou Bay Industrial Belt, one of the most developed zones in Zhejiang Province, from 1990 to 2005 were studied. There was a frequent conversion between the wetlands and other land use types and between the wetlands themselves, mainly manifested in the conversion between wetland and farmland, and from wetland to construction land and from tidal flat to aquiculture area. The comparative advantage of other land use types and the policy of cultivated land's requisition-compensation balance decided the inherent mechanisms of these spatiotemporal changes. Driven by the aquaculture's comparative advantage to traditional agriculture, large areas of inland farmland and of the tidal flat along the coast of Hangzhou Bay were reclaimed into aquiculture area, and the rapid expansion of construction land, limited land resources, and the implement of cultivated land's requisition-compensation balance policy induced the wetlands being occupied.

Conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses in Kansas City

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaklee, R. V.

1976-01-01

In an expanding urban environment, agriculture and urban land uses are the two primary competitors for regional land resources. As a result of an increasing awareness of the effects which urban expansion has upon the regional environment, the conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses has become a point of concern to urban planners. A study was undertaken for the Kansas City Metropolitan Region, to determine the rate at which prime agricultural land has been converted to urban land uses over a five year period from 1969 to 1974. Using NASA high altitude color infrared imagery acquired over the city in October, 1969 and in May, 1974 to monitor the extent and location of urban expansion in the interim period, it was revealed that 42% of that expansion had occurred upon land classified as having prime agricultural potential. This involved a total of 10,727 acres of prime agricultural land and indicated a 7% increase over the 1969 which showed that 35% of the urban area had been developed on prime agricultural land.

Revolutionary land use change in the 21st century: Is (rangeland) science relevant?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Herrick, J.E.; Brown, J.R.; Bestelmeyer, B.T.; Andrews, S.S.; Baldi, G.; Davies, J.; Duniway, M.; Havstad, K.M.; Karl, J.W.; Karlen, D.L.; Peters, Debra P.C.; Quinton, J.N.; Riginos, C.; Shaver, P.L.; Steinaker, D.; Twomlow, S.

2012-01-01

Rapidly increasing demand for food, fiber, and fuel together with new technologies and the mobility of global capital are driving revolutionary changes in land use throughout the world. Efforts to increase land productivity include conversion of millions of hectares of rangelands to crop production, including many marginal lands with low resistance and resilience to degradation. Sustaining the productivity of these lands requires careful land use planning and innovative management systems. Historically, this responsibility has been left to agronomists and others with expertise in crop production. In this article, we argue that the revolutionary land use changes necessary to support national and global food security potentially make rangeland science more relevant now than ever. Maintaining and increasing relevance will require a revolutionary change in range science from a discipline that focuses on a particular land use or land cover to one that addresses the challenge of managing all lands that, at one time, were considered to be marginal for crop production. We propose four strategies to increase the relevance of rangeland science to global land management: 1) expand our awareness and understanding of local to global economic, social, and technological trends in order to anticipate and identify drivers and patterns of conversion; 2) emphasize empirical studies and modeling that anticipate the biophysical (ecosystem services) and societal consequences of large-scale changes in land cover and use; 3) significantly increase communication and collaboration with the disciplines and sectors of society currently responsible for managing the new land uses; and 4) develop and adopt a dynamic and flexible resilience-based land classification system and data-supported conceptual models (e.g., state-and-transition models) that represent all lands, regardless of use and the consequences of land conversion to various uses instead of changes in state or condition that are focused on a single land use.

A Regional Multi-permit Market for Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernknopf, R.; Amos, P.; Zhang, E.

2014-12-01

Regional cap and trade programs have been in operation since the 1970's to reduce environmental externalities (NOx and SOx emissions) and have been shown to be beneficial. Air quality and water quality limits are enforced through numerous Federal and State laws and regulations while local communities are seeking ways to protect regional green infrastructure and their ecosystems services. Why not combine them in a market approach to reduce many environmental externalities simultaneously? In a multi-permit market program reforestation (land offsets) as part of a nutrient or carbon sequestration trading program would provide a means to reduce agrochemical discharges into streams, rivers, and groundwater. Land conversions also improve the quality and quantity of other environmental externalities such as air pollution. Collocated nonmarket ecosystem services have societal benefits that can expand the crediting system into a multi-permit trading program. At a regional scale it is possible to combine regulation of water quality, air emissions and quality, and habitat conservation and restoration into one program. This research is about the economic feasibility of a Philadelphia regional multi-permit (cap and trade) program for ecosystem services. Instead of establishing individual markets for ecosystem services, the assumption of the spatial portfolio approach is that it is based on the interdependence of ecosystem functions so that market credits encompasses a range of ecosystem services. Using an existing example the components of the approach are described in terms of scenarios of land portfolios and the calculation of expected return on investment and risk. An experiment in the Schuylkill Watershed will be described for ecosystem services such as nutrients in water and populations of bird species along with Green House Gases. The Philadelphia regional market includes the urban - nonurban economic and environmental interactions and impacts.

Forest Conversion, Agricultural Transitions and the Influence of Multi-scale Market Factors in Southwest Cameroon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ordway, E.; Lambin, E.; Asner, G. P.

2015-12-01

The changing structure of demand for commodities associated with food security and energy has had a startling impact on land use change in tropical forests in recent decades. Yet, the composition of conversion in the Congo basin remains a major uncertainty, particularly with regards to the scale of drivers of change. Owing to rapid expansion of production globally and longstanding historical production locally in the Congo basin, oil palm offers a lens through which to evaluate local land use decisions across a spectrum of small- to large-scales of production as well as interactions with regional and global supply chains. We examined the effect of global commodity crop expansion on land use change in Southwest Cameroon using a mixed-methods approach to integrate remote sensing, field surveys and socioeconomic data. Southwest Cameroon (2.5 Mha) has a long history of large- and small-scale agriculture, ranging from mixed crop subsistence agriculture to large monocrop plantations of oil palm, cocoa, and rubber. Trends and spatial patterns of forest conversion and agricultural transitions were analyzed from 2000-2015 using satellite imagery. We used economic, demographic and field survey datasets to assess how regional and global market factors and local commodity crop decisions affect land use patterns. Our results show that oil palm is a major commodity crop expanding in this region, and that conversion is occurring primarily through expansion by medium-scale producers and local elites. Results also indicate that global and regional supply chain dynamics influence local land use decision making. This research contributes new information on land use patterns and dynamics in the Congo basin, an understudied region. More specifically, results from this research contribute information on recent trends of oil palm expansion in Cameroon that will be used in national land use planning strategies.

Land Use and Land Cover Change in Guangzhou, China, from 1998 to 2003, Based on Landsat TM /ETM+ Imagery

PubMed Central

Fan, Fenglei; Weng, Qihao; Wang, Yunpeng

2007-01-01

Land use and land cover change is a major issue in global environment change, and is especially significant in rapidly developing regions in the world. With its economic development, population growth, and urbanization, Guangzhou, a major metropolitan in South China, have experienced a dramatic land use and land cover (LULC) change over the past 30 years. Fast LULC change have resulted in degradation of its ecosystems and affected adversely the environment. It is urgently needed to monitor its LULC changes and to analyses the consequences of these changes in order to provide information for policymakers to support sustainable development. This study employed two Landsat TM/ETM+ images in the dry season to detect LULC patterns in 1998 and 2003, and to examine LULC changes during the period from 1998 to 2003. The type, rate, and pattern of the changes among five counties of Guangzhou Municipality were analyzed in details by post-classification method. LULC conversion matrix was produced for each county in order to explore and explain the urban expansion and cropland loss, the most significant types of LULC change. Land use conversion matrixes of five counties were discussed respectively in order to explore and explain the inherence of land use change. The results showed that urban expansion in these five counties kept an even rate of increase, while substantial amount of cropland vanished during the period. It is also noted that the conversion between cropland and orchard land was intensive. Forest land became the main source of new croplands.

Analgzing long-term changes in vegetation with geographic information system and remotely sensed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iverson, Louis R.; Risser, Paul G.

Geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques are powerful tools in the analysis of long-term changes in vegetation and land use, especially because spatial information from two or more time intervals can be compared more readily than by manual methods. A primary restriction is the paucity of data that has been digitized from earlier periods. The Illinois State Geographic Information System has a number of automated data sets containing land-use information, including original land survey plat maps that show the boundaries of forests, prairies, and wetlands as they existed prior to European colonization in the early 1800s. More recent data include the United States Forest Service inventories of 1948, 1962, and 1985; the United States Geological Survey Land Use Data Analysis; National High Altitude Program photographs of vegetation; and Landsat MSS and TM information. These data can be used to compare vegetation patterns and changes in land use over time and to suggest factors that may have caused or influenced these variations. Profound changes have occurred in the Illinois landscape since European settlement, primarily because of conversion to agricultural use; in certain parts of the state, however, urbanization has been the major factor contributing to changes.

Fire-related carbon emissions from land use transitions in southern Amazonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeFries, R. S.; Morton, D. C.; van der Werf, G. R.; Giglio, L.; Collatz, G. J.; Randerson, J. T.; Houghton, R. A.; Kasibhatla, P. K.; Shimabukuro, Y.

2008-11-01

Various land-use transitions in the tropics contribute to atmospheric carbon emissions, including forest conversion for small-scale farming, cattle ranching, and production of commodities such as soya and palm oil. These transitions involve fire as an effective and inexpensive means for clearing. We applied the DECAF (DEforestation CArbon Fluxes) model to Mato Grosso, Brazil to estimate fire emissions from various land-use transitions during 2001-2005. Fires associated with deforestation contributed 67 Tg C/yr (17 and 50 Tg C/yr from conversion to cropland and pasture, respectively), while conversion of savannas and existing cattle pasture to cropland contributed 17 Tg C/yr and pasture maintenance fires 6 Tg C/yr. Large clearings (>100 ha/yr) contributed 67% of emissions but comprised only 10% of deforestation events. From a policy perspective, results imply that intensification of agricultural production on already-cleared land and policies to discourage large clearings would reduce the major sources of emissions from fires in this region.

Greenhouse gas emissions during plantation stage of palm oil-based biofuel production addressing different land conversion scenarios in Malaysia.

PubMed

Kusin, Faradiella Mohd; Akhir, Nurul Izzati Mat; Mohamat-Yusuff, Ferdaus; Awang, Muhamad

2017-02-01

The environmental impacts with regard to agro-based biofuel production have been associated with the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, field GHG emissions during plantation stage of palm oil-based biofuel production associated with land use changes for oil palm plantation development have been evaluated. Three different sites of different land use changes prior to oil palm plantation were chosen; converted land-use (large and small-scales) and logged-over forest. Field sampling for determination of soil N-mineralisation and soil organic carbon (SOC) was undertaken at the sites according to the age of palm, i.e. <5 years (immature), 5-20 and >21 years (mature oil palms). The field data were incorporated into the estimation of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and the resulting CO 2 -eq emissions as well as for estimation of carbon stock changes. Irrespective of the land conversion scenarios, the nitrous oxide emissions were found in the range of 6.47-7.78 kg N 2 O-N/ha resulting in 498-590 kg CO 2 -eq/ha. On the other hand, the conversion of tropical forest into oil palm plantation has resulted in relatively higher GHG emissions (i.e. four times higher and carbon stock reduction by >50%) compared to converted land use (converted rubber plantation) for oil palm development. The conversion from previously rubber plantation into oil palm plantation would increase the carbon savings (20% in increase) thus sustaining the environmental benefits from the palm oil-based biofuel production.

High carbon losses due to recent cropland expansion in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spawn, S.; Lark, T.; Gibbs, H.

2017-12-01

Land conversion for agriculture in the United States has reached record highs in recent years. From 2008 to 2012 nearly 30,000 square kilometers of previously un-cultivated land were converted to agricultural land use with much of this expansion occurring on grasslands (77%) and shrublands (8%). To understand the effects of this conversion on global C cycling, we created novel, spatially explicit biomass maps for these biomes by combining existing satellite data products with models derived from field measurements. We then estimated changes in existing C stocks by combining our derived data with existing Landsat-scale data on land cover, land conversion, forest biomass and soil organic carbon (C) stocks. We find that conversion results in annual C losses of approximately 25 Tg C from US terrestrial ecosystems. Nationwide, roughly 80% of total emissions result from committed soil organic C losses. While biomass losses from expansion into forests and wetlands are disproportionately high per unit area, the vast majority of C losses occurred in grassland ecosystems, with grassland roots representing close to 70% of total biomass losses across all biomes. C losses are partially offset each year by agricultural abandonment which we estimate could sequester as much as 15 Tg C, annually. Taken together, we find that US agricultural expansion results in net annual emissions of 10 Tg C which is nearly 30% of emissions from existing US croplands. Our estimate is comparable to a recent analogous estimate for conversion of the Brazilian Cerrado and is equivalent to 10% of annual C losses from pantropical deforestation, suggesting that the effects of US cropland expansion could be globally significant.

Sensitivity Analysis in Agent-Based Models of Socio-Ecological Systems: An Example in Agricultural Land Conservation for Lake Water Quality Improvement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ligmann-Zielinska, A.; Kramer, D. B.; Spence Cheruvelil, K.; Soranno, P.

2012-12-01

Socio-ecological systems are dynamic and nonlinear. To account for this complexity, we employ agent-based models (ABMs) to study macro-scale phenomena resulting from micro-scale interactions among system components. Because ABMs typically have many parameters, it is challenging to identify which parameters contribute to the emerging macro-scale patterns. In this paper, we address the following question: What is the extent of participation in agricultural land conservation programs given heterogeneous landscape, economic, social, and individual decision making criteria in complex lakesheds? To answer this question, we: [1] built an ABM for our model system; [2] simulated land use change resulting from agent decision making, [3] estimated the uncertainty of the model output, decomposed it and apportioned it to each of the parameters in the model. Our model system is a freshwater socio-ecological system - that of farmland and lake water quality within a region containing a large number of lakes and high proportions of agricultural lands. Our study focuses on examining how agricultural land conversion from active to fallow reduces freshwater nutrient loading and improves water quality. Consequently, our ABM is composed of farmer agents who make decisions related to participation in a government-sponsored Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) managed by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). We also include an FSA agent, who selects enrollment offers made by farmers and announces the signup results leading to land use change. The model is executed in a Monte Carlo simulation framework to generate a distribution of maps of fallow lands that are used for calculating nutrient loading to lakes. What follows is a variance-based sensitivity analysis of the results. We compute sensitivity indices for individual parameters and their combinations, allowing for identification of the most influential as well as the insignificant inputs. In the case study, we observe that farmland conservation is first and foremost driven by the FSA signup choices. Environmental criteria used in FSA offer selection play a secondary role in farmland-to-fallow-land conversion. Farmer decision making is mainly influenced by the willingness to reduce the potential annual rental payments. As the case study demonstrates, our approach leads to ABM simplification without the loss of outcome variability. It also shows how to represent the magnitude of ABM complexity and isolate the effects of the interconnected explanatory variables on the simulated emergent phenomena. More importantly, the results of our research indicate that some of the parameters exert influence on model outcomes only if analyzed in combination with other parameters. Without evaluating the interaction effects among inputs, we risk losing important functional relationships among ABM components and, consequently, we potentially reduce its explanatory power.

Forest conservation and land development in Puerto Rico.

Treesearch

E.H. Helmer

2004-01-01

In the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, rapid land-use changes over the past century have included recent landcover conversion to urban/built-up lands. Observations of this land development adjacent to reserves or replacing dense forest call into question how the changes relate to forests or reserved lands. Using existing maps, this study first summarizes island-wide...

Irrigation as a determinant of the land use impacts of biofuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Hertel, T. W.; Taheripour, F.

2011-12-01

Previous research into the global land use impacts of biofuels has assumed that cropland area could expand in most regions of the world. Indeed, such expansion into more carbon-rich land cover such as grassland or forest is the focus of research into the contributions of indirect land use to the GHG impacts of biofuels. Several studies have examined the global land use consequences of biofuel production. However, all of these studies have effectively treated all cropland as being rainfed. The role of irrigation in biofuel-induced cropland expansion has been wholly ignored. Irrigated croplands typically have much higher yields than their rainfed counterparts. As a consequence, irrigated lands that represent 20% global cropland cover account for 42% of global crop production. Thus, the question of whether expansion of biofuel involves irrigated or rainfed lands makes a significant difference in terms of how much new land will be required to provide the additional production called for in the presence of biofuels. If the new lands are irrigated, and therefore have higher yields than rainfed lands in the same Agro Ecological Zone (AEZs), then less land conversion will be required. However, this land conversion saving may be impossible because expansion of irrigated area is often constrained, either by insufficient water, or insufficient capacity. In this paper we explore the impact on iLUC estimates if irrigated area cannot be expanded. Since earlier studies have assumed the opposite (no constraint whatsoever on expansion), this paper offers an upper bound on the change in land use patterns once one accounts for irrigation. Results show that the change in global cropland area is 15% larger when the irrigation constraint is imposed. This is a direct consequence of the lower yields in rainfed areas. The figure is larger in the US, where the elimination of potential for expanding irrigated areas results in 23% more cropland cover change. The results also show that the presence of potential irrigation constraints significantly alters the geographic pattern of land use change in the wake of the US ethanol expansion. Since rainfed agriculture is more likely than irrigated agriculture to compete with forest, the irrigation-enhanced model shows greater conversion of forest to cropland (up from 23% to 27% of total cropland conversion globally). As a consequence, the GHG emissions from this indirect land use change are significantly higher than the previous estimates - this stems both from greater cropland expansion overall, as well as from the tendency to convert more forest per hectare of cropland.

Land Use.

EPA Science Inventory

Land use in the Narragansett Bay Watershed (NBW) is subject to conversion, and these changes influence the Watershed’s hydrologic functions. Changes of natural habitat such as wetlands and forests to urban lands have impacted how water is delivered to rivers and lakes, to g...

75 FR 56135 - Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW149955, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-15

... Khody Land & Minerals Company for competitive oil and gas lease WYW149955 for land in Converse County... lease terminated under the law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L...

75 FR 56136 - Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW149954, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-15

... Khody Land & Minerals Company for competitive oil and gas lease WYW149954 for land in Converse County... lease terminated under the law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L...

Canopy volume removal from oil and gas development activity in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York (USA): An assessment using lidar data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Young, John A.; Maloney, Kelly O.; Slonecker, Terry; Milheim, Lesley E.; Siripoonsup, David

2018-01-01

Oil and gas development is changing the landscape in many regions of the United States and globally. However, the nature, extent, and magnitude of landscape change and development, and precisely how this development compares to other ongoing land conversion (e.g. urban/sub-urban development, timber harvest) is not well understood. In this study, we examine land conversion from oil and gas infrastructure development in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York, an area that has experienced much oil and gas development over the past 10 years. We quantified land conversion in terms of forest canopy geometric volume loss in contrast to previous studies that considered only areal impacts. For the first time in a study of this type, we use fine-scale lidar forest canopy geometric models to assess the volumetric change due to forest clearing from oil and gas development and contrast this land change to clear cut forest harvesting, and urban and suburban development. Results show that oil and gas infrastructure development removed a large volume of forest canopy from 2006 to 2013, and this removal spread over a large portion of the study area. Timber operations (clear cutting) on Pennsylvania State Forest lands removed a larger total volume of forest canopy during the same time period, but this canopy removal was concentrated in a smaller area. Results of our study point to the need to consider volumetric impacts of oil and gas development on ecosystems, and to place potential impacts in context with other ongoing land conversions.

A method for examining the impacts of Oregon land use laws on forest lands and farmlands

Treesearch

David L. Azuma; Gary Lettman; Erica Hanson

2009-01-01

Over the past 8 years, the Pacific Northwest Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis unit, in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Agriculture, and Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, has researched the effect of Oregon's land use laws on the conversion and development of land. The studies have used...

Previous land use and invasive species impacts on long-term afforestation success

Treesearch

Joshua B. Nickelson; Eric J. Holzmueller; John W. Groninger; Damon B. Lesmeister

2015-01-01

The conversion of agricultural lands to forests has increased worldwide over the past few decades for multiple reasons including increasing forest connectivity and wildlife habitat. However, previous land cover and competing vegetation often impede afforestation. We established 219 plots in 29 Quercus plantations on four previous land cover types (...

Weighing the relative potential impacts of climate change and land-use change on an endangered bird

EPA Science Inventory

Climate change and land-use change are projected to be two of the greatest drivers of biodiversity loss over the coming century. Land-use change, particularly the conversion of more natural lands to agriculture or residential or commercial development has resulted in extensive h...

43 CFR 3140.7 - Lands within the National Park System.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Lands within the National Park System... Lands within the National Park System. Conversions of existing oil and gas leases and valid claims based on mineral locations to combined hydrocarbon leases within units of the National Park System shall be...

43 CFR 3140.7 - Lands within the National Park System.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Lands within the National Park System... Lands within the National Park System. Conversions of existing oil and gas leases and valid claims based on mineral locations to combined hydrocarbon leases within units of the National Park System shall be...

43 CFR 3140.7 - Lands within the National Park System.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Lands within the National Park System... Lands within the National Park System. Conversions of existing oil and gas leases and valid claims based on mineral locations to combined hydrocarbon leases within units of the National Park System shall be...

43 CFR 3140.7 - Lands within the National Park System.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Lands within the National Park System... Lands within the National Park System. Conversions of existing oil and gas leases and valid claims based on mineral locations to combined hydrocarbon leases within units of the National Park System shall be...

Mapping ecosystem services for land use planning, the case of Central Kalimantan.

PubMed

Sumarga, Elham; Hein, Lars

2014-07-01

Indonesia is subject to rapid land use change. One of the main causes for the conversion of land is the rapid expansion of the oil palm sector. Land use change involves a progressive loss of forest cover, with major impacts on biodiversity and global CO2 emissions. Ecosystem services have been proposed as a concept that would facilitate the identification of sustainable land management options, however, the scale of land conversion and its spatial diversity pose particular challenges in Indonesia. The objective of this paper is to analyze how ecosystem services can be mapped at the provincial scale, focusing on Central Kalimantan, and to examine how ecosystem services maps can be used for a land use planning. Central Kalimantan is subject to rapid deforestation including the loss of peatland forests and the provincial still lacks a comprehensive land use plan. We examine how seven key ecosystem services can be mapped and modeled at the provincial scale, using a variety of models, and how large scale ecosystem services maps can support the identification of options for sustainable expansion of palm oil production.

Forest to agriculture conversion in southern Belize: Implications for migrant land birds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spruce, J.P.; Dowell, B.A.; Robbins, C.S.; Sader, S.A.; Doyle, Jamie K.; Schelhas, John

1993-01-01

Central America offers a suite of neotropical habitats vital to overwintering migrant land birds. The recent decline of many forest dwelling avian migrants is believed to be related in part to neotropical deforestation and land use change. However, spatio-temporal trends in neotropical habitat availability and avian migrant habitat use are largely unknown. Such information is needed to assess the impact of agriculture conversion on migrant land birds. In response, the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Maine began a cooperative study in 1988 which applies remote sensing and field surveys to determine current habitat availability and avian migrant habitat use. Study sites include areas in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala and southern Mexico. Visual assessment of Landsat TM imagery indicates southern Belize forests are fragmented by various agricultural systems. Shifting agriculture is predominant in some areas, while permanent agriculture (citrus and mixed animal crops) is the primary system in others. This poster focuses on efforts to monitor forest to agriculture conversion in southern Belize using remote sensing, field surveys and GIS techniques. Procedures and avian migrant use of habitat are summarized.

The changing patterns of cropland conversion to built-up land in China from 1987 to 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ju, H.; Zhang, Z.; Zhao, X.; Wu, W.; Wang, X.; Zuo, L.

2017-12-01

With the rapid urbanization, industrialization and rural area construction in China, the expansions of built-up land encroached upon a large amount of cropland, and thus placed great challenges on national food security. Previous studies have primarily been focused on the whole effects of built-up land expansion, however, the individual effect of different types of built-up land (urban areas, rural settlements and industrial/transportation land) on cropland loss remains unclear. Based on land use maps interpreted from remote sensing imagery in 1987-2010, we illustrated the spatio-temporal patterns of the speed and the structure of cropland conversion to built-up land. Then, we quantitatively measured the influence of different built-up land on cropland loss from three aspects: the contribution of built-up land expansion to cropland loss, the dependence of built-up land expansion on cropland loss and the conversion's impacts on cropland quality. It was found 42,822 km2 of cropland were converted into built-up land in China, accounting for 43.8% of total cropland loss during 1987-2010. Before 2000, the expansion of rural settlements had the largest influence on cropland loss, however, urban growth showed a greater impact on cropland loss after 2000. Although the effects of rural settlements expansion decreased, rural settlements still saw the highest percentage of the loss of traditional cropland which is generally in high quality. In addition, the impacts of industrial/transportation land expansion increased dramatically and was mainly distributed in major food production regions. These changes were closely related to the economic restructuring, urban-rural transformation and government policies in China. These findings demonstrate that Chinese cropland conservation in both amount and quality should focus not only on finding a reasonable urbanization mode, but also solving the "hollowing village" problem and balancing the industrial transformations in the future.

Coupling Cellular Automata Land Use Change with Distributed Hydrologic Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shu, L.; Duffy, C.

2017-12-01

There has been extensive research on LUC modeling with broad applications to simulating urban growth and changing demographic patterns across multiple scales. The importance of land conversion is a critical issue in watershed scale studies and is generally not treated in most watershed modeling approaches. In this study we apply spatially explicit hydrologic and landuse change models and the Conestoga Watershed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM) partitions the water balance in space and time over the urban catchment, the coupled Cellular Automata Land Use Change model (CALUC) dynamically simulates the evolution of land use classes based on physical measures associated with population change and land use demand factors. The CALUC model is based on iteratively applying discrete rules to each individual spatial cell. The essence the CA modeling involves calculation of the Transition Potential (TP) for conversion of a grid cell from one land use class to another. This potential includes five factors: random perturbation, suitability, accessibility, neighborhood effect, inertia effects and zonal factors. In spite of simplicity, this CALUC model has been shown to be very effective for simulating LUC leading to the emergence of complex spatial patterns. The components of TP are derived from present land use data for landuse reanalysis and for realistic future land use scenarios. For the CALUC we use early-settlement (circa 1790) initial land class values and final or present-day (2010) land classes to calibrate the model. CALUC- PIHM dynamically simulates the hydrologic response of conversion from pre-settlement to present landuse. The simulations highlight the capability and value of dynamic coupling of catchment hydrology with land use change over long time periods. Analysis of the simulation uses various metrics such as the distributed water balance, flow duration curves, etc. to show how deforestation, urbanization and agricultural land development interact for the period 1790- present.

Agricultural cropland mapping using black-and-white aerial photography, Object-Based Image Analysis and Random Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogels, M. F. A.; de Jong, S. M.; Sterk, G.; Addink, E. A.

2017-02-01

Land-use and land-cover (LULC) conversions have an important impact on land degradation, erosion and water availability. Information on historical land cover (change) is crucial for studying and modelling land- and ecosystem degradation. During the past decades major LULC conversions occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America as a consequence of a growing population and economy. Most distinct is the conversion of natural vegetation into cropland. Historical LULC information can be derived from satellite imagery, but these only date back until approximately 1972. Before the emergence of satellite imagery, landscapes were monitored by black-and-white (B&W) aerial photography. This photography is often visually interpreted, which is a very time-consuming approach. This study presents an innovative, semi-automated method to map cropland acreage from B&W photography. Cropland acreage was mapped on two study sites in Ethiopia and in The Netherlands. For this purpose we used Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) and a Random Forest classification on a set of variables comprising texture, shape, slope, neighbour and spectral information. Overall mapping accuracies attained are 90% and 96% for the two study areas respectively. This mapping method increases the timeline at which historical cropland expansion can be mapped purely from brightness information in B&W photography up to the 1930s, which is beneficial for regions where historical land-use statistics are mostly absent.

Projecting large-scale area changes in land use and land cover for terrestrial carbon analyses.

PubMed

Alig, Ralph J; Butler, Brett J

2004-04-01

One of the largest changes in US forest type areas over the last half-century has involved pine types in the South. The area of planted pine has increased more than 10-fold since 1950, mostly on private lands. Private landowners have responded to market incentives and government programs, including subsidized afforestation on marginal agricultural land. Timber harvest is a crucial disturbance affecting planted pine area, as other forest types are converted to planted pine after harvest. Conversely, however, many harvested pine plantations revert to other forest types, mainly due to passive regeneration behavior on nonindustrial private timberlands. We model land use and land cover changes as a basis for projecting future changes in planted pine area, to aid policy analysts concerned with mitigation activities for global climate change. Projections are prepared in two stages. Projected land use changes include deforestation due to pressures to develop rural land as the human population expands, which is a larger area than that converted from other rural lands (e.g., agriculture) to forestry. In the second stage, transitions among forest types are projected on land allocated to forestry. We consider reforestation, influences of timber harvest, and natural succession and disturbance processes. Baseline projections indicate a net increase of about 5.6 million ha in planted pine area in the South over the next 50 years, with a notable increase in sequestered carbon. Additional opportunities to expand pine plantation area warrant study of landowner behavior to aid in designing more effective incentives for inducing land use and land cover changes to help mitigate climate change and attain other goals.

An assessment of the influence of bioenergy and marketed land amenity values on land uses in the midwestern US

Treesearch

Suk-Won Choi; Brent Sohngen; Ralph Alig

2011-01-01

There is substantial concern that bioenergy policies could swamp other considerations, such as environmental values, and lead to large-scale conversions of land from forest to crops. This study examines how bioenergy and marketed environmental rents for forestland potentially influence land use in the Midwestern US. We hypothesize that current land uses reflect market...

Sustainable biomass products development and evaluation, Hamakua project. Final draft report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-05-01

The PICHTR Sustainable Biomass Energy Program was developed to evaluate the potential to cultivate crops for energy production as an alternative use of lands made available by the closing of large sugar plantations. In particular, the closing of the Hamakua Sugar Company on the island of Hawaii brought a great deal of attention to the future of agriculture in this region and in the state. Many options were proposed. Several promising alternatives had been proposed for cane lands. These included dedicated feedstock supply systems (DFSS) for electrical energy production, cultivation of sugarcane to produce ethanol and related by-products, and themore » production of feed and crops to support animal agriculture. Implementation of some of the options might require preservation of large tracts of land and maintenance of the sugar mills and sugar infrastructure. An analysis of the technical, financial, and other issues necessary to reach conclusions regarding the optimal use of these lands was required. At the request of the Office of State Planning and Senator Akaka`s office, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR) established and coordinated a working group composed of state, county, federal, and private sector representatives to identify sustainable energy options for the use of idle sugar lands on the island of Hawaii. The Sustainable Biomass Energy Program`s Hamakua Project was established to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the most viable alternatives and assess the options to grow crops as a source of raw materials for the production of transportation fuel and/or electricity on the island of Hawaii. The motivation for evaluating biomass to energy conversion embraced the considerations that Hawaii`s energy security would be improved by diversifying the fuels used for transportation and reducing dependency on imported fossil fuels. The use of waste products as feedstocks could divert wastes from landfills.« less

Global albedo change and radiative cooling from anthropogenic land-cover change, 1700 to 2005 based on MODIS, land-use harmonization and radiative kernels

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Widespread anthropogenic land-cover change over the last five centuries has influenced the global climate system through both biogeochemical and biophysical processes. Models indicate that warming from carbon emissions associated with land cover conversion have been partially offset if not outweigh...

Remote sensing based deforestation analysis in Mahanadi and Brahmaputra river basin in India since 1985.

PubMed

Behera, M D; Tripathi, P; Das, P; Srivastava, S K; Roy, P S; Joshi, C; Behera, P R; Deka, J; Kumar, P; Khan, M L; Tripathi, O P; Dash, T; Krishnamurthy, Y V N

2018-01-15

Land use and land cover (LULC) change has been recognized as a key driver of global climate change by influencing land surface processes. Being in constant change, river basins are always subjected to LULC changes, especially decline in forest cover to give way for agricultural expansion, urbanization, industrialization etc. We used on-screen digital interpretation technique to derive LULC maps from Landsat images at three decadal intervals i.e., 1985, 1995 and 2005 of two major river basins of India. Rain-fed, Mahanadi river basin (MRB) attributed to 55% agricultural area wherein glacier-fed, Brahmaputra river basin (BRB) had only 16% area under agricultural land. Though conversion of forest land for agricultural activities was the major LULC changes in both the basins, the rate was higher for BRB than MRB. While water body increased in MRB could be primarily attributed to creation of reservoirs and aquaculture farms; snow and ice melting attributed to creation of more water bodies in BRB. Scrub land acted as an intermediate class for forest conversion to barren land in BRB, while direct conversion of scrub land to waste land and crop land was seen in MRB. While habitation contributed primarily to LULC changes in BRB, the proximity zones around habitat and other socio-economic drivers contributed to LULC change in MRB. Comparing the predicted result with actual LULC of 2005, we obtained >97% modelling accuracy; therefore it is expected that the Dyna-CLUE model has very well predicted the LULC for the year 2025. The predicted LULC of 2025 and corresponding LULC changes in these two basins acting as early warning, and with the past 2-decadal change analysis this study is believed to help the land use planners for improved regional planning to create balanced ecosystem, especially in a changing climate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 770.5 - Loan limitations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... used for any land improvement or development purposes, acquisition or repair of buildings or personal... will contribute to excessive erosion of highly erodible land or to the conversion of wetlands to...

Land use and land cover change in the North Central Appalachians ecoregion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Napton, D.E.; Sohl, Terry L.; Auch, Roger F.; Loveland, Thomas R.

2003-01-01

The North Central Appalachians ecoregion, spanning northern Pennsylvania and southern New York, has a long history of land use and land cover change. Turn-of-the-century logging dramatically altered the natural landscape of the ecoregion, but subsequent regeneration returned the ecoregion to a forest dominated condition. To understand contemporary land use and land cover changes, the U.S. Geological Survey with NASA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency used a random sample of satellite remotely sensed data for 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 to estimate the rates and assess the primary drivers of change in the North Central Appalachians. The overall change was 6.2%. The 1973-1980 period had the lowest rate of change (1.5%); the highest rate (2.9%) occurred during the 1992-2000 period. The primary conversions were deforestation through harvesting and natural disturbance (i.e., tornados) followed by regeneration, and conversion of forests to mining and urban lands. The primary drivers of the change included changes in access, energy and forest prices, and attitudes toward the environment.

Measuring impacts of community forestry program through repeat photography and satellite remote sensing in the Dolakha district of Nepal.

PubMed

Niraula, Rabin Raj; Gilani, Hammad; Pokharel, Bharat Kumar; Qamer, Faisal Mueen

2013-09-15

During the 1990's community-based forest management gained momentum in Nepal. This study systematically evaluates the impacts that this had on land cover change and other associated aspects during the period 1990-2010 using repeat photography and satellite imagery in combination with interviews with community members. The results of the study clearly reflect the success of community-based forest management in the Dolakha district of the mid-hills of Nepal: during the study period, the rate of conversion of sparse forest into dense forest under community-based management was found to be between 1.13% and 3.39% per year. Similarly, the rate of conversion of non-forest area into forest was found to be between 1.11% and 1.96% per year. Community-based forest management has resulted in more efficient use of forest resources, contributed to a decline in the use of slash-and-burn agricultural practices, reduced the incidence of forest fires, spurred tree plantation, and encouraged the conservation and protection of trees on both public and private land. The resulting reclamation of forest in landside areas and river banks and the overall improvement in forest cover in the area has reduced flash floods and associated landslides. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethics and Agricultural Education: Determining Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Billye

2000-01-01

In a three-round Delphi (n=197, 109, 75), secondary teachers (61.5% in agriculture) identified important ethical issues regarding land and water use: conversion of agricultural land for urban development, water rights control, and public land used for agriculture. Nearly all addressed ethical issues in class. (SK)

Soil Nitrogen-Cycling Responses to Conversion of Lowland Forests to Oil Palm and Rubber Plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia

PubMed Central

Tjoa, Aiyen; Veldkamp, Edzo

2015-01-01

Rapid deforestation in Sumatra, Indonesia is presently occurring due to the expansion of palm oil and rubber production, fueled by an increasing global demand. Our study aimed to assess changes in soil-N cycling rates with conversion of forest to oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations. In Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, we selected two soil landscapes – loam and clay Acrisol soils – each with four land-use types: lowland forest and forest with regenerating rubber (hereafter, “jungle rubber”) as reference land uses, and rubber and oil palm as converted land uses. Gross soil-N cycling rates were measured using the 15N pool dilution technique with in-situ incubation of soil cores. In the loam Acrisol soil, where fertility was low, microbial biomass, gross N mineralization and NH4 + immobilization were also low and no significant changes were detected with land-use conversion. The clay Acrisol soil which had higher initial fertility based on the reference land uses (i.e. higher pH, organic C, total N, effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) and base saturation) (P≤0.05–0.09) had larger microbial biomass and NH4 + transformation rates (P≤0.05) compared to the loam Acrisol soil. Conversion of forest and jungle rubber to rubber and oil palm in the clay Acrisol soil decreased soil fertility which, in turn, reduced microbial biomass and consequently decreased NH4 + transformation rates (P≤0.05–0.09). This was further attested by the correlation of gross N mineralization and microbial biomass N with ECEC, organic C, total N (R=0.51–0. 76; P≤0.05) and C:N ratio (R=-0.71 – -0.75, P≤0.05). Our findings suggest that the larger the initial soil fertility and N availability, the larger the reductions upon land-use conversion. Because soil N availability was dependent on microbial biomass, management practices in converted oil palm and rubber plantations should focus on enriching microbial biomass. PMID:26222690

Modeling the influence of long term human-induced land use conversion on sediment fluxes and carbon dynamics at the catchment scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchoms, Samuel; Van Oost, Kristof; Vanacker, Veerle

2014-05-01

Over the past 20 years, there has been increasing evidence of the strong impact of human activities on the landscape, specifically on soil erosion due to the removal of natural vegetation cover for agricultural and urban purposes. The results question the widespread hypothesis of a steady state landscape since it appears that the balance between soil production and erosion may be broken altering the interactions between chemical, physical and biological processes in both soil and landscape system. Yet, the relationship between this accelerated erosion and the carbon dynamics at the landscape scale remains an important area of investigation. Recent attempts to combine geomorphic models, soil redistribution and carbon dynamic has proved themselves valuable in term of supporting the importance of lateral fluxes as a crucial control of carbon dynamic at the landscape scale. We use the SPEROS LT model, a modified version of SPEROS-C which includes dynamic land use and soil physical properties, to assess the impact of historical land use conversion on sediment and carbon fluxes in the Dijle catchment. This particular location has experienced a significant human impact since the Roman period, undergoing heavy deforestation and expansion of agricultural lands followed by a period of abandonment. The last 400 to 500 years saw a dramatic increase in the intensity of land use conversion associated to population growth leading to forest cleaning and urbanization. Our main objective is to validate the combined geomorphic and soil carbon turnover process descriptions of the model. Historical land use proportions are based on existing literature estimations and spatial assignation of the land conversion relies on simple allocation rules based on criteria such as slope or soil texture. Land use scenarios are constructed for the last 2000 years. We confront the model results with observations and perform a sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that the general trends in sediment production and deposition, as well as soil carbon storage are well predicted by the model. We discuss the key-parameters of the model and the implications of past erosion-deposition for the future C budget of the Dijle catchment.

Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities.

PubMed

Blank, Peter J; Williams, Carol L; Sample, David W; Meehan, Timothy D; Turner, Monica G

2016-01-01

Increased demand and government mandates for bioenergy crops in the United States could require a large allocation of agricultural land to bioenergy feedstock production and substantially alter current landscape patterns. Incorporating bioenergy landscape design into land-use decision making could help maximize benefits and minimize trade-offs among alternative land uses. We developed spatially explicit landscape scenarios of increased bioenergy crop production in an 80-km radius agricultural landscape centered on a potential biomass-processing energy facility and evaluated the consequences of each scenario for bird communities. Our scenarios included conversion of existing annual row crops to perennial bioenergy grasslands and conversion of existing grasslands to annual bioenergy row crops. The scenarios explored combinations of four biomass crop types (three potential grassland crops along a gradient of plant diversity and one annual row crop [corn]), three land conversion percentages to bioenergy crops (10%, 20%, or 30% of row crops or grasslands), and three spatial configurations of biomass crop fields (random, clustered near similar field types, or centered on the processing plant), yielding 36 scenarios. For each scenario, we predicted the impact on four bird community metrics: species richness, total bird density, species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) density, and SGCN hotspots (SGCN birds/ha ≥ 2). Bird community metrics consistently increased with conversion of row crops to bioenergy grasslands and consistently decreased with conversion of grasslands to bioenergy row crops. Spatial arrangement of bioenergy fields had strong effects on the bird community and in some cases was more influential than the amount converted to bioenergy crops. Clustering grasslands had a stronger positive influence on the bird community than locating grasslands near the central plant or at random. Expansion of bioenergy grasslands onto marginal agricultural lands will likely benefit grassland bird populations, and bioenergy landscapes could be designed to maximize biodiversity benefits while meeting targets for biomass production.

Land use change emissions from oil palm expansion in Pará, Brazil depend on proper policy enforcement on deforested lands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yui, Sahoko; Yeh, Sonia

2013-12-01

Brazil aims to increase palm oil production to meet the growing national and global demand for edible oil and biodiesel while preserving environmentally and culturally significant areas. As land use change (LUC) is the result of complex interactions between socio-economic and biophysical drivers operating at multiple temporal and spatial scales, the type and location of LUC depend on drivers such as neighboring land use, conversion elasticity, access to infrastructure, distance to markets, and land suitability. The purpose of this study is to develop scenarios to measure the impact of land conversion under three different enforcement scenarios (none, some, and strict enforcement). We found that converting 22.5 million hectares of land can produce approximately 29 billion gallons (110 billion liters) of biodiesel a year. Of that, 22-71% of the area can come from forest land, conservation units, wetland and indigenous areas, emitting 14-84 gCO2e MJ-1. This direct land use emission alone can be higher than the carbon intensity of diesel that it intends to displace for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This letter focuses narrowly on GHG emissions and does not address socio-economic-ecological prospects for these degraded lands for palm oil or for other purposes. Future studies should carefully evaluate these tradeoffs.

Mapping decadal land cover changes in the woodlands of north eastern Namibia using the Landsat satellite archive (1975-2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wingate, Vladimir; Phinn, Stuart; Kuhn, Nikolaus

2016-04-01

Woodland savannahs provide essential ecosystem functions and services to communities. On the African continent, they are widely utilized and converted to intensive land uses. This study investigates the land cover changes over 108,038 km2 in NE Namibia using multi-sensor Landsat imagery, at decadal intervals from 1975 to 2014, with a post-classification change detection method and supervised Regression Tree classifiers. We discuss likely impacts of land tenure and reforms over the past four decades on changes in land use and land cover. These included losses, gains and exchanges between predominant land cover classes. Exchanges comprised logical conversions between woodland and agricultural classes, implying woodland clearing for arable farming, cropland abandonment and vegetation succession. The dominant change was a reduction in the area of the woodland class due to the expansion of the agricultural class, specifically, small-scale cereal and pastoral production. Woodland area decreased from 90% of the study area in 1975 to 83% in 2014, while cleared land increased from 9% to 14%. We found that the main land cover changes are conversion from woodland to agricultural and urban land uses, driven by urban expansion and woodland clearing for subsistence-based agriculture and pastoralism.

75 FR 52010 - Land and Water Conservation Fund Description and Notification, Performance Reports, Agreements...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-24

... Notification, Performance Reports, Agreements and Amendments, On-site Inspection Reports, and Conversion of Use... to an existing grant, or a Conversion of Use Provisions request. The DNF becomes part of the official... Time per Response: 30 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,996. 5. Conversion of Use...

As Long as it is Not My Land: Landowners and Oak Woodland Conservation in Spain and California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huntsinger, L.; Oviedo, J. L.; Plieninger, T.

2009-04-01

In Spain and California, landowners have a crucial role to play in the conservation of oak woodlands. The value of environmental services from private oak woodlands used for extensive agriculture has drawn the attention of policymakers and conservationists, and policy strategies for maintenance of traditional extensive agriculture are emergent in both places. These strategies require landowner participation. Surveys of landowners in each place reveal similarities in management practices, goals, attitudes, and demographics, as well as some interesting points of divergence. Despite very different institutional and political contexts, landowner attitudes show some striking similarities. Both favor a degree of government protection of natural resources, but would prefer that this would not include regulation of activities on their own lands. With a relatively stable woodland ecologically, and a high rate of urban out-migration into woodland areas, the more visible initiatives in California today focus on landowner education, and tax relief for temporary or permanent restrictions on land conversion. Non-governmental organizations have taken an increasingly visible role in the brokering of purchased or donated land title restrictions for conservation. These programs have resulted in an apparent decline in oak harvest and some limitations on development, but have not often directly influenced regeneration or management on private lands. In contrast, with more stable patterns of population distribution and less stable woodland ecological dynamics, Spanish incentive programs approach regeneration and management issues more directly, with subsidies for oak planting and maintenance, and price advantages for the products of traditional agriculture. The results of a twenty-year longitudinal study in California show a shift towards an increasing focus on amenities by California oak woodland landowners, whether they are ranch owners with hundreds of hectares of woodland, or ranchette owners with 10 hectares.

Land-use and land-management change: relationships with earthworm and fungi communities and soil structural properties.

PubMed

Spurgeon, David J; Keith, Aidan M; Schmidt, Olaf; Lammertsma, Dennis R; Faber, Jack H

2013-12-01

Change in land use and management can impact massively on soil ecosystems. Ecosystem engineers and other functional biodiversity in soils can be influenced directly by such change and this in turn can affect key soil functions. Here, we employ meta-analysis to provide a quantitative assessment of the effects of changes in land use and land management across a range of successional/extensification transitions (conventional arable → no or reduced tillage → grassland → wooded land) on community metrics for two functionally important soil taxa, earthworms and fungi. An analysis of the relationships between community change and soil structural properties was also included. Meta-analysis highlighted a consistent trend of increased earthworm and fungal community abundances and complexity following transitions to lower intensity and later successional land uses. The greatest changes were seen for early stage transitions, such as introduction of reduced tillage regimes and conversion to grassland from arable land. Not all changes, however, result in positive effects on the assessed community metrics. For example, whether woodland conversion positively or negatively affects community size and complexity depends on woodland type and, potentially, the changes in soil properties, such as pH, that may occur during conversion. Alterations in soil communities tended to facilitate subsequent changes in soil structure and hydrology. For example, increasing earthworm abundances and functional group composition were shown to be positively correlated with water infiltration rate (dependent on tillage regime and habitat characteristics); while positive changes in fungal biomass measures were positively associated with soil microaggregate stability. These findings raise the potential to manage landscapes to increase ecosystem service provision from soil biota in relation to regulation of soil structure and water flow.

77 FR 43612 - Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW172987, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-25

..., for competitive oil and gas lease WYW172987 for land in Natrona and Converse County, Wyoming. The... under the law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L. Weaver, Chief, Fluid... interest affecting the lands. Debra A. Olsen, Land Law Examiner. [FR Doc. 2012-18024 Filed 7-24-12; 8:45 am...

Revolutionary land use change in the 21st century: Is (rangeland) science relevant?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rapidly increasing demand for food, fiber and fuel together with new technologies and the mobility of global capital are driving revolutionary changes in land use throughout the world. Efforts to increase land productivity include conversion of millions of hectares of rangelands to crop production, ...

Influence of catchment land cover on stoichiometry and stable isotope compositions of basal resources and macroinvertebrate consumers in headwater streams

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic land use affects aquatic landscapes. For example, landscape-level conversion to urban or agricultural land can heavily influence nutrient cycles in headwater streams via increased nutrient loading and altered hydrologic patterns. Recent studies in headwater streams ...

76 FR 52006 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program; Fiscal Year 2009

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-19

... Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program; Fiscal Year 2009 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant... funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP... for this program is 14.314. The Assisted Living Conversion Program is designed to provide funds to...

78 FR 28606 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program Fiscal Year 2012

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-15

... Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program Fiscal Year 2012 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant... funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP... for this program is 14.314. The Assisted Living Conversion Program is designed to provide funds to...

Protection reduces loss of natural land-cover at sites of conservation importance across Africa.

PubMed

Beresford, Alison E; Eshiamwata, George W; Donald, Paul F; Balmford, Andrew; Bertzky, Bastian; Brink, Andreas B; Fishpool, Lincoln D C; Mayaux, Philippe; Phalan, Ben; Simonetti, Dario; Buchanan, Graeme M

2013-01-01

There is an emerging consensus that protected areas are key in reducing adverse land-cover change, but their efficacy remains difficult to quantify. Many previous assessments of protected area effectiveness have compared changes between sets of protected and unprotected sites that differ systematically in other potentially confounding respects (e.g. altitude, accessibility), have considered only forest loss or changes at single sites, or have analysed changes derived from land-cover data of low spatial resolution. We assessed the effectiveness of protection in reducing land-cover change in Important Bird Areas (IBAs) across Africa using a dedicated visual interpretation of higher resolution satellite imagery. We compared rates of change in natural land-cover over a c. 20-year period from around 1990 at a large number of points across 45 protected IBAs to those from 48 unprotected IBAs. A matching algorithm was used to select sample points to control for potentially confounding differences between protected and unprotected IBAs. The rate of loss of natural land-cover at sample points within protected IBAs was just 42% of that at matched points in unprotected IBAs. Conversion was especially marked in forests, but protection reduced rates of forest loss by a similar relative amount. Rates of conversion increased from the centre to the edges of both protected and unprotected IBAs, but rates of loss in 20-km buffer zones surrounding protected IBAs and unprotected IBAs were similar, with no evidence of displacement of conversion from within protected areas to their immediate surrounds (leakage).

Land change variability and human-environment dynamics in the United States Great Plains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drummond, M.A.; Auch, Roger F.; Karstensen, K.A.; Sayler, K. L.; Taylor, Janis L.; Loveland, Thomas R.

2012-01-01

Land use and land cover changes have complex linkages to climate variability and change, biophysical resources, and socioeconomic driving forces. To assess these land change dynamics and their causes in the Great Plains, we compare and contrast contemporary changes across 16 ecoregions using Landsat satellite data and statistical analysis. Large-area change analysis of agricultural regions is often hampered by change detection error and the tendency for land conversions to occur at the local-scale. To facilitate a regional-scale analysis, a statistical sampling design of randomly selected 10 km × 10 km blocks is used to efficiently identify the types and rates of land conversions for four time intervals between 1973 and 2000, stratified by relatively homogenous ecoregions. Nearly 8% of the overall Great Plains region underwent land-use and land-cover change during the study period, with a substantial amount of ecoregion variability that ranged from less than 2% to greater than 13%. Agricultural land cover declined by more than 2% overall, with variability contingent on the differential characteristics of regional human–environment systems. A large part of the Great Plains is in relatively stable land cover. However, other land systems with significant biophysical and climate limitations for agriculture have high rates of land change when pushed by economic, policy, technology, or climate forcing factors. The results indicate the regionally based potential for land cover to persist or fluctuate as land uses are adapted to spatially and temporally variable forcing factors.

A pantropical analysis of the impacts of forest degradation and conversion on local temperature.

PubMed

Senior, Rebecca A; Hill, Jane K; González Del Pliego, Pamela; Goode, Laurel K; Edwards, David P

2017-10-01

Temperature is a core component of a species' fundamental niche. At the fine scale over which most organisms experience climate (mm to ha), temperature depends upon the amount of radiation reaching the Earth's surface, which is principally governed by vegetation. Tropical regions have undergone widespread and extreme changes to vegetation, particularly through the degradation and conversion of rainforests. As most terrestrial biodiversity is in the tropics, and many of these species possess narrow thermal limits, it is important to identify local thermal impacts of rainforest degradation and conversion. We collected pantropical, site-level (<1 ha) temperature data from the literature to quantify impacts of land-use change on local temperatures, and to examine whether this relationship differed aboveground relative to belowground and between wet and dry seasons. We found that local temperature in our sample sites was higher than primary forest in all human-impacted land-use types (N = 113,894 daytime temperature measurements from 25 studies). Warming was pronounced following conversion of forest to agricultural land (minimum +1.6°C, maximum +13.6°C), but minimal and nonsignificant when compared to forest degradation (e.g., by selective logging; minimum +1°C, maximum +1.1°C). The effect was buffered belowground (minimum buffering 0°C, maximum buffering 11.4°C), whereas seasonality had minimal impact (maximum buffering 1.9°C). We conclude that forest-dependent species that persist following conversion of rainforest have experienced substantial local warming. Deforestation pushes these species closer to their thermal limits, making it more likely that compounding effects of future perturbations, such as severe droughts and global warming, will exceed species' tolerances. By contrast, degraded forests and belowground habitats may provide important refugia for thermally restricted species in landscapes dominated by agricultural land.

Soil fungal and bacterial responses to conversion of open land to short-rotation woody biomass crops

DOE PAGES

Xue, Chao; Penton, Christopher Ryan; Zhang, Bangzhou; ...

2016-01-06

Short-rotation woody biomass crops (SRWCs) have been proposed as an alternative feedstock for biofuel production in the northeastern US that leads to the conversion of current open land to woody plantations, potentially altering the soil microbial community structures and hence functions. We used pyrosequencing of 16S and 28S rRNA genes in soil to assess bacterial and fungal populations when ‘marginal’ grasslands were converted into willow (Salix spp.) and hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) plantations at two sites with similar soils and climate history in northern Michigan (Escanaba; ES) and Wisconsin (Rhinelander; RH). In only three growing seasons, the conversion significantly alteredmore » both the bacterial and fungal communities, which were most influenced by site and then vegetation. The fungal community showed greater change than the bacterial community in response to land conversion at both sites with substantial enrichment of putative pathogenic, ectomycorrhizal, and endophytic fungi associated with poplar and willow. Conversely, the bacterial community structures shifted, but to a lesser degree, with the new communities dissimilar at the two sites and most correlated with soil nutrient status. The bacterial phylum Nitrospirae increased after conversion and was negatively correlated to total soil nitrogen, but positively correlated to soil nitrate, and may be responsible for nitrate accumulation and the increased N 2O emissions previously reported following conversion at these sites. It was determined that the legacy effect of a much longer grassland history and a second dry summer at the ES site may have influenced the grassland (control) microbial community to remain stable while it varied at the RH site.« less

Soil fungal and bacterial responses to conversion of open land to short-rotation woody biomass crops

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xue, Chao; Penton, Christopher Ryan; Zhang, Bangzhou

Short-rotation woody biomass crops (SRWCs) have been proposed as an alternative feedstock for biofuel production in the northeastern US that leads to the conversion of current open land to woody plantations, potentially altering the soil microbial community structures and hence functions. We used pyrosequencing of 16S and 28S rRNA genes in soil to assess bacterial and fungal populations when ‘marginal’ grasslands were converted into willow (Salix spp.) and hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) plantations at two sites with similar soils and climate history in northern Michigan (Escanaba; ES) and Wisconsin (Rhinelander; RH). In only three growing seasons, the conversion significantly alteredmore » both the bacterial and fungal communities, which were most influenced by site and then vegetation. The fungal community showed greater change than the bacterial community in response to land conversion at both sites with substantial enrichment of putative pathogenic, ectomycorrhizal, and endophytic fungi associated with poplar and willow. Conversely, the bacterial community structures shifted, but to a lesser degree, with the new communities dissimilar at the two sites and most correlated with soil nutrient status. The bacterial phylum Nitrospirae increased after conversion and was negatively correlated to total soil nitrogen, but positively correlated to soil nitrate, and may be responsible for nitrate accumulation and the increased N 2O emissions previously reported following conversion at these sites. It was determined that the legacy effect of a much longer grassland history and a second dry summer at the ES site may have influenced the grassland (control) microbial community to remain stable while it varied at the RH site.« less

Estimating global "blue carbon" emissions from conversion and degradation of vegetated coastal ecosystems.

PubMed

Pendleton, Linwood; Donato, Daniel C; Murray, Brian C; Crooks, Stephen; Jenkins, W Aaron; Sifleet, Samantha; Craft, Christopher; Fourqurean, James W; Kauffman, J Boone; Marbà, Núria; Megonigal, Patrick; Pidgeon, Emily; Herr, Dorothee; Gordon, David; Baldera, Alexis

2012-01-01

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems--marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses--that may be lost with habitat destruction ('conversion'). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this 'blue carbon' can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15-1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3-19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6-42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats.

Oil Palm Expansion in the Brazilian Amazon (2006-2014): Effects of the 2010 Sustainable Oil Palm Production Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benami, E.; Curran, L. M.

2017-12-01

Brazil has the world's largest suitable land area for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) establishment, with estimates as high as 238 million ha. To promote oil palm development, Brazil launched the Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program (SPOPP) in 2010 and delineated 30 million ha for its growth that excluded forested areas and indigenous reserves. Here we examine oil palm expansion (2006-2014) as well as the SPOPP's effectiveness in Pará, the major oil palm producing state in Brazil. By combining analyses of satellite imagery, land registration data, and site based interviews, we found that oil palm area expanded 205%. Although >50% of oil palm parcels were located within 0.5 km of intact forests, <5% of intact forests were converted by direct deforestation. In contrast, 15-90% of oil palm expansion in Asia and other Latin American countries came from directly converting forested lands. Direct intact forest conversion pre- and post-SPOPP declined from 4% to <1%; however, <1% of the 30 million ha promoted for oil palm was developed by 2014. To explore the major factors that may have constrained oil palm expansion under the SPOPP, we conducted microeconomic simulations of oil palm production, combined with interviews with actors/individuals from oil palm companies, civil society, researchers at universities and NGOs, and governmental agencies. Brazil's oil palm-deforestation dynamics, policies, and economic conditions will be discussed.

Pyrosequencing reveals changes in soil bacterial communities after conversion of Yungas forests to agriculture.

PubMed

Montecchia, Marcela S; Tosi, Micaela; Soria, Marcelo A; Vogrig, Jimena A; Sydorenko, Oksana; Correa, Olga S

2015-01-01

The Southern Andean Yungas in Northwest Argentina constitute one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the world. Considerable changes in land use have taken place in this ecoregion, predominantly related to forest conversion to croplands, inducing losses in above-ground biodiversity and with potential impact on soil microbial communities. In this study, we used high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene to assess whether land-use change and time under agriculture affect the composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities. We selected two areas dedicated to sugarcane and soybean production, comprising both short- and long-term agricultural sites, and used the adjacent native forest soils as a reference. Land-use change altered the composition of bacterial communities, with differences between productive areas despite the similarities between both forests. At the phylum level, only Verrucomicrobia and Firmicutes changed in abundance after deforestation for sugarcane and soybean cropping, respectively. In cultivated soils, Verrucomicrobia decreased sharply (~80%), while Firmicutes were more abundant. Despite the fact that local diversity was increased in sugarcane systems and was not altered by soybean cropping, phylogenetic beta diversity declined along both chronosequences, evidencing a homogenization of soil bacterial communities over time. In spite of the detected alteration in composition and diversity, we found a core microbiome resistant to the disturbances caused by the conversion of forests to cultivated lands and few or none exclusive OTUs for each land-use type. The overall changes in the relative abundance of copiotrophic and oligotrophic taxa may have an impact in soil ecosystem functionality. However, communities with many taxa in common may also share many functional attributes, allowing to maintain at least some soil ecosystem services after forest conversion to croplands.

Soil gross nitrogen transformations in responses to land use conversion in a subtropical karst region.

PubMed

Li, Dejun; Liu, Jing; Chen, Hao; Zheng, Liang; Wang, Kelin

2018-04-15

Gross nitrogen (N) transformations can provide important information for assessing indigenous soil N supply capacity and soil nitrate leaching potential. The current study aimed to assess the variation of gross N transformations in response to conversion of maize-soybean fields to sugarcane, mulberry, and forage grass fields in a subtropical karst region of southwest China. Mature forests were included for comparison. Gross rates of N mineralization (GNM) were highest in the forests, intermediate in the maize-soybean and forage grass fields, and lowest in the sugarcane and mulberry fields, suggesting capacity of indigenous soil N supply derived from organic N mineralization was lowered after conversion to sugarcane and mulberry fields. The relative high indigenous soil N supply capacity in the maize-soybean fields was obtained at the cost of soil organic N depletion. Gross nitrification (GN) rates were highest in the forests, intermediate in the forage grass fields and lowest in the other three agricultural land use types. The nitrate retention capacity (24.1 ± 2.0% on average) was similar among the five land use types, implying that nitrate leaching potential was not changed after land use conversion. Microbial biomass N exerted significant direct effects on the rates of N mineralization, nitrification, ammonium immobilization and nitrate immobilization. Soil organic carbon, total N and exchangeable magnesium had significant indirect effects on these N transformation rates. Our findings suggest that forage grass cultivation instead of other agricultural land uses should be recommended from the perspective of increasing indigenous soil N supply while not depleting soil organic N pool. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pyrosequencing Reveals Changes in Soil Bacterial Communities after Conversion of Yungas Forests to Agriculture

PubMed Central

Montecchia, Marcela S.; Tosi, Micaela; Soria, Marcelo A.; Vogrig, Jimena A.; Sydorenko, Oksana; Correa, Olga S.

2015-01-01

The Southern Andean Yungas in Northwest Argentina constitute one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the world. Considerable changes in land use have taken place in this ecoregion, predominantly related to forest conversion to croplands, inducing losses in above-ground biodiversity and with potential impact on soil microbial communities. In this study, we used high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene to assess whether land-use change and time under agriculture affect the composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities. We selected two areas dedicated to sugarcane and soybean production, comprising both short- and long-term agricultural sites, and used the adjacent native forest soils as a reference. Land-use change altered the composition of bacterial communities, with differences between productive areas despite the similarities between both forests. At the phylum level, only Verrucomicrobia and Firmicutes changed in abundance after deforestation for sugarcane and soybean cropping, respectively. In cultivated soils, Verrucomicrobia decreased sharply (~80%), while Firmicutes were more abundant. Despite the fact that local diversity was increased in sugarcane systems and was not altered by soybean cropping, phylogenetic beta diversity declined along both chronosequences, evidencing a homogenization of soil bacterial communities over time. In spite of the detected alteration in composition and diversity, we found a core microbiome resistant to the disturbances caused by the conversion of forests to cultivated lands and few or none exclusive OTUs for each land-use type. The overall changes in the relative abundance of copiotrophic and oligotrophic taxa may have an impact in soil ecosystem functionality. However, communities with many taxa in common may also share many functional attributes, allowing to maintain at least some soil ecosystem services after forest conversion to croplands. PMID:25793893

Essays on environmental, energy, and natural resource economics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Fan

My dissertation focuses on examining the interrelationship among the environment, energy and economic development. In the first essay, I explore the effects of increased uncertainty over future output prices, input costs and productivity levels on intertemporal emission permits trading. In a dynamic programming setting, a permit price is a convex function of each of these three sources of uncertainty. Increased uncertainty about future market conditions increases the expected permit price and causes risk-neutral firms to reduce ex ante emissions to smooth marginal abatement costs over time. Empirical analysis shows that increased price volatility induced by electricity market restructuring could explain 8-11% of the allowances banked during Phase I of the U.S. sulfur dioxide trading program. Numerical simulation suggests that high uncertainty may generate substantial initial compliance costs, thereby deterring new entrants and reducing efficiency; sharp emission spikes are also more likely to occur under industry-wide uncertainty shocks. In the second essay, I examine whether electricity restructuring improves the efficiency of U.S. nuclear power generation. Based on the full sample of 73 investor-owned nuclear plants in the United States from 1992 to 1998, I estimate cross-sectional and longitudinal efficiency changes associated with restructuring, at the plant level. Various modeling strategies are presented to deal with the policy endogeneity bias that high cost plants are more likely to be restructured. Overall, I find a strikingly positive relationship between the multiple steps of restructuring and plant operating efficiency. In the third essay, I estimate the economic impact of China's national land conversion program on local farm-dependent economies. The impact of the program on 14 industrial sectors in Gansu provinces are investigated using an input-output model. Due to regulatory restrictions, the agricultural sector cannot automatically expand or shrink its land requirements in direct proportion to output changes. Therefore, I modify a standard input-output model to incorporate supply constraints on cropping activities. A spatially explicit analysis is also implemented in a geographical information system to capture the heterogeneous land productivity. The net cost of the conservation program is estimated to be a land rent of 487.21 per acre per year (1999).

78 FR 4156 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Assisted Living Conversion Program...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-18

... Information Collection: Comment Request; Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP) for Eligible Multifamily.... This Notice also lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Assisted Living Conversion Program.... Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The Assisted Living Conversion Program and the...

Urbanization and agricultural land loss in India: comparing satellite estimates with census data.

PubMed

Pandey, Bhartendu; Seto, Karen C

2015-01-15

We examine the impacts of urbanization on agricultural land loss in India from 2001 to 2010. We combined a hierarchical classification approach with econometric time series analysis to reconstruct land-cover change histories using time series MODIS 250 m VI images composited at 16-day intervals and night time lights (NTL) data. We compared estimates of agricultural land loss using satellite data with agricultural census data. Our analysis highlights six key results. First, agricultural land loss is occurring around smaller cities more than around bigger cities. Second, from 2001 to 2010, each state lost less than 1% of its total geographical area due to agriculture to urban expansion. Third, the northeastern states experienced the least amount of agricultural land loss. Fourth, agricultural land loss is largely in states and districts which have a larger number of operational or approved SEZs. Fifth, urban conversion of agricultural land is concentrated in a few districts and states with high rates of economic growth. Sixth, agricultural land loss is predominantly in states with higher agricultural land suitability compared to other states. Although the total area of agricultural land lost to urban expansion has been relatively low, our results show that since 2006, the amount of agricultural land converted has been increasing steadily. Given that the preponderance of India's urban population growth has yet to occur, the results suggest an increase in the conversion of agricultural land going into the future. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of streamflow, salinity, and selenium loading and land-use change in Montrose Arroyo, western Colorado, from 1992 to 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richards, Rodney J.; Moore, Jennifer L.

2015-01-01

Land use was characterized for 1992, 2002, and 2009 for site MA3. The common land-use change in the MA3 subwatershed was a conversion from previously irrigated agricultural land to urban land use. The MA3 subwatershed had 124 acres of irrigated land use converted to urban land use and 27.1 acres of unirrigated desert converted to urban land use from 1992 to 2009. Consistent with findings in previous land-use change reports, salinity and dissolved-selenium loading at site MA3 showed significant decreases as irrigated land was converted to urban land use.

Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state, regional, and national levels

Treesearch

Eric M. White; Anita T. Morzillo; Ralph J. Alig

2009-01-01

The developed land area of the United States increased by 14,2 million hectares between 1982 and 2003. Along with a projected U.S. population increase to more than 360 million individuals by 2030, is an expected continuation of expanding rural land development. Related to population growth, rural land development and the associated loss of rural open space are expected...

Forest restoration in a global context

Treesearch

John A. Stanturf

2000-01-01

Forest restoration on land cleared for agriculture is occurring around the world. Often land was abandoned because of infertility, frequent flooding, or other site limitations. In some countries, market forces or changing trade policies drive conversion of cleared land to plantations of exotic or native tree species. The objective of this paper is to introduce the...

Land conversion to bioenergy production: water budget and sediment output in a semiarid grassland

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Switchgrass based bioenergy production has been considered a feasible alternative of land use for the mixed-grass prairie and marginal croplands in the High Plains. However, little is known of the effect of this land use change on the water cycle and associated sediment output in this water controll...

Past and projected rural land conversion in the US at state, regional, and national levels

EPA Science Inventory

The developed land area of the US increased by 14.2 million hectares between 1982 and 2003. Along with a projected US population increase to more than 360 million individuals by 2030 is an expected continuation of expanding rural land development. Related to population growth, ru...

50 CFR 648.263 - Red crab possession and landing restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 10 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Red crab possession and landing... Management Measures for the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery § 648.263 Red crab possession and landing restrictions. (a) Vessels issued limited access red crab permits. (1) [Reserved] (2) Conversion to whole crab...

Weakening of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall due to Changes in Land Use Land Cover

PubMed Central

Paul, Supantha; Ghosh, Subimal; Oglesby, Robert; Pathak, Amey; Chandrasekharan, Anita; Ramsankaran, RAAJ

2016-01-01

Weakening of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is traditionally linked with large-scale perturbations and circulations. However, the impacts of local changes in land use and land cover (LULC) on ISMR have yet to be explored. Here, we analyzed this topic using the regional Weather Research and Forecasting model with European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis data for the years 2000–2010 as a boundary condition and with LULC data from 1987 and 2005. The differences in LULC between 1987 and 2005 showed deforestation with conversion of forest land to crop land, though the magnitude of such conversion is uncertain because of the coarse resolution of satellite images and use of differential sources and methods for data extraction. We performed a sensitivity analysis to understand the impacts of large-scale deforestation in India on monsoon precipitation and found such impacts are similar to the observed changes in terms of spatial patterns and magnitude. We found that deforestation results in weakening of the ISMR because of the decrease in evapotranspiration and subsequent decrease in the recycled component of precipitation. PMID:27553384

Wetland features and landscape context predict the risk of wetland habitat loss.

PubMed

Gutzwiller, Kevin J; Flather, Curtis H

2011-04-01

Wetlands generally provide significant ecosystem services and function as important harbors of biodiversity. To ensure that these habitats are conserved, an efficient means of identifying wetlands at risk of conversion is needed, especially in the southern United States where the rate of wetland loss has been highest in recent decades. We used multivariate adaptive regression splines to develop a model to predict the risk of wetland habitat loss as a function of wetland features and landscape context. Fates of wetland habitats from 1992 to 1997 were obtained from the National Resources Inventory for the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Region, and land-cover data were obtained from the National Land Cover Data. We randomly selected 70% of our 40 617 observations to build the model (n = 28 432), and randomly divided the remaining 30% of the data into five Test data sets (n = 2437 each). The wetland and landscape variables that were important in the model, and their relative contributions to the model's predictive ability (100 = largest, 0 = smallest), were land-cover/ land-use of the surrounding landscape (100.0), size and proximity of development patches within 570 m (39.5), land ownership (39.1), road density within 570 m (37.5), percent woody and herbaceous wetland cover within 570 m (27.8), size and proximity of development patches within 5130 m (25.7), percent grasslands/herbaceous plants and pasture/hay cover within 5130 m (21.7), wetland type (21.2), and percent woody and herbaceous wetland cover within 1710 m (16.6). For the five Test data sets, Kappa statistics (0.40, 0.50, 0.52, 0.55, 0.56; P < 0.0001), area-under-the-receiver-operating-curve (AUC) statistics (0.78, 0.82, 0.83, 0.83, 0.84; P < 0.0001), and percent correct prediction of wetland habitat loss (69.1, 80.4, 81.7, 82.3, 83.1) indicated the model generally had substantial predictive ability across the South. Policy analysts and land-use planners can use the model and associated maps to prioritize at-risk wetlands for protection, evaluate wetland habitat connectivity, predict future conversion of wetland habitat based on projected land-use trends, and assess the effectiveness of wetland conservation programs.

77 FR 3788 - Announcement of Funding Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program; Fiscal Year 2010

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-25

... Awards for the Assisted Living Conversion Program; Fiscal Year 2010 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant... competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Assisted Living Conversion... Assistance number for this program is 14.314. The Assisted Living Conversion Program is designed to provide...

Modelling land use change in the Ganga basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moulds, Simon; Mijic, Ana; Buytaert, Wouter

2014-05-01

Over recent decades the green revolution in India has driven substantial environmental change. Modelling experiments have identified northern India as a "hot spot" of land-atmosphere coupling strength during the boreal summer. However, there is a wide range of sensitivity of atmospheric variables to soil moisture between individual climate models. The lack of a comprehensive land use change dataset to force climate models has been identified as a major contributor to model uncertainty. This work aims to construct a monthly time series dataset of land use change for the period 1966 to 2007 for northern India to improve the quantification of regional hydrometeorological feedbacks. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on board the Aqua and Terra satellites provides near-continuous remotely sensed datasets from 2000 to the present day. However, the quality and availability of satellite products before 2000 is poor. To complete the dataset MODIS images are extrapolated back in time using the Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent (CLUE-S) modelling framework, recoded in the R programming language to overcome limitations of the original interface. Non-spatial estimates of land use area published by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) for the study period, available on an annual, district-wise basis, are used as a direct model input. Land use change is allocated spatially as a function of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers identified using logistic regression. The dataset will provide an essential input to a high-resolution, physically-based land-surface model to generate the lower boundary condition to assess the impact of land use change on regional climate.

The Trajectories and Impacts of Land Use and Land Cover Change: A Global Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustard, J. F.; Fisher, T. R.; Prince, S. D.; Soja, A. J.; Elmore, A. J.

2001-12-01

We have summarized the trajectories of land cover and land use change (LCLUC) and the resulting impacts through a synthesis of results from studies encompassing a wide range of environments. While the specific changes and impacts are in some ways unique to each environment, we have nevertheless identified some general principles that seem to apply across all regions. The LCLUC trajectory of a particular landscape under influence by human actions begins with the transition from conditions dominated by natural vegetation to a frontier state. Land use activities in a frontier state are centered primarily around resource extraction and development of infrastructure such as roads or ports. Under the proper conditions (e.g. soils, climate), the frontier state gives way to an agricultural landscape by further conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture and management of cleared land for agriculture. The maximum extent of this conversion is a function of local biophysical and socio-economic factors. For example conversion of arid lands may be limited by water availability, access to capital for development of water resources and access to markets for the products. Given the appropriate conditions (e.g. economic and social policy, generation of wealth), LCLUC evolves as large settlements and industrialization develop in concert with high land prices and agricultural intensification. In some cases (e.g., New England, Appalachia), economic conditions (e.g., better land for agriculture elsewhere) may result in reversion of agriculture to natural vegetation. The last stage in LCLUC is conversion of agriculture to residential and suburban environments (e.g., Baltimore/Washington corridor). Examination of global land cover indicates that every stage is currently present, with areas like the Eastern United States and Western Europe as examples of regions having experienced all stages, while parts of the Amazon basin, Siberia, and Africa are moving through the frontier transition. Whether these frontier regions will evolve along the general LCLUC trajectory will depend on biophysical and socio-economic factors. Some regions like Siberia may never evolve to the agricultural stage and persist as a frontier landscape with its associated impacts. The impacts on biogeochemical and social systems are the most dramatic during transitions between states, with lesser impacts or even recovery during periods of stasis. However, displacement of natural vegetation by anthropogenic land uses currently results in enhanced water yields and higher fluxes of elements such as N and P, which encourage eutrophication of lakes and coastal waters without further land cover change. Social and economic policies are the primary drivers of LCLUC, and regulations are critical for controlling the impacts, especially in the later stages.

Estimating the Counterfactual Impact of Conservation Programs on Land Cover Outcomes: The Role of Matching and Panel Regression Techniques

PubMed Central

Jones, Kelly W.; Lewis, David J.

2015-01-01

Deforestation and conversion of native habitats continues to be the leading driver of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss. A number of conservation policies and programs are implemented—from protected areas to payments for ecosystem services (PES)—to deter these losses. Currently, empirical evidence on whether these approaches stop or slow land cover change is lacking, but there is increasing interest in conducting rigorous, counterfactual impact evaluations, especially for many new conservation approaches, such as PES and REDD, which emphasize additionality. In addition, several new, globally available and free high-resolution remote sensing datasets have increased the ease of carrying out an impact evaluation on land cover change outcomes. While the number of conservation evaluations utilizing ‘matching’ to construct a valid control group is increasing, the majority of these studies use simple differences in means or linear cross-sectional regression to estimate the impact of the conservation program using this matched sample, with relatively few utilizing fixed effects panel methods—an alternative estimation method that relies on temporal variation in the data. In this paper we compare the advantages and limitations of (1) matching to construct the control group combined with differences in means and cross-sectional regression, which control for observable forms of bias in program evaluation, to (2) fixed effects panel methods, which control for observable and time-invariant unobservable forms of bias, with and without matching to create the control group. We then use these four approaches to estimate forest cover outcomes for two conservation programs: a PES program in Northeastern Ecuador and strict protected areas in European Russia. In the Russia case we find statistically significant differences across estimators—due to the presence of unobservable bias—that lead to differences in conclusions about effectiveness. The Ecuador case illustrates that if time-invariant unobservables are not present, matching combined with differences in means or cross-sectional regression leads to similar estimates of program effectiveness as matching combined with fixed effects panel regression. These results highlight the importance of considering observable and unobservable forms of bias and the methodological assumptions across estimators when designing an impact evaluation of conservation programs. PMID:26501964

Estimating the Counterfactual Impact of Conservation Programs on Land Cover Outcomes: The Role of Matching and Panel Regression Techniques.

PubMed

Jones, Kelly W; Lewis, David J

2015-01-01

Deforestation and conversion of native habitats continues to be the leading driver of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss. A number of conservation policies and programs are implemented--from protected areas to payments for ecosystem services (PES)--to deter these losses. Currently, empirical evidence on whether these approaches stop or slow land cover change is lacking, but there is increasing interest in conducting rigorous, counterfactual impact evaluations, especially for many new conservation approaches, such as PES and REDD, which emphasize additionality. In addition, several new, globally available and free high-resolution remote sensing datasets have increased the ease of carrying out an impact evaluation on land cover change outcomes. While the number of conservation evaluations utilizing 'matching' to construct a valid control group is increasing, the majority of these studies use simple differences in means or linear cross-sectional regression to estimate the impact of the conservation program using this matched sample, with relatively few utilizing fixed effects panel methods--an alternative estimation method that relies on temporal variation in the data. In this paper we compare the advantages and limitations of (1) matching to construct the control group combined with differences in means and cross-sectional regression, which control for observable forms of bias in program evaluation, to (2) fixed effects panel methods, which control for observable and time-invariant unobservable forms of bias, with and without matching to create the control group. We then use these four approaches to estimate forest cover outcomes for two conservation programs: a PES program in Northeastern Ecuador and strict protected areas in European Russia. In the Russia case we find statistically significant differences across estimators--due to the presence of unobservable bias--that lead to differences in conclusions about effectiveness. The Ecuador case illustrates that if time-invariant unobservables are not present, matching combined with differences in means or cross-sectional regression leads to similar estimates of program effectiveness as matching combined with fixed effects panel regression. These results highlight the importance of considering observable and unobservable forms of bias and the methodological assumptions across estimators when designing an impact evaluation of conservation programs.

Estimating forest conversion rates with annual forest inventory data

Treesearch

Paul C. Van Deusen; Francis A. Roesch

2009-01-01

The rate of land-use conversion from forest to nonforest or natural forest to forest plantation is of interest for forest certification purposes and also as part of the process of assessing forest sustainability. Conversion rates can be estimated from remeasured inventory plots in general, but the emphasis here is on annual inventory data. A new estimator is proposed...

Discrimination and Biophysical Characterization of Land Cover Types and Land Conversions in the Brazilian Cerrado Using EO-1 Hyperion Hyperspectral Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miura, T.; Huete, A. R.; Ferreira, L.

2002-12-01

The savanna, typically found in the sub-tropics and seasonal tropics, are the dominant vegetation biome type in the southern hemisphere, covering approximately 45 % of the South America. In Brazil, the savanna, locally known as "cerrado", is the most intensely stressed biome with rapid and aggressive land use conversions. Better characterization and discrimination of cerrado land cover types are needed in order to improve assessments of the impact of these land cover conversions on carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, and the prospect for sustainable land use in the Amazon region. In this study, we explored the utility of hyperspectral remote sensing in improving discrimination and biophysical/biochemical characterization of the cerrado land cover types by taking advantage of a newly available satellite-based, hyperspectral imaging sensor, "EO-1 Hyperion". A Hyperion image was acquired over the Brasilia National Park (BNP) and surrounding areas in Brasilia on July 20, 2001. Two commonly-used techniques, spectral derivatives and spectral mixture modeling, were applied to the atmospherically-corrected Hyperion scene. Derivative spectroscopy was useful in analyzing variations in spectral signatures and absorption depths, while spectral mixture modeling provided a means to simultaneously analyze variations in component fractions of photosynthetic vegetation (PV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and soil brightness. Data sets were extracted over a range of land cover types typically found in the Brazilian Cerrado. These included cerrado grassland, shrub cerrado, wooded cerrado, and cerrado woodland as undisturbed cerrado land cover types, and gallery forest as an undisturbed forest cover type in the Cerrado domain, and cultivated pasture as a converted land cover. In the derivative spectra analysis, both the position and magnitude of the red edge peak, and the ligno-cellulose absorptions at 2090nm and around 2300nm wavelengths showed large differences among the land cover types with the absorption depth of the latter correlating well with ground-measured % NPV cover. The multi-component fractional estimates successfully discriminated pasture and gallery forest from other cerrado land cover types. Likewise, PV and NPV fractional estimates for cerrado land cover types correlated well with ground-measured % green and NPV covers, respectively. These preliminary analyses showed a great potential of hyperspectral data in biophysical/biochemical characterization as well as discrimination of the land cover types in the Brazilian cerrado.

Agricultural land change in the Carpathian ecoregion after the breakdown of socialism and expansion of the European Union

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, Patrick; Müller, Daniel; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Hostert, Patrick

2013-12-01

Widespread changes of agricultural land use occurred in Eastern Europe since the collapse of socialism and the European Union’s eastward expansion, but the rates and patterns of recent land changes remain unclear. Here we assess agricultural land change for the entire Carpathian ecoregion in Eastern Europe at 30 m spatial resolution with Landsat data and for two change periods, between 1985-2000 and 2000-2010. The early period is characterized by post-socialist transition processes, the late period by an increasing influence of EU politics in the region. For mapping and change detection, we use a machine learning approach (random forests) on image composites and variance metrics which were derived from the full decadal archive of Landsat imagery. Our results suggest that cropland abandonment was the most prevalent change process, but we also detected considerable areas of grassland conversion and forest expansion on non-forest land. Cropland abandonment was most extensive during the transition period and predominantly occurred in marginal areas with low suitability for agriculture. Conversely, we observed substantial recultivation of formerly abandoned cropland in high-value agricultural areas since 2000. Hence, market forces increasingly adjust socialist legacies of land expansive production and agricultural land use clusters in favorable areas while marginal lands revert to forest.

Understanding patterns of land-cover change in the Brazilian Cerrado from 2000 to 2015.

PubMed

Espírito-Santo, Mário M; Leite, Marcos E; Silva, Jhonathan O; Barbosa, Rômulo S; Rocha, André M; Anaya, Felisa C; Dupin, Mariana G V

2016-09-19

Clearing tropical vegetation impacts biodiversity, the provision of ecosystem services, and thus ultimately human welfare. We quantified changes in land cover from 2000 to 2015 across the Cerrado biome of northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We assessed the potential biophysical and socio-economic drivers of the loss of Cerrado, natural regeneration and net cover change at the municipality level. Further, we evaluated correlations between these land change variables and indicators of human welfare. We detected extensive land-cover changes in the study area, with the conversion of 23 446 km(2) and the natural regeneration of 13 926 km(2), resulting in a net loss of 9520 km(2) The annual net loss (-1.2% per year) of the cover of Cerrado is higher than that reported for the whole biome in similar periods. We argue that environmental and economic variables interact to underpin rates of conversion of Cerrado, most severely affecting more humid Cerrado lowlands. While rates of Cerrado regeneration are important for conservation strategies of the remaining biome, their integrity must be investigated given the likelihood of encroachment. Given the high frequency of land abandonment in tropical regions, secondary vegetation is fundamental to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services. Finally, the impacts of Cerrado conversion on human welfare likely vary from local to regional scales, making it difficult to elaborate land-use policies based solely on socio-economic indicators.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Understanding patterns of land-cover change in the Brazilian Cerrado from 2000 to 2015

PubMed Central

Leite, Marcos E.; Silva, Jhonathan O.; Barbosa, Rômulo S.; Rocha, André M.; Anaya, Felisa C.; Dupin, Mariana G. V.

2016-01-01

Clearing tropical vegetation impacts biodiversity, the provision of ecosystem services, and thus ultimately human welfare. We quantified changes in land cover from 2000 to 2015 across the Cerrado biome of northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We assessed the potential biophysical and socio-economic drivers of the loss of Cerrado, natural regeneration and net cover change at the municipality level. Further, we evaluated correlations between these land change variables and indicators of human welfare. We detected extensive land-cover changes in the study area, with the conversion of 23 446 km2 and the natural regeneration of 13 926 km2, resulting in a net loss of 9520 km2. The annual net loss (−1.2% per year) of the cover of Cerrado is higher than that reported for the whole biome in similar periods. We argue that environmental and economic variables interact to underpin rates of conversion of Cerrado, most severely affecting more humid Cerrado lowlands. While rates of Cerrado regeneration are important for conservation strategies of the remaining biome, their integrity must be investigated given the likelihood of encroachment. Given the high frequency of land abandonment in tropical regions, secondary vegetation is fundamental to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services. Finally, the impacts of Cerrado conversion on human welfare likely vary from local to regional scales, making it difficult to elaborate land-use policies based solely on socio-economic indicators. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation’. PMID:27502383

Homogenization of northern U.S. Great Lakes forests due to land use

Treesearch

Lisa A. Schulte; David J. Mladenoff; Thomas R. Crow; Laura C. Merrick; David T. Cleland

2007-01-01

Human land use of forested regions has intensified worldwide in recent decades, threatening long-term sustainability. Primary effects include conversion of land cover or reversion to an earlier stage of successional development. Both types of change can have cascading effects through ecosystems; however, the longterm effects where forests are allowed to regrow are...

Impacts of land use conversion on bankfull discharge and mass wasting

Treesearch

Mark S. Riedel; Elon S. Verry; Kenneth N. Brooks

2005-01-01

Mass wasting and channel incision are widespread in the Nemadji River watershed of eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. While much of this is a natural response to glacial rebound, sediment coring and tree ring data suggest that land use has also influenced these erosional processes. We characterized land use, inventoried mass wasting, surveyed stream channels...

Effects of forest conversion on soil microbial communities depend on soil layer on the eastern Tibetan Plateau of China.

PubMed

He, Ruoyang; Yang, Kaijun; Li, Zhijie; Schädler, Martin; Yang, Wanqin; Wu, Fuzhong; Tan, Bo; Zhang, Li; Xu, Zhenfeng

2017-01-01

Forest land-use changes have long been suggested to profoundly affect soil microbial communities. However, how forest type conversion influences soil microbial properties remains unclear in Tibetan boreal forests. The aim of this study was to explore variations of soil microbial profiles in the surface organic layer and subsurface mineral soil among three contrasting forests (natural coniferous forest, NF; secondary birch forest, SF and spruce plantation, PT). Soil microbial biomass, activity and community structure of the two layers were investigated by chloroform fumigation, substrate respiration and phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), respectively. In the organic layer, both NF and SF exhibited higher soil nutrient levels (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus), microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, microbial respiration, PLFA contents as compared to PT. However, the measured parameters in the mineral soils often did not differ following forest type conversion. Irrespective of forest types, the microbial indexes generally were greater in the organic layer than in the mineral soil. PLFAs biomarkers were significantly correlated with soil substrate pools. Taken together, forest land-use change remarkably altered microbial community in the organic layer but often did not affect them in the mineral soil. The microbial responses to forest land-use change depend on soil layer, with organic horizons being more sensitive to forest conversion.

78 FR 758 - Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW164393, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-04

...., for competitive oil and gas lease WYW164393 for land in Converse County, Wyoming. The petition was... law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L. Weaver, Chief, Fluid...

Goals of care conversation teaching in residency - a cross-sectional survey of postgraduate program directors.

PubMed

Roze des Ordons, Amanda; Kassam, Aliya; Simon, Jessica

2017-01-06

Residents are commonly involved in establishing goals of care for hospitalized patients. While education can improve the quality of these conversations, whether and how postgraduate training programs integrate such teaching into their curricula is not well established. The objective of this study was to characterize perceptions of current teaching and assessment of goals of care conversations, and program director interest in associated curricular integration. An electronic survey was sent to all postgraduate program directors at the University of Calgary. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative comments were analyzed using thematic analysis. The survey response rate was 34% (22/64). Formal goals of care conversation teaching is incorporated into 63% of responding programs, and most commonly involves lectures. Informal teaching occurs in 86% of programs, involving discussion, direct observation and role modeling in the clinical setting. Seventy-three percent of programs assess goals of care conversation skills, mostly in the clinical setting through feedback. Program directors believe that over two-thirds of clinical faculty are prepared to teach goals of care conversations, and are interested in resources to teach and assess goals of care conversations. Themes that emerged include 1) general perceptions, 2) need for teaching, 3) ideas for teaching, and 4) assessment of goals of care conversations. The majority of residency training programs at the University of Calgary incorporate some goals of care conversation teaching and assessment into their curricula. Program directors are interested in resources to improve teaching and assessment of goals of care conversations.

Global and regional drivers of land-use emissions 1961-2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, S. J.; Burney, J. A.; Pongratz, J.; Hansis, E.

2017-12-01

Historically, human land use, including conversion of natural landscapes, has disrupted ecosystems worldwide, degraded global biodiversity, and added tremendous quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere1-5. Yet, in contrast to fossil fuel emissions, trends and drivers of land use and related GHG emissions are usually assessed only for specific regions, processes, or products. Here, we present a comprehensive, country-level inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use and land-use change from 1961-2013, decompose the demographic, economic and technical drivers of these emissions, and assess the sensitivity of results to different units of measurement and accounting assumptions. Globally, annual land use emissions (CO2-eq) have decreased between 1961 and 2013 (-32% in our central case), reflecting a balance between steady increases in agricultural production per capita (+42%) and equally persistent declines in the land required per unit of agricultural production (-65%), and emissions per area of land used (-41%). A few regions, processes, and products account for the majority of land use emissions: Latin America, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa represent 55% of net cumulative emissions 1961-2013, conversion to cropland and pasture and enteric fermentation represent 103%, and cereal, dairy and beef products together represent 83%. Our results suggest that the emissions intensity of agricultural production is a particularly important indicator of agriculture's climate impact, where targeted reductions could substantially reduce that impact.

Impacts of nonstate, market-driven governance on Chilean forests.

PubMed

Heilmayr, Robert; Lambin, Eric F

2016-03-15

Global markets for agricultural products, timber, and minerals are critically important drivers of deforestation. The supply chains driving land use change may also provide opportunities to halt deforestation. Market campaigns, moratoria, and certification schemes have been promoted as powerful tools to achieve conservation goals. Despite their promise, there have been few opportunities to rigorously quantify the ability of these nonstate, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes to deliver conservation outcomes. This study analyzes the impacts of three NSMD governance systems that sought to end the conversion of natural forests to plantations in Chile at the start of the 21st century. Using a multilevel, panel dataset of land use changes in Chile, we identify the impact of participation within each of the governance regimes by implementing a series of matched difference-in-differences analyses. Taking advantage of the mosaic of different NSMD regimes adopted in Chile, we explore the relative effectiveness of different policies. NSMD governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by 2-23%. The NSMD governance regimes we studied included collaborative and confrontational strategies between environmental and industry stakeholders. We find that the more collaborative governance systems studied achieved better environmental performance than more confrontational approaches. Whereas many government conservation programs have targeted regions with little likelihood of conversion, we demonstrate that NSMD governance has the potential to alter behavior on high-deforestation properties.

Impacts of nonstate, market-driven governance on Chilean forests

PubMed Central

Heilmayr, Robert; Lambin, Eric F.

2016-01-01

Global markets for agricultural products, timber, and minerals are critically important drivers of deforestation. The supply chains driving land use change may also provide opportunities to halt deforestation. Market campaigns, moratoria, and certification schemes have been promoted as powerful tools to achieve conservation goals. Despite their promise, there have been few opportunities to rigorously quantify the ability of these nonstate, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes to deliver conservation outcomes. This study analyzes the impacts of three NSMD governance systems that sought to end the conversion of natural forests to plantations in Chile at the start of the 21st century. Using a multilevel, panel dataset of land use changes in Chile, we identify the impact of participation within each of the governance regimes by implementing a series of matched difference-in-differences analyses. Taking advantage of the mosaic of different NSMD regimes adopted in Chile, we explore the relative effectiveness of different policies. NSMD governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by 2–23%. The NSMD governance regimes we studied included collaborative and confrontational strategies between environmental and industry stakeholders. We find that the more collaborative governance systems studied achieved better environmental performance than more confrontational approaches. Whereas many government conservation programs have targeted regions with little likelihood of conversion, we demonstrate that NSMD governance has the potential to alter behavior on high-deforestation properties. PMID:26929349

LAND-COVER CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON NUTRIENT EXPORT VARIANCE

EPA Science Inventory

Conversion of natural or semi-natural vegetation to anthropogenic use is widely cited as one of the principal threats to ecosystems worldwide. One consequence of these landcover conversions is increased input of nutrients into surface waters, which promotes eutrophication, noxiou...

Energy research information system projects report, volume 5, number 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, J.; Schillinger, L.

1980-07-01

The system (ERIS) provides an inventory of the energy related programs and research activities from 1974 to the present in the states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Areas of research covered include coal, reclamation, water resources, environmental impacts, socioeconomic impacts, energy conversion, mining methodology, petroleum, natural gas, oilshale, renewable energy resources, nuclear energy, energy conservation and land use. Each project description lists title, investigator(s), research institution, sponsor, funding, time frame, location, a descriptive abstract of the research and title reports and/or publications generated by the research. All projects are indexed by location, personal names, organizations and subject keywords.

Estimating Global “Blue Carbon” Emissions from Conversion and Degradation of Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Murray, Brian C.; Crooks, Stephen; Jenkins, W. Aaron; Sifleet, Samantha; Craft, Christopher; Fourqurean, James W.; Kauffman, J. Boone; Marbà, Núria; Megonigal, Patrick; Pidgeon, Emily; Herr, Dorothee; Gordon, David; Baldera, Alexis

2012-01-01

Recent attention has focused on the high rates of annual carbon sequestration in vegetated coastal ecosystems—marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses—that may be lost with habitat destruction (‘conversion’). Relatively unappreciated, however, is that conversion of these coastal ecosystems also impacts very large pools of previously-sequestered carbon. Residing mostly in sediments, this ‘blue carbon’ can be released to the atmosphere when these ecosystems are converted or degraded. Here we provide the first global estimates of this impact and evaluate its economic implications. Combining the best available data on global area, land-use conversion rates, and near-surface carbon stocks in each of the three ecosystems, using an uncertainty-propagation approach, we estimate that 0.15–1.02 Pg (billion tons) of carbon dioxide are being released annually, several times higher than previous estimates that account only for lost sequestration. These emissions are equivalent to 3–19% of those from deforestation globally, and result in economic damages of $US 6–42 billion annually. The largest sources of uncertainty in these estimates stems from limited certitude in global area and rates of land-use conversion, but research is also needed on the fates of ecosystem carbon upon conversion. Currently, carbon emissions from the conversion of vegetated coastal ecosystems are not included in emissions accounting or carbon market protocols, but this analysis suggests they may be disproportionally important to both. Although the relevant science supporting these initial estimates will need to be refined in coming years, it is clear that policies encouraging the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems could significantly reduce carbon emissions from the land-use sector, in addition to sustaining the well-recognized ecosystem services of coastal habitats. PMID:22962585

How Can a Little Shrimp Do so Much Damage?: Ecosystem Service Losses Associated with Land Cover Change in Mangroves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauffman, J. B.; Bhomia, R. K.

2014-12-01

Mangroves provide a number of ecosystem services including habitats for many species of fish and shellfish, storm protection, influences on water quality, wood, aesthetics, and a source of nutrients and energy for adjacent marine ecosystems. C stocks of mangroves are among the highest of any forest type on Earth. We have measured the ecosystem carbon stocks in mangroves across the world and found them to range from 250 to >2000 Mg C/ha which is a CO2 equivalence of 917 to 7340 Mg/ha. Because the numerous values of mangroves are well known, it is ironic that rates of deforestation largely relating to land use/land cover change are among the highest of any forest type on earth exceeding that of tropical rain forests. Dominant causes of deforestation include conversion to aquaculture (shrimp), agricultural conversion, and coastal development. The carbon emissions arising from conversion of mangroves to other uses is exceptionally high. This is because vulnerability of the soil carbon stocks to losses with conversion. Emissions from conversion of mangrove to shrimp ponds range from about 800 to over 3000 Mg CO2e/ha. This places the carbon footprint of shrimp arising from such ponds as among the highest of any food product available. Of great interest is the potential value of mangroves in carbon marketing strategies and other financial incentives that are derived from the conservation of standing forests. This is because of the combination of high carbon stocks in intact mangroves, the high greenhouse gas emissions arising from their conversion, and the conservation of other valuable ecosystem services provided by intact mangroves.

Dynamics of soil carbon stocks due to large-scale land use changes across the former Soviet Union during the 20th century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurganova, Irina; Prishchepov, Alexander V.; Schierhorn, Florian; Lopes de Gerenyu, Valentin; Müller, Daniel; Kuzyakov, Yakov

2016-04-01

Land use change is a major driver of land-atmosphere carbon (C) fluxes. The largest net C fluxes caused by LUC are attributed to the conversion of native unmanaged ecosystems to croplands and vice versa. Here, we present the changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in response to large-scale land use changes in the former Soviet Union from 1953-2012. Widespread and rapid conversion of native ecosystems to croplands occurred in the course of the Virgin Lands Campaign (VLC) between 1954 to 1963 in the Soviet Union, when more than 45 million hectares (Mha) were ploughed in south-eastern Russia and northern Kazakhstan in order to expand domestic food production. After 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union triggered the abandonment of around 75 Mha across the post-Soviet states. To assess SOC dynamics, we generated a static cropland mask for 2009 based on three global cropland maps. We used the cropland mask to spatially disaggregate annual sown area statistics at province level based on the suitability of each plot for crop production, which yielded land use maps for each year from 1954 to 2012 for all post-Soviet states. To estimate the SOC-dynamics due to the VLC and post-Soviet croplands abandonment, we used available experimental data, own field measurements, and soil maps. A bookkeeping approach was applied to assess the total changes in SOC-stocks in response to large-scale land use changes in the former Soviet Union. The massive croplands expansion during VLC resulted in a substantial loss of SOC - 611±47 Mt C and 241±11 Mt C for the upper 0-50 cm soil layer during the first 20 years of cultivation for Russia and Kazakhstan, respectively. These magnitudes are similar to C losses due to the plowing up of the prairies in USA in the mid-1930s. The total SOC sequestration due to post-Soviet croplands abandonment was estimated at 72.2±6.0 Mt C per year from 1991 to 2010. This amount of carbon equals about 40% of the current fossil fuel emission for this territory or about 7% of global C loss due to land-use change. However, recent recultivation of abandoned croplands in Russia and Kazakhstan can lead to release more labile forms of SOC stored on abandoned lands during last two decades. Since 2001, about 80 Mt of new sequestered SOC has been lost due to current programs on agricultural development in Russia and Kazakhstan. Our results demonstrate the large effects of land-use policies and institutional changes for the national and global C budgets during the last century.

76 FR 41821 - Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW140216, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-15

... LLC for competitive oil and gas lease WYW140216 for land in Converse and Campbell Counties, Wyoming... terminated under the law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L. Weaver, Chief...

78 FR 759 - Notice of Proposed Reinstatement of Terminated Oil and Gas Lease WYW172987, Wyoming

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-04

...., for competitive oil and gas lease WYW172987 for lands in Converse and Natrona County, Wyoming. The... under the law. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bureau of Land Management, Julie L. Weaver, Chief, Fluid...

Fort Ord Redevelopment: Coordinating Transportation and Land Use Planning

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

The closure of military bases and conversion to civilian land uses is a challenging task faced by many small communities throughout the nation. Fort Ord is located in Monterey County, California and encompasses 28,000 acres of reprogrammed property. ...

Foresters' Metric Conversions program (version 1.0). [Computer program

Treesearch

Jefferson A. Palmer

1999-01-01

The conversion of scientific measurements has become commonplace in the fields of - engineering, research, and forestry. Foresters? Metric Conversions is a Windows-based computer program that quickly converts user-defined measurements from English to metric and from metric to English. Foresters? Metric Conversions was derived from the publication "Metric...

Spatiotemporal response of the water cycle to land use conversions in a typical hilly-gully basin on the Loess Plateau, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Linjing; Wu, Yiping; Wang, Lijing; Lei, Xiaohui; Liao, Weihong; Hui, Ying; Meng, Xianyong

2017-12-01

The hydrological effects of the Grain for Green project (GFGP) on the Loess Plateau have been extensively debated due to the complexity of the water system and its multiple driving factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of the hydrological cycle to the GFGP measures based in a case study of the Yanhe Basin, a typical hilly-gully area on the Loess Plateau of China. First, we analyzed the land use and land cover (LULC) changes from 1990 to 2010. Then, we evaluated the effects of LULC changes and sloping land conversion on the main hydrological components in the basin using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The results indicated that cropland exhibited a decreasing trend, declining from 40.2 % of the basin area in 1990 to 17.6 % in 2010, and that the woodland and grassland areas correspondingly increased. With the land use changes from 1990 to 2010, the water yield showed a decreasing trend which was mainly due to decrease in surface runoff. In contrast, evapotranspiration (ET) showed an increasing trend over the same period, resulting in a persistent decrease in soil water. The conversion of sloping cropland to grassland or woodland exerted negative effects on water yield and soil water. Compared with the land use condition in 2010, the negative effects were most evident where cropland with a slope ≥ 15° was converted to woodland, with decreases in surface runoff and soil water of 17.1 and 6.4 %, respectively. These results suggest that the expansive reforestation on sloping land in the loess hilly-gully region decreased water yield and increased ET, resulting in reduced soil water. The results of this study can be used to support sustainable land use planning and water resource management on the Loess Plateau in China.

Response of net primary production to land use and land cover change in mainland China since the late 1980s.

PubMed

Li, Jun; Wang, Zhaoli; Lai, Chengguang; Wu, Xiaoqing; Zeng, Zhaoyang; Chen, Xiaohong; Lian, Yanqing

2018-05-19

Land use and land cover patterns in mainland China have substantially changed in the recent decades under the economic reform policies of the government. The terrestrial carbon cycle, particularly the net primary productivity (NPP), has been substantially changed on both local and national scales. With the growing concern over the effects of the terrestrial carbon cycle on global climate changes, the impacts of land use and cover change (LUCC) on NPP need to be understood. In this study, variations in NPP caused by LUCC (e.g., urbanization and conversion of other land use to forest and grassland) in mainland China from the late 1980s to 2015 were evaluated based on land cover datasets and NPPs simulated from the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model. The results indicate that the national total losses in NPP attributed to urbanization reached 1.695 TgC between the late 1980s and 2015. A large proportion (63.02%) of the total losses was due to the transformation from cropland to urban land. Urban expansion decreased the monthly and total NPPs over southern China, which includes the South China Region, Southwest China Region, and the middle and lower regions of the Yangtze River. However, the total NPP increased in the majority of urbanized areas in Northern China, including the Huang-Huai-Hai Region, Inner Mongolia Region (MGR), Gan-Xin Region (GXR), and Northeast China Region; monthly NPP in GXR and MGR increased throughout the year. By contrast, the conversion to grassland or forestland increased the monthly and total NPPs of Northern China, suggesting that returning to forestland and grassland could increase the carbon sequestration capacity of terrestrial ecosystems in mainland China. Among the sub-regions, the Loess Plateau Region contributed the largest increase in NPP, which was prompted by the conversion to grassland and forestland. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Did 250 years of forest management in Europe cool the climate?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naudts, Kim; Chen, Yiying; McGrath, Matthew; Ryder, James; Valade, Aude; Otto, Juliane; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan

2016-04-01

Over the past two centuries European forest has evolved from being an over-exploited source of timber to a sustainably managed provider of diverse ecosystem services. Although this transition is often perceived as exemplary in resources management, the loss of unmanaged forest, the progressive shift from traditional coppice forestry to the current production-oriented management and the massive conversion of broadleaved to coniferous species are typically overlooked when assessing the impact of land-use change on climate. Here we present a study that addressed this gap by: (1) developing and reparameterizing the ORCHIDEE land surface model to simulate the biogeochemical and biophysical effects of forest management, (2) reconstructing the land-use history of Europe, accounting for changes in forest management and land cover. The model was coupled to the atmospheric model LMDz in a factorial simulation experiment to attribute climate change to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission and European land-use change since 1750 (i.e., afforestation, wood extraction and species conversion). We find that, despite considerable afforestation, Europe's forests failed to realize a net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere due to wood extraction. Moreover, biophysical changes due to the conversion of deciduous forest into coniferous forest have offset mitigation through the carbon cycle. Thus, two and a half centuries of forest management in Europe did not mitigate climate warming (Naudts et al., 2016). Naudts, K., Chen, Y., McGrath, M.J., Ryder, J., Valade, A., Otto, J., Luyssaert, S, Europe's forest management did not mitigate climate warming, Science, Accepted.

Land-Use Change Impact on Soil Sustainability in a Climate and Vegetation Transition Zone

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reitsma, Kurt D.; Dunn, Barry H.; Mishra, U.

A growing world population and climate change are expected to influence future agricultural productivity and land use. This study determined the impact of land-use change on soil sustainability and discussed the factors contributing to these changes. South Dakota was selected as a model system because corn ( Zea mays L.) grain prices tripled between 2006 and 2012 and it is located in a climate and grassland/cropland transition zone. High resolution imagery was used to visually determine land uses (cropland, grassland, nonagricultural, habitat, and water) at 14,400 points in 2006 and 2012. At each point, land-use change and the USDA landmore » capability class (LCC) were determined. Over the 6-yr study period, 6.87% of the grasslands (730,000 ha) were converted to cropland, with 93% occurring on lands generally considered suitable for crop production (LCC ≤ IV) if appropriate practices are followed. Converted grasslands, however, had higher LCC values than existing croplands and lower LCC values than remaining grasslands. In addition, 4.2% of the croplands (250,000 ha) were converted to grasslands, and statewide, 20,000 ha of croplands were converted to grasslands in areas limited by excess water (LCC V). The conversion of grasslands could not be linked to one specific factor and may be related to: (i) a desire to increase financial returns, (ii) changes in the land ownership structure, (iii) technology improvements, (iv) governmental policies, (v) climate change, and (vi) an aging workforce. Here, research and outreach programs that balance the goods and services of different land uses are needed to maintain sustainable agroecosystems.« less

Land-Use Change Impact on Soil Sustainability in a Climate and Vegetation Transition Zone

DOE PAGES

Reitsma, Kurt D.; Dunn, Barry H.; Mishra, U.; ...

2015-09-11

A growing world population and climate change are expected to influence future agricultural productivity and land use. This study determined the impact of land-use change on soil sustainability and discussed the factors contributing to these changes. South Dakota was selected as a model system because corn ( Zea mays L.) grain prices tripled between 2006 and 2012 and it is located in a climate and grassland/cropland transition zone. High resolution imagery was used to visually determine land uses (cropland, grassland, nonagricultural, habitat, and water) at 14,400 points in 2006 and 2012. At each point, land-use change and the USDA landmore » capability class (LCC) were determined. Over the 6-yr study period, 6.87% of the grasslands (730,000 ha) were converted to cropland, with 93% occurring on lands generally considered suitable for crop production (LCC ≤ IV) if appropriate practices are followed. Converted grasslands, however, had higher LCC values than existing croplands and lower LCC values than remaining grasslands. In addition, 4.2% of the croplands (250,000 ha) were converted to grasslands, and statewide, 20,000 ha of croplands were converted to grasslands in areas limited by excess water (LCC V). The conversion of grasslands could not be linked to one specific factor and may be related to: (i) a desire to increase financial returns, (ii) changes in the land ownership structure, (iii) technology improvements, (iv) governmental policies, (v) climate change, and (vi) an aging workforce. Here, research and outreach programs that balance the goods and services of different land uses are needed to maintain sustainable agroecosystems.« less

NASA Data for Water Resources Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Houser, Paul; Arsenault, Kristi; Entin, Jared

2004-01-01

Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1) estimating water storage including snowpack and soil moisture, 2) modeling and predicting water fluxes such as evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation and river runoff, and 3) remote sensing of water quality, including both point source (e.g., turbidity and productivity) and non-point source (e.g., land cover conversion such as forest to agriculture yielding higher nutrient runoff). The objectives of the partnering cover three steps of: 1) Evaluation, 2) Verification and Validation, and 3) Benchmark Report. We are working with the U.S. federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). We are using several of their Decision Support Systems (DSS) tools. This includes the DSS support tools BASINS used by EPA, Riverware and AWARDS ET ToolBox by USBR and SWAT by USDA and EPA. Regional application sites using NASA data across the US. are currently being eliminated for the DSS tools. The current NASA data emphasized thus far are from the Land Data Assimilation Systems WAS) and MODIS satellite products. We are currently in the first two steps of evaluation and verification validation. Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise s National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1) estimating water storage including snowpack and soil moisture, 2) modeling and predicting water fluxes such as evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation and river runoff, and 3) remote sensing of water quality, including both point source (e.g., turbidity and productivity) and non-point source (e.g., land cover conversion such as forest to agriculture yielding higher nutrient runoff). The objectives of the partnering cover three steps of 1) Evaluation, 2) Verification and Validation, and 3) Benchmark Report. We are working with the U.S. federal agencies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). We are using several of their Decision Support Systems (DSS) tools. T us includes the DSS support tools BASINS used by EPA, Riverware and AWARDS ET ToolBox by USBR and SWAT by USDA and EPA. Regional application sites using NASA data across the US. are currently being evaluated for the DSS tools. The current NASA data emphasized thus far are from the Land Data Assimilation Systems (LDAS) and MODIS satellite products. We are currently in the first two steps of evaluation and verification and validation.

Nitrogen deposition, land cover conversion, climate, and contemporary carbon balance of Europe (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churkina, G.; Zahle, S.; Hughes, J.; Viovy, N.; Chen, Y.; Jung, M.; Ramankutty, N.; Roedenbeck, C.; Heimann, M.; Jones, C.

2009-12-01

In Europe, atmospheric nitrogen deposition has more than doubled, air temperature was rising, forest cover was steadily increasing, while agricultural area was declining over the last 50 years. What effect have these changes had on the European carbon balance? In this study we estimate responses of the European land ecosystems to nitrogen deposition, rising CO2, land cover conversion and climate change. We use results from three ecosystem process models such as BIOME-BGC, JULES, and ORCHIDEE (-CN) to address this question. We discuss to which degree carbon balance of Europe has been altered by nitrogen deposition in comparison to other drivers and identify areas which carbon balance has been affected by anthropogenic changes the most. We also analyze ecosystems carbon pools which were affected by the abovementioned environmental changes.

Manifesting Destiny: A Land Education Analysis of Settler Colonialism in Jamestown, Virginia, USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCoy, Kate

2014-01-01

Globally, colonization has been and continues to be enacted in the take-over of Indigenous land and the subsequent conversion of agriculture from diverse food and useful crops to large-scale monoculture and cash crops. This article uses a land education analysis to map the rise of the ideology and practices of Manifest Destiny in Virginia.…

Historical land use and stand age effects on forest soil properties in the Mid-Atlantic US

Treesearch

Ian Yesilonis; K. Szlavecz; Richard Pouyat; D. Whigham; L. Xia

2016-01-01

The conversion of agriculture lands to forest has been occurring in parts of North America for decades. The legacy of management activity during this transition is reflected in soil physical and chemical properties years after abandonment. This study was conducted at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, USA, to determine land-use history and forest...

ForConX: A forcefield conversion tool based on XML.

PubMed

Lesch, Volker; Diddens, Diddo; Bernardes, Carlos E S; Golub, Benjamin; Dequidt, Alain; Zeindlhofer, Veronika; Sega, Marcello; Schröder, Christian

2017-04-05

The force field conversion from one MD program to another one is exhausting and error-prone. Although single conversion tools from one MD program to another exist not every combination and both directions of conversion are available for the favorite MD programs Amber, Charmm, Dl-Poly, Gromacs, and Lammps. We present here a general tool for the force field conversion on the basis of an XML document. The force field is converted to and from this XML structure facilitating the implementation of new MD programs for the conversion. Furthermore, the XML structure is human readable and can be manipulated before continuing the conversion. We report, as testcases, the conversions of topologies for acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate comprising also Urey-Bradley and Ryckaert-Bellemans potentials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Conversion of forest to arable land in Southern Brazil has led to an increase in dissolved silicon flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinet, Jérémy; Ameijeiras-Mariño, Yolanda; Vanderborght, Jan; Opfergelt, Sophie; Govers, Gerard

2017-04-01

Hydrology plays a major role in controlling biogeochemical fluxes at various scales. Among the various controlling factors of water fluxes at the hillslope or catchment scale, land use change is a direct human effect which has been relatively under-examined despite its potential important impact. The overall objective of this research is therefore to investigate how land use change can affect water fluxes and how these changes may, on their turn, affect biogeochemical fluxes, with a particular focus on silicon (Si) dynamic. We selected two small catchments with contrasting land use (agriculture vs. natural forest) in a subtropical region in the south of Brazil. The conversion of forest to arable land in the agricultural catchment is relatively recent, as deforestation started at the beginning of the 20th century. Stream, pore and groundwater were monitored, sampled and analyzed for major elements concentrations and δ18O. Preliminary results showed that deforestation and agriculture led to an increase in solute export at the catchment outlet, with for example dissolved Si (DSi) concentration and flux two times higher for the agricultural catchment. δ18O and DSi concentration data showed the importance of preferential flow in macropores in the forested catchment, probably because of the high root and low bulk densities. This led to a reduced mobilization of the pore water during rainfall event, contrarily to the agricultural catchment. As a result, there is almost no contribution of this relatively DSi-enriched pool to the river discharge in the forested environment. Those results indicate that the conversion of forest to arable land has had a significant impact on the biogeochemical fluxes, highlighted in this study with observed changes in DSi flux. Those changes could be partially attributed to changes in water fluxes and pathways.

Using changes in agricultural utility to quantify future climate-induced risk to conservation.

PubMed

Estes, Lyndon D; Paroz, Lydie-Line; Bradley, Bethany A; Green, Jonathan M H; Hole, David G; Holness, Stephen; Ziv, Guy; Oppenheimer, Michael G; Wilcove, David S

2014-04-01

Much of the biodiversity-related climate change impacts research has focused on the direct effects to species and ecosystems. Far less attention has been paid to the potential ecological consequences of human efforts to address the effects of climate change, which may equal or exceed the direct effects of climate change on biodiversity. One of the most significant human responses is likely to be mediated through changes in the agricultural utility of land. As farmers adapt their practices to changing climates, they may increase pressure on some areas that are important to conserve (conservation lands) whereas lessening it on others. We quantified how the agricultural utility of South African conservation lands may be altered by climate change. We assumed that the probability of an area being farmed is linked to the economic benefits of doing so, using land productivity values to represent production benefit and topographic ruggedness as a proxy for costs associated with mechanical workability. We computed current and future values of maize and wheat production in key conservation lands using the DSSAT4.5 model and 36 crop-climate response scenarios. Most conservation lands had, and were predicted to continue to have, low agricultural utility because of their location in rugged terrain. However, several areas were predicted to maintain or gain high agricultural utility and may therefore be at risk of near-term or future conversion to cropland. Conversely, some areas were predicted to decrease in agricultural utility and may therefore prove easier to protect from conversion. Our study provides an approximate but readily transferable method for incorporating potential human responses to climate change into conservation planning. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Land use, climate parameters and water quality changes at surroundings of Code River, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muryanto; Suntoro; Gunawan, T.; Setyono, P.

2018-03-01

Regional development of an area has the potential of adverse impact on land use, vegetation, or green space. The reduction of green open space is known to contribute to global warming. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global warming has become a serious and significant phenomenon in human life. It affects not only ecological environment but also social and cultural environment. Global warming is a rise in global annual temperature due to, one of which, greenhouse gases. The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of land use change on water pollution and climate parameters at Code river. The results showed that Code River is experiencing land use conversion. Rice field was the most extensively reduced land use, by 467.496 ha. Meanwhile, the other land uses, namely plantation, grass, and forest, were reduced by 111.475 ha, 31.218 ha, and 1.307 ha, respectively. The least converted land use was bushed, whose decreased 0.403 ha. The land use conversion in the study area deteriorated the water quality of river, as proven by the increasing trend of COD and BOD from 2012 to 2016. The COD from 2012 to 2016 was 14, 16.6, 18.7, 22.5, and 22.8 ppm, respectively. Meanwhile, the BOD from the same observation years was 6, 7.2, 8.9, 9.3, and 10.3 ppm, respectively.

Land-use changes influence soil bacterial communities in a meadow grassland in Northeast China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Chengyou; Zhang, Ying; Qian, Wei; Liang, Caiping; Wang, Congmin; Tao, Shuang

2017-10-01

The conversion of natural grassland into agricultural fields is an intensive anthropogenic perturbation commonly occurring in semiarid regions, and this perturbation strongly affects soil microbiota. In this study, the influences of land-use conversion on the soil properties and bacterial communities in the Horqin Grasslands in Northeast China were assessed. This study aimed to investigate (1) how the abundances of soil bacteria changed across land-use types, (2) how the structure of the soil bacterial community was altered in each land-use type, and (3) how these variations were correlated with soil physical and chemical properties. Variations in the diversities and compositions of bacterial communities and the relative abundances of dominant taxa were detected in four distinct land-use systems, namely, natural meadow grassland, paddy field, upland field, and poplar plantation, through the high-throughput Illumina MiSeq sequencing technique. The results indicated that land-use changes primarily affected the soil physical and chemical properties and bacterial community structure. Soil properties, namely, organic matter, pH, total N, total P, available N and P, and microbial biomass C, N, and P, influenced the bacterial community structure. The dominant phyla and genera were almost the same among the land-use types, but their relative abundances were significantly different. The effects of land-use changes on the structure of soil bacterial communities were more quantitative than qualitative.

Historical wildfires do not promote cheatgrass invasion in a western Great Plains steppe

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant invasion and wildfire are often tightly linked. In western North America, positive feedbacks between wildfire and Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) invasion have contributed to plant community conversion across millions of hectares of land. Impacts of this conversion include reduced biodiversity, w...

Studies on Factors affecting the Evolution of Agroecosystems in the Dakotas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arora, Gaurav

This dissertation combines remote sensing and applied economics tools to study land use conversions in North Dakota and South Dakota that are tied to this region's overall socio-economic welfare. Specifically, the region's corn and soybeans cultivation expanded significantly over the past decade replacing the region's grasslands and grain crops. In paper I, we estimate the localized impacts of the advent of corn-based ethanol plants on the Dakotas' corn acreage. We implement a Difference-in-Difference framework through more flexible assumptions as the Parallel Paths assumption of the standard model fails to hold. We find strong trends in the Dakotas' corn acreage over the past decade, but surprisingly some ethanol plants were found to have a negative impact on local corn acreage. In paper II, we evaluate crop competitiveness due to heterogeneous weather impacts on crop yields, and then test whether annual weather fluctuations explain land allocations among the Dakotas' major land uses. Our integrated framework suggests that annual weather variability is an important determinant of regional land use decisions. Under the A1B emissions scenario of climate change, we find that the yields of all of the Dakotas' major crops will decline by 2031-2060 relative to 1981-2010, leading to lower (higher) spring wheat (alfalfa) acres in Eastern (Western) Dakotas. In paper III, we develop and implement a satellite image-processing algorithm to estimate historical land use acres using raw Landsat sensor data, thereby extending the existing Cropland Data Layers back to 1984 in eastern Dakotas. We demonstrate that the availability of a longer time-series is useful as the rate of land use change may differ among different time-spans. In paper IV, we evaluate the cost-effectiveness of grassland conservation easements when spatial spillovers are present among private landowners. We first develop a conceptual model to incorporate social spillovers in evaluating the role of easements in inhibiting grassland conversions. We empirically test whether social spillovers are present by estimating hazard rates of conversion as a function of neighborhood density of grasslands and easements. Our findings suggest that easements are strategic complements to existing grasslands in preventing grassland conversions in the Dakotas.

"Land-Cover Conversion in Amazonia, The Role of ENV" Ironment and Substrate composition in Modifying SOI

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, Dar A.; Chadwick, Oliver A.; Batista, Getulio T.

2003-01-01

LBA research from the first phase of LBA focused on three broad categories: 1) mapping land cover and quantifying rates of change, persistence of pasture, and area of recovering forest; 2) evaluating the role of environmental factors and land-use history on soil biogeochemistry; and 3) quantifying the natural and human controls on stream nutrient concentrations. The focus of the research was regional, concentrating primarily in the state of RondBnia, but also included land-cover mapping in the vicinity of Maraba, Para, and Manaus, Amazonas. Remote sensing analysis utilized Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Multispectral Scanner (MS S) data to map historical patterns of land-cover change. Specific questions addressed by the remote sensing component of the research included: 1) what is the areal extent of dominant land-cover classes? 2) what are the rates of change of dominant land cover through processes of deforestation, disturbance and regeneration? and 3) what are the dynamic properties of each class that characterize temporal variability, duration, and frequency of repeat disturbance? Biogeochemical analysis focused on natural variability and impacts of land-use/land-cover changes on soil and stream biogeochemical properties at the regional scale. An emphasis was given to specific soil properties considered to be primary limiting factors regionally, including phosphorus, nitrogen, base cations and cation-exchange properties. Stream sampling emphasized the relative effects of the rates and timing of land-cover change on stream nutrients, demonstrating that vegetation conversion alone does not impact nutrients as much as subsequent land use and urbanization.

Investigating Patterns of Participation and Conversation Content in an Online Mentoring Program for Northern Canadian Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallis, Julie A. M.; Riddell, Julia K.; Pepler, Debra J.; Smith, Claire; Silvertown, Josh

2015-01-01

In this study, we describe participant characteristics, conversation content, and program success of an online mentoring program for northern Canadian youth. We investigate the associations between demographics and program success. The profiles and conversations of students and mentors that participated in the program between 2009 and 2013 were…

Land Use Effects on Atmospheric C-13 Imply a Sizable Terrestrial CO2 Sink in Tropical Latitudes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Townsend, Alan R.; Asner, Gregory P.; Tans, Pieter P.; White, James W. C.

2000-01-01

Records of atmospheric CO2 and 13-CO2, can be used to distinguish terrestrial vs. oceanic exchanges of CO2 with the atmosphere. However, this approach has proven difficult in the tropics, partly due to extensive land conversion from C-3 to C-4 vegetation. We estimated the effects of such conversion on biosphere-atmosphere C-13 exchange for 1991 through 1999, and then explored how this 'land-use disequilibrium' altered the partitioning of net atmospheric CO2 exchanges between ocean and land using NOAA-CMDL data and a 2D, zonally averaged atmospheric transport model. Our results show sizable CO2 uptake in C-3-dominated tropical regions in seven of the nine years; 1997 and 1998, which included a strong ENSO event, are near neutral. Since these fluxes include any deforestation source, our findings imply either that such sources are smaller than previously estimated, and/or the existence of a large terrestrial CO2 sink in equatorial latitudes.

Land-use change and costs to rural households: a case study in groundwater nitrate contamination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keeler, Bonnie L.; Polasky, Stephen

2014-07-01

Loss of grassland from conversion to agriculture threatens water quality and other valuable ecosystem services. Here we estimate how land-use change affects the probability of groundwater contamination by nitrate in private drinking water wells. We find that conversion of grassland to agriculture from 2007 to 2012 in Southeastern Minnesota is expected to increase the future number of wells exceeding 10 ppm nitrate-nitrogen by 45% (from 888 to 1292 wells). We link outputs of the groundwater well contamination model to cost estimates for well remediation, well replacement, and avoidance behaviors to estimate the potential economic value lost due to nitrate contamination from observed land-use change. We estimate 0.7-12 million in costs (present values over a 20 year horizon) to address the increased risk of nitrate contamination of private wells. Our study demonstrates how biophysical models and economic valuation can be integrated to estimate the welfare consequences of land-use change.

Regional dynamics of grassland change in the western Great Plains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drummond, M.A.

2007-01-01

This paper examines the contemporary land-cover changes in two western Great Plains ecoregions between 1973 and 2000. Agriculture and other land uses can have a substantial effect on grassland cover that varies regionally depending on the primary driving forces of change. In order to better understand change, the rates, types, and causes of land conversion were examined for 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 using Landsat satellite data and a statistical sampling strategy. The overall estimated rate of land-cover change between 1973 and 2000 was 7.4% in the Northwestern Great Plains and 11.5% in the Western High Plains. Trends in both ecoregions have similarities, although the dynamics of change differ temporally depending on driving forces. Between 1973 and 1986, grassland cover declined when economic opportunity drove an expansion of agriculture. Between 1986 and 2000, grassland expanded as public policy and a combination of socioeconomic factors drove a conversion from agriculture to grassland. ?? 2007 Copyright by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Evaluation of plant biomass resources available for replacement of fossil oil

PubMed Central

Henry, Robert J

2010-01-01

The potential of plants to replace fossil oil was evaluated by considering the scale of production required, the area of land needed and the types of plants available. High yielding crops (50 tonnes/ha) that have a high conversion efficiency (75%) would require a global land footprint of around 100 million ha to replace current (2008) oil consumption. Lower yielding or less convertible plants would require a larger land footprint. Domestication of new species as dedicated energy crops may be necessary. A systematic analysis of higher plants and their current and potential uses is presented. Plant biotechnology provides tools to improve the prospects of replacing oil with plant-derived biomass by increasing the amount of biomass produced per unit area of land and improving the composition of the biomass to increase the efficiency of conversion to biofuel and biomaterials. Options for the production of high value coproducts and the expression of processing aids such as enzymes in the plant may add further value to plants as bioenergy resources. PMID:20070873

A World at Risk: Aggregating Development Trends to Forecast Global Habitat Conversion

PubMed Central

Oakleaf, James R.; Kennedy, Christina M.; Baruch-Mordo, Sharon; West, Paul C.; Gerber, James S.; Jarvis, Larissa; Kiesecker, Joseph

2015-01-01

A growing and more affluent human population is expected to increase the demand for resources and to accelerate habitat modification, but by how much and where remains unknown. Here we project and aggregate global spatial patterns of expected urban and agricultural expansion, conventional and unconventional oil and gas, coal, solar, wind, biofuels and mining development. Cumulatively, these threats place at risk 20% of the remaining global natural lands (19.68 million km2) and could result in half of the world’s biomes becoming >50% converted while doubling and tripling the extent of land converted in South America and Africa, respectively. Regionally, substantial shifts in land conversion could occur in Southern and Western South America, Central and Eastern Africa, and the Central Rocky Mountains of North America. With only 5% of the Earth’s at-risk natural lands under strict legal protection, estimating and proactively mitigating multi-sector development risk is critical for curtailing the further substantial loss of nature. PMID:26445282

Distribution of green open space in Malang City based on multispectral data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasyim, A. W.; Hernawan, F. P.

2017-06-01

Green open space is one of the land that its existence is quite important in urban areas where the minimum area is set to reach 30% of the total area of the city. Malang which has an area of 110,6 square kilometers, is one of the major cities in East Java Province that is prone to over-land conversion due to development needs. In support of the green space program, calculation of green space is needed precisely so that remote sensing which has high accuracy is now used for measurement of green space. This study aims to analyze the area of green open space in Malang by using Landsat 8 image in 2015. The method used was the vegetation index that is Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). From the study obtained the calculation of green open space was better to use the vegetation index method to avoid the occurrence of misclassification of other types of land use. The results of the calculation of green open space using NDVI found that the area of green open space in Malang City in 2015 reached 39% of the total area.

Effects of forest conversion on soil microbial communities depend on soil layer on the eastern Tibetan Plateau of China

PubMed Central

He, Ruoyang; Yang, Kaijun; Li, Zhijie; Schädler, Martin; Yang, Wanqin; Wu, Fuzhong; Tan, Bo; Zhang, Li

2017-01-01

Forest land-use changes have long been suggested to profoundly affect soil microbial communities. However, how forest type conversion influences soil microbial properties remains unclear in Tibetan boreal forests. The aim of this study was to explore variations of soil microbial profiles in the surface organic layer and subsurface mineral soil among three contrasting forests (natural coniferous forest, NF; secondary birch forest, SF and spruce plantation, PT). Soil microbial biomass, activity and community structure of the two layers were investigated by chloroform fumigation, substrate respiration and phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), respectively. In the organic layer, both NF and SF exhibited higher soil nutrient levels (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus), microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, microbial respiration, PLFA contents as compared to PT. However, the measured parameters in the mineral soils often did not differ following forest type conversion. Irrespective of forest types, the microbial indexes generally were greater in the organic layer than in the mineral soil. PLFAs biomarkers were significantly correlated with soil substrate pools. Taken together, forest land-use change remarkably altered microbial community in the organic layer but often did not affect them in the mineral soil. The microbial responses to forest land-use change depend on soil layer, with organic horizons being more sensitive to forest conversion. PMID:28982191

Impact of spatial plan on the conversion of Subak rice fields and food security, in Badung and Gianyar Regencies, Bali Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanya, Indayati; Netera Subadiyasa, N.; Ratna Adi, Gst. P.

2018-05-01

Regional Spatial Plan of Bali Province 2009-2029, allocating rice fields can be converted 10% (± 10.800 ha). Over the next 20 years, the conversion of rice field is permitted 540 ha year-1, the real condition in Bali is 800 ha year-1.Research location in Badung and Gianyar Regencies. Visual satellite image interpretation methods, digitization of on-screen, delineation of subak rice field, field survey, superimpose analysis of Spatial Plan (SP) map with rice field map, trough toolbox-analysis tools–overlay-intersect using QGIS, Harvest Index (HI) of cropping pattern in one year. SP has a negative impact on agricultural land resources and food security. Local Regulation (SP), subak rice fields outside the agricultural area licensed to be converted, and food deficits. Regency of Badung, potential land conversion of 3,324.97 ha (34.44%) from 119 subak with paddy field area of 24,184.85 ha. There are 10 subak 100% and 8 subak > 95% can be converted; projected food deficit -115.343 tons of rice by 2020 for HI 2. In Gianyar Regency, potential land conversion 13,021.41 ha (53.51%) of 66 subak with an area of 24184.85 ha; 8 subak 100% and 8 subak with area < 5 ha can be converted; projected food deficit is about -194438 tons of rice in 2040 for HI 2.

Changes in Structure and Functioning of Protist (Testate Amoebae) Communities Due to Conversion of Lowland Rainforest into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations.

PubMed

Krashevska, Valentyna; Klarner, Bernhard; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Maraun, Mark; Scheu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Large areas of tropical rainforest are being converted to agricultural and plantation land uses, but little is known of biodiversity and ecological functioning under these replacement land uses. We investigated the effects of conversion of rainforest into jungle rubber, intensive rubber and oil palm plantations on testate amoebae, diverse and functionally important protists in litter and soil. Living testate amoebae species richness, density and biomass were all lower in replacement land uses than in rainforest, with the impact being more pronounced in litter than in soil. Similar abundances of species of high and low trophic level in rainforest suggest that trophic interactions are more balanced, with a high number of functionally redundant species, than in rubber and oil palm. In contrast, plantations had a low density of high trophic level species indicating losses of functions. This was particularly so in oil palm plantations. In addition, the relative density of species with siliceous shells was >50% lower in the litter layer of oil palm and rubber compared to rainforest and jungle rubber. This difference suggests that rainforest conversion changes biogenic silicon pools and increases silicon losses. Overall, the lower species richness, density and biomass in plantations than in rainforest, and the changes in the functional composition of the testate amoebae community, indicate detrimental effects of rainforest conversion on the structure and functioning of microbial food webs.

Rates and potentials of soil organic carbon sequestration in agricultural lands in Japan: an assessment using a process-based model and spatially-explicit land-use change inventories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yagasaki, Y.; Shirato, Y.

2013-11-01

In order to develop a system to estimate a country-scale soil organic carbon stock change (SCSC) in agricultural lands in Japan that enables to take account effect of land-use changes, climate, different agricultural activity and nature of soils, a spatially-explicit model simulation system using Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC) integrated with spatial and temporal inventories was developed. Future scenarios on agricultural activity and land-use change were prepared, in addition to future climate projections by global climate models, with purposely selecting rather exaggerated and contrasting set of scenarios to assess system's sensitivity as well as to better factor out direct human influence in the SCSC accounting. Simulation was run from year 1970 to 2008, and to year 2020, with historical inventories and future scenarios involving target set in agricultural policy, respectively, and subsequently until year 2100 with no temporal changes in land-use and agricultural activity but with varying climate to investigate course of SCSC. Results of the country-scale SCSC simulation have indicated that conversion of paddy fields to croplands occurred during past decades, as well as a large conversion of agricultural fields to settlements or other lands that have occurred in historical period and would continue in future, could act as main factors causing greater loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) at country-scale, with reduction organic carbon input to soils and enhancement of SOC decomposition by transition of soil environment to aerobic conditions, respectively. Scenario analysis indicated that an option to increase organic carbon input to soils with intensified rotation with suppressing conversion of agricultural lands to other land-use types could achieve reduction of CO2 emission due to SCSC in the same level as that of another option to let agricultural fields be abandoned. These results emphasize that land-use changes, especially conversion of the agricultural lands to other land-use types by abandoning or urbanization accompanied by substantial changes in the rate of organic carbon input to soils, could cause a greater or comparable influence on country-scale SCSC compared with changes in management of agricultural lands. A net-net based accounting on SCSC showed potential influence of variations in future climate on SCSC, that highlighted importance of application of process-based model for estimation of this quantity. Whereas a baseline-based accounting on SCSC was shown to have robustness over variations in future climate and effectiveness to factor out direct human-induced influence on SCSC. Validation of the system's function to estimate SCSC in agricultural lands, by comparing simulation output with data from nation-wide stationary monitoring conducted during year 1979-1998, suggested that the system has an acceptable levels of validity, though only for limited range of conditions at current stage. In addition to uncertainties in estimation of the rate of organic carbon input to soils in different land-use types at large-scale, time course of SOC sequestration, supposition on land-use change pattern in future, as well as feasibility of agricultural policy planning are considered as important factors that need to be taken account in estimation on a potential of country-scale SCSC.

Land use changing SOC pool: A field investigation from four catchments on the Loess Plateau in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Shengli; Wang, Rui; Hu, Yaxian

2017-04-01

The Loess Plateau in China has long been known for severe erosion, a degraded ecosystem and heavy sediment delivery to the Yellow River. Apart from, the highly erodible loess soil and the hilly geomorphology, intensive cultivation has been caused such most destructive human activities. This made the Loess Plateau once the least fertile region in China with extreme poverty. To restore soil fertility and ecosystem sustainability, a national-level project was launched in 1990s to encourage land use changes via afforestation or conversion of cropland back to grassland or woodland. After nearly three decades of land use conversion, the SOC pool in the soil can be expected to have substantially changed. However, climate conditions, geomorphic types and soil properties were spatially distinctive across the Loess Plateau. Their individual as well interactive impacts on changes of soil carbon pool during land use conversions must thus be properly accounted for. In this study, four watersheds distributed over the Loess Plateau were investigated. The four watersheds mainly consisted of three geomorphic types: wide gully, loess ridge, and round knoll. On each geomorphic feature, three land use types prevailed: cropland, grassland and woodland. In total, 695 soil samples were taken from the top 20 cm of the four watersheds during 2010 and 2011. Our results show: 1) Degrees of erosion hugely differed among the four watersheds, with Catchment A (hilly) having three times more erosion modulus than the least eroded Catchment D (gully) (12000 vs. 1800 Mg per km2 per year). 2) The increasing SOC content from 4 mg g-1 at Catchment A to 8.1 mg g-1 at Catchment D agreed well with their decreasing erosion, suggesting that geomorphology induced erosion history was the predominant factor to set the general level of watershed-scale SOC reservoir. 3) Within each watershed, grassland and woodland consistently had at least 34% more SOC than cropland, demonstrating the influence of land use changes on local SOC pool. Overall, our field investigation suggests that on watershed scale, geomorphic types and the associated erosion are the decisive factor regulating the local SOC reservoir. Within each watershed, land use conversions from cropland to grassland and woodland had significantly improved SOC pool.

Land Use Changing SOC pool: A Field Investigation from Six Catchments on the Loess Plateau in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, S.; Wang, R.; Hu, Y.

2016-12-01

The Loess Plateau in China has long been known for severe erosion, degraded ecosystem and heavy sediment delivery to the Yellow River. Besides the highly erodible loess soil and the hilly geomorphology nature, intensive cultivation has been accused as one of the most destructive anthropogenic activities undermining erosion situation on the Loess Plateau. This made the Loess Plateau once the least fertile region in China with extreme poverty. To preserve soil fertility and ecosystem sustainability, a magnificent national-level project was launched in 1990s to encourage land use changes via afforestation or conversion cropland back to grassland or woodland. After nearly three decades, SOC pool must have been substantially changed following land use conversions. However, climate conditions, geomorphic types and soil properties were spatially distinctive across the Loess Plateau. Their individual as well interactive impacts on changes of soil carbon pool during land use conversions must be properly accounted for. In this study, six watersheds well distributed on the Loess Plateau were investigated. The six watersheds mainly represented three geomorphic types (wide gully, loess ridge, and round knoll), each with three land use types (cropland, grassland and woodland). In total, 695 soil samples were taken from the top 20 cm of the six watersheds during 2010 and 2011. Our results show: 1) Degrees of erosion hugely differed among the six watersheds, with Huangfuchuan having three times more erosion modulus than the least eroded Gaoquangou (21000 vs. 6120 t km-2 per year). 2) The increasing SOC content from 4 mg g-1 at Huangfuchuan to 8.1 mg g-1 at Gaoquangou agreed well with their decreasing erosion modulus, suggesting that geomorphology induced erosion history was the predominant factor to set the general level of watershed-scale SOC reservoir. 3) Within each watershed, grassland and woodland consistently had at least 34% more SOC than cropland, demonstrating the influence of land use changes on local SOC pool. Overall, our field investigation suggests that in watershed scale, geomorphic types and the thus induced erosion degrees are the decisive factor to regulate local SOC reservoir. Within each watershed, land use conversions from cropland to grassland and woodland had significantly improved SOC pool.

Changes in land use, forest fragmentation, and policy responses.

Treesearch

Ralph J. Alig; David J. Lewis; Jennifer J. Swenson

2005-01-01

Land-use conversion is a primary determinant of environmental change in terrestrial ecosystems. Projections are for more than 50 million acres of U.S. forest to be converted to developed uses (e.g., parking lots) over the next 50 years (Alig et al. 2004, Alig and Plantinga 2004), as the population grows by more than 120 million people. Land use change can lead to...

Society's choices: land use changes, forest fragmentation, and conservation.

Treesearch

Jonathan Thompson

2006-01-01

Changing patterns of land use are at the heart of many environmental concerns regarding U.S. forest lands. Of all the human impacts to forests, development is one of the most significant because of the severity and permanency of the change. Concern about the effects of development on America’s forests has risen sharply since the 1990s, when the conversion of forest...

Forest values and the impact of the federal estate tax on family forests

Treesearch

Brenton J. Dickinson; Brett J. Butler; Michael A. Kilgore; Paul Catanzaro; John Greene; Jaketon H. Hewes; David Kittredge; Mary. Tyrrell

2012-01-01

Previous research has suggested that heirs to family forest land may sell timber and/or land in order to pay state and/or federal estate taxes, which could result in land use conversion or other adverse ecological impacts. We estimated the number of Minnesota family forest landowners and the associated acreage that could be subject to estate taxes at various exemption...

Has the conversion of natural wetlands to agricultural land increased the incidence and severity of damaging freezes in south Florida?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marshall, C.H.; Pielke, R.A.; Steyaert, L.T.

2004-01-01

On several occasions, winter freezes have wrought severe destruction on Florida agriculture. A series of devastating freezes around the turn of the twentieth century, and again during the 1980s, were related to anomalies in the large-scale flow of the ocean–atmosphere system. During the twentieth century, substantial areas of wetlands in south Florida were drained and converted to agricultural land for winter fresh vegetable and sugarcane production. During this time, much of the citrus industry also was relocated to those areas to escape the risk of freeze farther to the north. The purpose of this paper is to present a modeling study designed to investigate whether the conversion of the wetlands to agriculture itself could have resulted in or exacerbated the severity of recent freezes in those agricultural areas of south Florida.For three recent freeze events, a pair of simulations was undertaken with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System. One member of each pair employed land surface properties that represent pre-1900s (near natural) land cover, whereas the other member of each pair employed data that represent near-current land-use patterns as derived from analysis of Landsat data valid for 1992/93. These two different land cover datasets capture well the conversion of wetlands to agriculture in south Florida during the twentieth century. Use of current land surface properties resulted in colder simulated minimum temperatures and temperatures that remained below freezing for a longer period at locations of key agricultural production centers in south Florida that were once natural wetlands. Examination of time series of the surface energy budget from one of the cases reveals that when natural land cover is used, a persistent moisture flux from the underlying wetlands during the nighttime hours served to prevent the development of below-freezing temperatures at those same locations. When the model results were subjected to an important sensitivity factor, the depth of standing water in the wetlands, the outcome remained consistent. These results provide another example of the potential for humans to perturb the climate system in ways that can have severe socioeconomic consequences by altering the land surface alone.

75 FR 48988 - Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program Project Performance Reports, Conversion of Use...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-12

... Project Performance Reports, Conversion of Use Provisions, and Grant Agreements and Amendments AGENCY.... 2. Conversion of Use Provisions Title: Urban Park and Recovery Program Conversion of Use Provisions...) All alternatives to the conversion have been evaluated and then rejected on a sound basis; (b...

Catchment Legacies and Time Lags: A Parsimonious Watershed Model to Predict the Effects of Legacy Storage on Nitrogen Export

PubMed Central

Van Meter, Kimberly J.; Basu, Nandita B.

2015-01-01

Nutrient legacies in anthropogenic landscapes, accumulated over decades of fertilizer application, lead to time lags between implementation of conservation measures and improvements in water quality. Quantification of such time lags has remained difficult, however, due to an incomplete understanding of controls on nutrient depletion trajectories after changes in land-use or management practices. In this study, we have developed a parsimonious watershed model for quantifying catchment-scale time lags based on both soil nutrient accumulations (biogeochemical legacy) and groundwater travel time distributions (hydrologic legacy). The model accurately predicted the time lags observed in an Iowa watershed that had undergone a 41% conversion of area from row crop to native prairie. We explored the time scales of change for stream nutrient concentrations as a function of both natural and anthropogenic controls, from topography to spatial patterns of land-use change. Our results demonstrate that the existence of biogeochemical nutrient legacies increases time lags beyond those due to hydrologic legacy alone. In addition, we show that the maximum concentration reduction benefits vary according to the spatial pattern of intervention, with preferential conversion of land parcels having the shortest catchment-scale travel times providing proportionally greater concentration reductions as well as faster response times. In contrast, a random pattern of conversion results in a 1:1 relationship between percent land conversion and percent concentration reduction, irrespective of denitrification rates within the landscape. Our modeling framework allows for the quantification of tradeoffs between costs associated with implementation of conservation measures and the time needed to see the desired concentration reductions, making it of great value to decision makers regarding optimal implementation of watershed conservation measures. PMID:25985290

Forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado biome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noojipady, Praveen; Morton, C. Douglas; Macedo, N. Marcia; Victoria, C. Daniel; Huang, Chengquan; Gibbs, K. Holly; Edson Bolfe, L.

2017-02-01

Land use, land use change, and forestry accounted for two-thirds of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions profile in 2005. Amazon deforestation has declined by more than 80% over the past decade, yet Brazil’s forests extend beyond the Amazon biome. Rapid expansion of cropland in the neighboring Cerrado biome has the potential to undermine climate mitigation efforts if emissions from dry forest and woodland conversion negate some of the benefits of avoided Amazon deforestation. Here, we used satellite data on cropland expansion, forest cover, and vegetation carbon stocks to estimate annual gross forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Cerrado biome. Nearly half of the Cerrado met Brazil’s definition of forest cover in 2000 (≥0.5 ha with ≥10% canopy cover). In areas of established crop production, conversion of both forest and non-forest Cerrado formations for cropland declined during 2003-2013. However, forest carbon emissions from cropland expansion increased over the past decade in Matopiba, a new frontier of agricultural production that includes portions of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia states. Gross carbon emissions from cropland expansion in the Cerrado averaged 16.28 Tg C yr-1 between 2003 and 2013, with forest-to-cropland conversion accounting for 29% of emissions. The fraction of forest carbon emissions from Matopiba was much higher; between 2010-2013, large-scale cropland conversion in Matopiba contributed 45% of total Cerrado forest carbon emissions. Carbon emissions from Cerrado-to-cropland transitions offset 5%-7% of the avoided emissions from reduced Amazon deforestation rates during 2011-2013. Comprehensive national estimates of forest carbon fluxes, including all biomes, are critical to detect cross-biome leakage within countries and achieve climate mitigation targets to reduce emissions from land use, land use change, and forestry.

Catchment legacies and time lags: a parsimonious watershed model to predict the effects of legacy storage on nitrogen export.

PubMed

Van Meter, Kimberly J; Basu, Nandita B

2015-01-01

Nutrient legacies in anthropogenic landscapes, accumulated over decades of fertilizer application, lead to time lags between implementation of conservation measures and improvements in water quality. Quantification of such time lags has remained difficult, however, due to an incomplete understanding of controls on nutrient depletion trajectories after changes in land-use or management practices. In this study, we have developed a parsimonious watershed model for quantifying catchment-scale time lags based on both soil nutrient accumulations (biogeochemical legacy) and groundwater travel time distributions (hydrologic legacy). The model accurately predicted the time lags observed in an Iowa watershed that had undergone a 41% conversion of area from row crop to native prairie. We explored the time scales of change for stream nutrient concentrations as a function of both natural and anthropogenic controls, from topography to spatial patterns of land-use change. Our results demonstrate that the existence of biogeochemical nutrient legacies increases time lags beyond those due to hydrologic legacy alone. In addition, we show that the maximum concentration reduction benefits vary according to the spatial pattern of intervention, with preferential conversion of land parcels having the shortest catchment-scale travel times providing proportionally greater concentration reductions as well as faster response times. In contrast, a random pattern of conversion results in a 1:1 relationship between percent land conversion and percent concentration reduction, irrespective of denitrification rates within the landscape. Our modeling framework allows for the quantification of tradeoffs between costs associated with implementation of conservation measures and the time needed to see the desired concentration reductions, making it of great value to decision makers regarding optimal implementation of watershed conservation measures.

Evolvement rules of basin flood risk under low-carbon mode. Part I: response of soil organic carbon to land use change and its influence on land use planning in the Haihe basin.

PubMed

Li, Fawen; Wang, Liping; Zhao, Yong

2017-08-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in the global carbon cycle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response of SOC to land use change and its influence on land use planning in the Haihe basin, and provide planning land use pattern for basin flood risk assessment. Firstly, the areas of different land use types in 1980, 2008, and the planning year (2020) were counted by area statistics function of ArcGIS. Then, the transfer matrixes of land use were produced by spatial overlay analysis function. Lastly, based on the land use maps, soil type map and soil profile database, SOC storage of different land use types in three different periods were calculated. The results showed the patterns of land use have changed a lot from 1980 to 2008, among the 19,835 km 2 of grassland was transformed into forestland, which was the largest conversion landscape. And land use conversion brought the SOC storage changes. Total carbon source was 88.83 Tg, and total carbon sink was 85.49 Tg. So, the Haihe basin presented as a carbon source from 1980 to 2008. From 2008 to 2020, the changes of forestland and grassland are the biggest in Haihe basin, which cause the SOC pool change from a carbon source to a carbon sink. SOC storage will increase from 2420.5 Tg in 2008 to 2495.5 Tg in 2020. The changing trend is conducive to reducing atmospheric concentrations. Therefore, land use planning in Haihe basin is reasonable and can provide the underlying surface condition for flood risk assessment.

Land-use changes and carbon sequestration through the twentieth century in a Mediterranean mountain ecosystem: implications for land management.

PubMed

Padilla, Francisco M; Vidal, Beatriz; Sánchez, Joaquín; Pugnaire, Francisco I

2010-12-01

Ecosystems in the western Mediterranean basin have undergone intense changes in land use throughout the centuries, resulting in areas with severe alterations. Today, most these areas have become sensitive to human activity, prone to profound changes in land-use configuration and ecosystem services. A consensus exists amongst stakeholders that ecosystem services must be preserved but managerial strategies that help to preserve them while ensuring sustainability are often inadequate. To provide a basis for measuring implications of land-use change on carbon sequestration services, changes in land use and associated carbon sequestration potential throughout the 20th century in a rural area at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range (SE Spain) were explored. We found that forest systems replaced dryland farming and pastures from the middle of the century onwards as a result of agricultural abandonment and afforestation programs. The area has always acted as a carbon sink with sequestration rates ranging from 28,961 t CO(2) year(-1) in 1921 to 60,635 t CO(2) year(-1) in 1995, mirroring changes in land use. Conversion from pastures to woodland, for example, accounted for an increase in carbon sequestration above 30,000 t CO(2) year(-1) by the end of the century. However, intensive deforestation would imply a decrease of approximately 66% of the bulk CO(2) fixed. In our study area, woodland conservation is essential to maintain the ecosystem services that underlie carbon sequestration. Our essay could inspire policymakers to better achieve goals of increasing carbon sequestration rates and sustainability within protected areas. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Soil carbon sequestration and land use change associated with biofuel production: Empirical evidence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qin, Zhangcai; Dunn, Jennifer B.; Kwon, Hoyoung

Soil organic carbon (SOC) change can be a major impact of land use change (LUC) associated with biofuel feedstock production. By collecting and analyzing data from worldwide field observations with major LUCs from cropland, grassland and forest to lands producing biofuel crops (i.e., corn, switchgrass, Miscanthus, poplar and willow), we were able to estimate SOC response ratios and sequestration rates and evaluate the effects of soil depth and time scale on SOC change. Both the amount and rate of SOC change were highly dependent on the specific land transition. Irrespective of soil depth or time horizon, cropland conversions resulted inmore » an overall SOC gain of 6-14% relative to initial SOC level, while conversion from grassland or forest to corn (without residue removal) or poplar caused significant carbon loss (9-35%). No significant SOC changes were observed in land converted from grasslands or forests to switchgrass, Miscanthus or willow. The SOC response ratios were similar in both 0-30 and 0-100 cm soil depths in most cases, suggesting SOC changes in deep soil and that use of top soil only for SOC accounting in biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA) might underestimate total SOC changes. Soil carbon sequestration rates varied greatly among studies and land transition types. Generally, the rates of SOC change tended to be the greatest during the 10 years following land conversion, and had declined to approach 0 within about 20 years for most LUCs. Observed trends in SOC change were generally consistent with previous reports. Soil depth and duration of study significantly influence SOC change rates and so should be considered in carbon emission accounting in biofuel LCA. High uncertainty remains for many perennial systems, field trials and modeling efforts are needed to determine the site- and system-specific rates and direction of change associated with their production.« less

LAND-COVER CHARACTERIZATION AND CHANGE DETECTION USING MULTI-TEMPORAL MODIS NDIV DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Land-cover (LC) composition and conversions are important factors that affect ecosystem condition and function. These data are frequently used as a primary data source to generate landscape-based metrics to assess landscape condition at multiple assessment scales. The use of sate...

Integration of strategic inventory and monitoring programs for the forest lands, wood lands, range lands and agricultural lands of the United States

Treesearch

Raymond L. Czaplewski

1999-01-01

The United States Department of Agriculture uses the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program to monitor the nation's forests and wood lands, and the National Resources Inventory (NRI) program to monitor the nation's agricultural and range lands. Although their measurement methods and sampling frames are very different, both programs are developing annual...

40 CFR 147.2601 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2601 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... effective date for the UIC program on Indian lands in the territory of Guam is November 25, 1988. [53 FR...

40 CFR 147.2403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Washington is administered by EPA. This program, for all Indian lands...

40 CFR 147.2403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Washington is administered by EPA. This program, for all Indian lands...

40 CFR 147.2403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Washington is administered by EPA. This program, for all Indian lands...

40 CFR 147.2403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Washington is administered by EPA. This program, for all Indian lands...

40 CFR 147.2403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Washington is administered by EPA. This program, for all Indian lands...

40 CFR 147.2601 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2601 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... effective date for the UIC program on Indian lands in the territory of Guam is November 25, 1988. [53 FR...

40 CFR 147.2601 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2601 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... effective date for the UIC program on Indian lands in the territory of Guam is November 25, 1988. [53 FR...

40 CFR 147.2601 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2601 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... effective date for the UIC program on Indian lands in the territory of Guam is November 25, 1988. [53 FR...

40 CFR 147.2601 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2601 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... effective date for the UIC program on Indian lands in the territory of Guam is November 25, 1988. [53 FR...

Quantifying the role of National Forest system lands in providing surface drinking water supply for the Southern United States

Treesearch

Peter Caldwell; Corinne Muldoon; Chelcy Ford-Miniat; Erika Cohen; Suzanne Krieger; Ge Sun; Steven McNulty; Paul V. Bolstad

2014-01-01

Forests and water are inextricably linked, and people are dependent on forested lands to provide clean, reliable water supplies for drinking and to support local economies. These water supplies are at risk of degradation from a growing population, continued conversion of forests to other land uses, and climate change. Given the variety of threats to surface water, it...

Impacts of Land Use Changes on Recreation and Open Space in the New York-New Jersey Highlands Region

Treesearch

Chad P. Dawson; Wayne C. Zipperer

1992-01-01

The more than I million acre New York-New Jersey Highlands Region is a unique forested and rural landscape at the urban/ wildland interface with the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan area where over 18 million people reside. Conversion of land to residential and urban uses, parcellation of lands, fragmentation of forest cover, and increasing demand for recreational...

Recognizing loss of open forest ecosystems by tree densification and land use intensification in the Midwestern USA

Treesearch

Brice B. Hanberry; Marc D. Abrams

2018-01-01

Forests and grasslands have changed during the past 200 years in the eastern USA, and it is now possible to quantify loss and conversion of vegetation cover at regional scales. We quantified historical (ca. 1786-1908) and current land cover and determined long-term ecosystem change to either land use or closed forests in eight states of the Great Lakes and Midwest....

Conversion of Amazon rainforest to agriculture alters community traits of methane-cycling organisms.

PubMed

Meyer, Kyle M; Klein, Ann M; Rodrigues, Jorge L M; Nüsslein, Klaus; Tringe, Susannah G; Mirza, Babur S; Tiedje, James M; Bohannan, Brendan J M

2017-03-01

Land use change is one of the greatest environmental impacts worldwide, especially to tropical forests. The Amazon rainforest has been subject to particularly high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. A commonly observed response to cattle pasture establishment in the Amazon is the conversion of soil from a methane sink in rainforest, to a methane source in pasture. However, it is not known how the microorganisms that mediate methane flux are altered by land use change. Here, we use the deepest metagenomic sequencing of Amazonian soil to date to investigate differences in methane-cycling microorganisms and their traits across rainforest and cattle pasture soils. We found that methane-cycling microorganisms responded to land use change, with the strongest responses exhibited by methane-consuming, rather than methane-producing, microorganisms. These responses included a reduction in the relative abundance of methanotrophs and a significant decrease in the abundance of genes encoding particulate methane monooxygenase. We also observed compositional changes to methanotroph and methanogen communities as well as changes to methanotroph life history strategies. Our observations suggest that methane-cycling microorganisms are vulnerable to land use change, and this vulnerability may underlie the response of methane flux to land use change in Amazon soils. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Seasonal temperature responses to land-use change in the western United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kueppers, L.M.; Snyder, M.A.; Sloan, L.C.; Cayan, D.; Jin, J.; Kanamaru, H.; Kanamitsu, M.; Miller, N.L.; Tyree, Mary; Du, H.; Weare, B.

2008-01-01

In the western United States, more than 79 000??km2 has been converted to irrigated agriculture and urban areas. These changes have the potential to alter surface temperature by modifying the energy budget at the land-atmosphere interface. This study reports the seasonally varying temperature responses of four regional climate models (RCMs) - RSM, RegCM3, MM5-CLM3, and DRCM - to conversion of potential natural vegetation to modern land-cover and land-use over a 1-year period. Three of the RCMs supplemented soil moisture, producing large decreases in the August mean (- 1.4 to - 3.1????C) and maximum (- 2.9 to - 6.1????C) 2-m air temperatures where natural vegetation was converted to irrigated agriculture. Conversion to irrigated agriculture also resulted in large increases in relative humidity (9% to 36% absolute change). Modeled changes in the August minimum 2-m air temperature were not as pronounced or consistent across the models. Converting natural vegetation to urban land-cover produced less pronounced temperature effects in all models, with the magnitude of the effect dependent upon the preexisting vegetation type and urban parameterizations. Overall, the RCM results indicate that the temperature impacts of land-use change are most pronounced during the summer months, when surface heating is strongest and differences in surface soil moisture between irrigated land and natural vegetation are largest. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of Deforestation and Land Conversion in Rondonia, Brazil Using Change Detection Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guild, Liane S.; Cohen, Warren B,; Kauffman, J. Boone; Peterson, David L. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Fires associated with tropical deforestation, land conversion, and land use greatly contribute to emissions as well as the depletion of carbon and nutrient pools. The objective of this research was to compare change detection techniques for identifying deforestation and cattle pasture formation during a period of early colonization and agricultural expansion in the vicinity of Jamari, Rond6nia. Multi-date Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data between 1984 and 1992 was examined in a 94 370-ha area of active deforestation to map land cover change. The Tasseled Cap (TC) transformation was used to enhance the contrast between forest, cleared areas, and regrowth. TC images were stacked into a composite multi-date TC and used in a principal components (PC) transformation to identify change components. In addition, consecutive TC image pairs were differenced and stacked into a composite multi-date differenced image. A maximum likelihood classification of each image composite was compared for identification of land cover change. The multi-date TC composite classification had the best accuracy of 78.1% (kappa). By 1984, only 5% of the study area had been cleared, but by 1992, 11% of the area had been deforested, primarily for pasture and 7% lost due to hydroelectric dam flooding. Finally, discrimination of pasture versus cultivation was improved due to the ability to detect land under sustained clearing opened to land exhibiting regrowth with infrequent clearing.

Partitioning evapotranspiration via continuous sampling of water vapor isotopes over common row crops and candidate biofuel crops.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, J. N.; Black, C. K.; Bernacchi, C.

2014-12-01

Global demand for renewable energy is accelerating land conversion from common row crops such as maize and soybean to cellulosic biofuel crops such as miscanthus and switchgrass. This land conversion is expected to alter ecohydrology via changes in evapotranspiration (ET). However, the direction in which evapotranspiration will shift, either partitioning more moisture through soil evaporation (E) or through plant transpiration (T) is uncertain. To investigate how land conversion from maize to miscanthus affects ET partitioning we measured the isotopic composition of water vapor via continuous air sampling. We obtained continuous diurnal measurements of δ2H and δ18O for miscanthus and maize on multiple days over the course of the growing season. Water vapor isotopes drawn from two heights were measured at 2 Hz using a cavity ringdown spectrometer and partitioned into components of E and T using a simple mixing equation. A second approach to partitioning was accomplished by subtracting transpiration measurements, obtained through sap flow sensors, from total ET, measured via eddy covariance. Preliminary results reveal that both methods compare favorably and that transpiration dominates variations in ET in miscanthus fields more so than in fields of maize.

PRESENTED 11/01/05 LAND-COVER CHARACTERIZATION AND CHANGE DETECTION USING MULTI-TEMPORAL MODIS NDVI DATA

EPA Science Inventory

Land-Cover (LC) composition and conversions are important factors that affect ecosystem condition and function. The purpose of this research and development effort is to investigate the feasibility of using MODIS derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data to deli...

Quantifying the effect of ecological restoration on soil erosion in China's Loess Plateau region: an application of the MMF approach.

PubMed

Li, Changbin; Qi, Jiaguo; Feng, Zhaodong; Yin, Runsheng; Guo, Biyun; Zhang, Feng; Zou, Songbing

2010-03-01

Land degradation due to erosion is one of the most serious environmental problems in China. To reduce land degradation, the government has taken a number of conservation and restoration measures, including the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), which was launched in 1999. A logical question is whether these measures have reduced soil erosion at the regional level. The objective of this article is to answer this question by assessing soil erosion dynamics in the Zuli River basin in the Loess Plateau of China from 1999 to 2006. The MMF (Morgan, Morgan and Finney) model was used to simulate changes in runoff and soil erosion over the period of time during which ecological restoration projects were implemented. Some model variables were derived from remotely sensed images to provide improved land surface representation. With an overall accuracy rate of 0.67, our simulations show that increased ground vegetation cover, especially in forestlands and grasslands, has reduced soil erosion by 38.8% on average from 1999 to 2006. During the same time period, however, the change in rainfall pattern has caused a 13.1% +/- 4.3% increase in soil erosion, resulting in a net 25.7% +/- 8.5% reduction in soil erosion. This suggests that China's various ecological restoration efforts have been effective in reducing soil loss.

Land-use systems and resilience of tropical rain forests in the Tehuantepec Isthmus, Mexico.

PubMed

García-Romero, Arturo; Oropeza-Orozco, Oralia; Galicia-Sarmiento, Leopoldo

2004-12-01

Land-cover types were analyzed for 1970, 1990 and 2000 as the bases for determining land-use systems and their influence on the resilience of tropical rain forests in the Tehuantepec Isthmus, Mexico. Deforestation (DR) and mean annual transformation rates were calculated from land-cover change data; thus, the classification of land-use change processes was determined according to their impact on resilience: a) Modification, including land-cover conservation and intensification, and b) Conversion, including disturbance and regeneration processes. Regeneration processes, from secondary vegetation under extensive use, cultivated vegetation under intensive use, and cultivated or induced vegetation under extensive use to mature or secondary vegetation, have high resilience capacity. In contrast, cattle-raising is characterized by rapid expansion, long-lasting change, and intense damages; thus, recent disturbance processes, which include the conversion to cattle-raising, provoke the downfall of the traditional agricultural system, and nullify the capacity of resilience of tropical rain forest. The land-use cover change processes reveal a) the existence of four land-use systems (forestry, extensive agriculture, extensive cattle-raising, and intensive uses) and b) a trend towards the replacement of agricultural and forestry systems by extensive cattle-raising, which was consolidated during 1990-2000 (DR of evergreen tropical rain forest = 4.6%). Only the forestry system, which is not subject to deforestation, but is affected by factors such as selective timber, extraction, firewood collection, grazing, or human-induced fire, is considered to have high resilience (2 years), compared to agriculture (2-10 years) or cattle-raising (nonresilient). It is concluded that the analysis of land-use systems is essential for understanding the implications of land-use cover dynamics on forest recovery and land degradation in tropical rain forests.

Urbanization and Land Use Changes in Peri-Urban Area using Spatial Analysis Methods (Case Study: Ciawi Urban Areas, Bogor Regency)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cahya, D. L.; Martini, E.; Kasikoen, K. M.

2018-02-01

Urbanization is shown by the increasing percentage of the population in urban areas. In Indonesia, the percentage of urban population increased dramatically form 17.42% (1971) to 42.15% (2010). This resulted in increased demand for housing. Limited land in the city area push residents looking for an alternative location of his residence to the peri-urban areas. It is accompanied by a process of land conversion from green area into built-up area. Continuous land conversion in peri-urban area is becoming increasingly widespread. Bogor Regency as part of the Jakarta Metropolitan Area is experiencing rapid development. This regency has been experienced land-use change very rapidly from agricultural areas into urban built up areas. Aim of this research is to analyze the effect of urbanization on land use changes in peri-urban areas using spatial analysis methods. This research used case study of Ciawi Urban Area that experiencing rapid development. Method of this research is using descriptive quantitative approach. Data used in this research is primary data (field survey) and secondary data (maps). To analyze land use change is using Geographic Information System (GIS) as spatial analysis methods. The effect of urbanization on land use changes in Ciawi Urban Area from year 2013 to 2015 is significant. The reduction of farm land is around -4.00% and wetland is around - 2.51%. The increasing area for hotel/villa/resort is around 3.10%. Based on this research, local government (Bogor Regency) should be alert to the land use changes that does not comply with the land use plan and also consistently apply the spatial planning.

Interactions between land use change and carbon cycle feedbacks: Land Use and Carbon Cycle Feedbacks

DOE PAGES

Mahowald, Natalie M.; Randerson, James T.; Lindsay, Keith; ...

2017-01-23

We explore the role of human land use and land cover change (LULCC) in modifying the terrestrial carbon budget in simulations forced by Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5, extended to year 2300 by using the Community Earth System Model, . Overall, conversion of land (e.g., from forest to croplands via deforestation) results in a model-estimated, cumulative carbon loss of 490 Pg C between 1850 and 2300, larger than the 230 Pg C loss of carbon caused by climate change over this same interval. The LULCC carbon loss is a combination of a direct loss at the time of conversion and anmore » indirect loss from the reduction of potential terrestrial carbon sinks. Approximately 40% of the carbon loss associated with LULCC in the simulations arises from direct human modification of the land surface; the remaining 60% is an indirect consequence of the loss of potential natural carbon sinks. Because of the multicentury carbon cycle legacy of current land use decisions, a globally averaged amplification factor of 2.6 must be applied to 2015 land use carbon losses to adjust for indirect effects. This estimate is 30% higher when considering the carbon cycle evolution after 2100. Most of the terrestrial uptake of anthropogenic carbon in the model occurs from the influence of rising atmospheric CO 2 on photosynthesis in trees, and thus, model-projected carbon feedbacks are especially sensitive to deforestation.« less

Modeled impact of anthropogenic land cover change on climate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Findell, K.L.; Shevliakova, E.; Milly, P.C.D.; Stouffer, R.J.

2007-01-01

Equilibrium experiments with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's climate model are used to investigate the impact of anthropogenic land cover change on climate. Regions of altered land cover include large portions of Europe, India, eastern China, and the eastern United States. Smaller areas of change are present in various tropical regions. This study focuses on the impacts of biophysical changes associated with the land cover change (albedo, root and stomatal properties, roughness length), which is almost exclusively a conversion from forest to grassland in the model; the effects of irrigation or other water management practices and the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide changes associated with land cover conversion are not included in these experiments. The model suggests that observed land cover changes have little or no impact on globally averaged climatic variables (e.g., 2-m air temperature is 0.008 K warmer in a simulation with 1990 land cover compared to a simulation with potential natural vegetation cover). Differences in the annual mean climatic fields analyzed did not exhibit global field significance. Within some of the regions of land cover change, however, there are relatively large changes of many surface climatic variables. These changes are highly significant locally in the annual mean and in most months of the year in eastern Europe and northern India. They can be explained mainly as direct and indirect consequences of model-prescribed increases in surface albedo, decreases in rooting depth, and changes of stomatal control that accompany deforestation. ?? 2007 American Meteorological Society.

Interactions between land use change and carbon cycle feedbacks: Land Use and Carbon Cycle Feedbacks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahowald, Natalie M.; Randerson, James T.; Lindsay, Keith

We explore the role of human land use and land cover change (LULCC) in modifying the terrestrial carbon budget in simulations forced by Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5, extended to year 2300 by using the Community Earth System Model, . Overall, conversion of land (e.g., from forest to croplands via deforestation) results in a model-estimated, cumulative carbon loss of 490 Pg C between 1850 and 2300, larger than the 230 Pg C loss of carbon caused by climate change over this same interval. The LULCC carbon loss is a combination of a direct loss at the time of conversion and anmore » indirect loss from the reduction of potential terrestrial carbon sinks. Approximately 40% of the carbon loss associated with LULCC in the simulations arises from direct human modification of the land surface; the remaining 60% is an indirect consequence of the loss of potential natural carbon sinks. Because of the multicentury carbon cycle legacy of current land use decisions, a globally averaged amplification factor of 2.6 must be applied to 2015 land use carbon losses to adjust for indirect effects. This estimate is 30% higher when considering the carbon cycle evolution after 2100. Most of the terrestrial uptake of anthropogenic carbon in the model occurs from the influence of rising atmospheric CO 2 on photosynthesis in trees, and thus, model-projected carbon feedbacks are especially sensitive to deforestation.« less

Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities

PubMed Central

Rodrigues, Jorge L. M.; Pellizari, Vivian H.; Mueller, Rebecca; Baek, Kyunghwa; Jesus, Ederson da C.; Paula, Fabiana S.; Mirza, Babur; Hamaoui, George S.; Tsai, Siu Mui; Feigl, Brigitte; Tiedje, James M.; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.; Nüsslein, Klaus

2013-01-01

The Amazon rainforest is the Earth’s largest reservoir of plant and animal diversity, and it has been subjected to especially high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. This conversion has had a strongly negative effect on biological diversity, reducing the number of plant and animal species and homogenizing communities. We report here that microbial biodiversity also responds strongly to conversion of the Amazon rainforest, but in a manner different from plants and animals. Local taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of soil bacteria increases after conversion, but communities become more similar across space. This homogenization is driven by the loss of forest soil bacteria with restricted ranges (endemics) and results in a net loss of diversity. This study shows homogenization of microbial communities in response to human activities. Given that soil microbes represent the majority of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and are intimately involved in ecosystem functions, we argue that microbial biodiversity loss should be taken into account when assessing the impact of land use change in tropical forests. PMID:23271810

Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities.

PubMed

Rodrigues, Jorge L M; Pellizari, Vivian H; Mueller, Rebecca; Baek, Kyunghwa; Jesus, Ederson da C; Paula, Fabiana S; Mirza, Babur; Hamaoui, George S; Tsai, Siu Mui; Feigl, Brigitte; Tiedje, James M; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Nüsslein, Klaus

2013-01-15

The Amazon rainforest is the Earth's largest reservoir of plant and animal diversity, and it has been subjected to especially high rates of land use change, primarily to cattle pasture. This conversion has had a strongly negative effect on biological diversity, reducing the number of plant and animal species and homogenizing communities. We report here that microbial biodiversity also responds strongly to conversion of the Amazon rainforest, but in a manner different from plants and animals. Local taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of soil bacteria increases after conversion, but communities become more similar across space. This homogenization is driven by the loss of forest soil bacteria with restricted ranges (endemics) and results in a net loss of diversity. This study shows homogenization of microbial communities in response to human activities. Given that soil microbes represent the majority of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and are intimately involved in ecosystem functions, we argue that microbial biodiversity loss should be taken into account when assessing the impact of land use change in tropical forests.

45 CFR 2532.10 - Military Installation Conversion Demonstration programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Military Installation Conversion Demonstration... Military Installation Conversion Demonstration programs. (a) Purposes. The purposes of this section are to..., used with respect to an affected military installation, includes— (i) Conversion of the installation or...

45 CFR 2532.10 - Military Installation Conversion Demonstration programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Military Installation Conversion Demonstration... Military Installation Conversion Demonstration programs. (a) Purposes. The purposes of this section are to..., used with respect to an affected military installation, includes— (i) Conversion of the installation or...

40 CFR 147.60 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.60 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Alabama is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.60 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.60 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Alabama is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Idaho is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.60 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.60 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Alabama is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.353 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.353 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Connecticut is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maine is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.353 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.353 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Connecticut is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Arkansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Arkansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.2205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Texas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Delaware is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.353 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.353 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Connecticut is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1805 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1805 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Ohio is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.353 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.353 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Connecticut is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maine is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.353 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.353 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Connecticut is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.2205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Texas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.2205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Texas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maine is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.2205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Texas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Delaware is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Arkansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1805 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1805 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Ohio is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Delaware is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Arkansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Idaho is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.2205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Texas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1805 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1805 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Ohio is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Delaware is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Idaho is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1805 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1805 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Ohio is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maine is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Idaho is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Delaware is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.60 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.60 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Alabama is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.205 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.205 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Arkansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1805 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1805 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Ohio is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Idaho is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.60 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.60 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in Alabama is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

40 CFR 147.1001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....1001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maine is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC program...

Mapping deforestation and urban expansion in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from pre- to post-war economic recovery.

PubMed

Mansaray, Lamin R; Huang, Jingfeng; Kamara, Alimamy A

2016-08-01

Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone has experienced vast land-cover changes over the past three decades. In Sierra Leone, however, availability of updated land-cover data is still a problem even for environmental managers. This study was therefore, conducted to provide up-to-date land-cover data for Freetown. Multi-temporal Landsat data at 1986, 2001, and 2015 were obtained, and a maximum likelihood supervised classification was employed. Eight land-cover classes or categories were recognized as follows: water, wetland, built-up, dense forest, sparse forest, grassland, barren, and mangrove. Land-cover changes were mapped via post-classification change detection. The persistence, gain, and loss of each land-cover class, and selected land conversions were also quantified. An overall classification accuracy of 87.3 % and a Kappa statistic of 0.85 were obtained for the 2015 map. From 1986 to 2015, water, built-up, grassland, and barren had net gains, whereas forests, wetlands, and mangrove had net loses. Conversion analyses among forests, grassland, and built-up show that built-up had targeted grassland and avoided forests. This study also revealed that, the overall land-cover change at 2001-2015 was higher (28.5 %) than that recorded at 1986-2001 (20.9 %). This is attributable to the population increase in Freetown and the high economic growth and infrastructural development recorded countrywide after the civil war. In view of the rapid land-cover change and its associated environmental impacts, this study recommends the enactment of policies that would strike a balance between urbanization and environmental sustainability in Freetown.

24 CFR 982.502 - Conversion to voucher program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Conversion to voucher program. 982.502 Section 982.502 Housing and Urban Development REGULATIONS RELATING TO HOUSING AND URBAN... Assistance Payment § 982.502 Conversion to voucher program. (a) New HAP contracts. On and after the merger...

24 CFR 982.502 - Conversion to voucher program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Conversion to voucher program. 982.502 Section 982.502 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to Housing and Urban... Assistance Payment § 982.502 Conversion to voucher program. (a) New HAP contracts. On and after the merger...

Conversion from forests to pastures in the Colombian Amazon leads to differences in dead wood dynamics depending on land management practices.

PubMed

Navarrete, Diego; Sitch, Stephen; Aragão, Luiz E O C; Pedroni, Lucio; Duque, Alvaro

2016-04-15

Dead wood, composed of coarse standing and fallen woody debris (CWD), is an important carbon (C) pool in tropical forests and its accounting is needed to reduce uncertainties within the strategies to mitigate climate change by reducing deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). To date, information on CWD stocks in tropical forests is scarce and effects of land-cover conversion and land management practices on CWD dynamics remain largely unexplored. Here we present estimates on CWD stocks in primary forests in the Colombian Amazon and their dynamics along 20 years of forest-to-pasture conversion in two sub-regions with different management practices during pasture establishment: high-grazing intensity (HG) and low-grazing intensity (LG) sub-regions. Two 20-year-old chronosequences describing the forest-to-pasture conversion were identified in both sub-regions. The line-intersect and the plot-based methods were used to estimate fallen and standing CWD stocks, respectively. Total necromass in primary forests was similar between both sub-regions (35.6 ± 5.8 Mg ha(-1) in HG and 37.0 ± 7.4 Mg ha(-1) in LG). An increase of ∼124% in CWD stocks followed by a reduction to values close to those at the intact forests were registered after slash-and-burn practice was implemented in both sub-regions during the first two years of forest-to-pasture conversion. Implementation of machinery after using fire in HG pastures led to a reduction of 82% in CWD stocks during the second and fifth years of pasture establishment, compared to a decrease of 41% during the same period in LG where mechanization is not implemented. Finally, average necromass 20 years after forest-to-pasture conversion decreased to 3.5 ± 1.4 Mg ha(-1) in HG and 9.3 ± 3.5 Mg ha(-1) in LG, representing a total reduction of between 90% and 75% in each sub-region, respectively. These results highlight the importance of low-grazing intensity management practices during ranching activities in the Colombian Amazon to reduce C emissions associated with land-cover change from forest to pasture. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in Structure and Functioning of Protist (Testate Amoebae) Communities Due to Conversion of Lowland Rainforest into Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations

PubMed Central

Krashevska, Valentyna; Klarner, Bernhard; Widyastuti, Rahayu; Maraun, Mark; Scheu, Stefan

2016-01-01

Large areas of tropical rainforest are being converted to agricultural and plantation land uses, but little is known of biodiversity and ecological functioning under these replacement land uses. We investigated the effects of conversion of rainforest into jungle rubber, intensive rubber and oil palm plantations on testate amoebae, diverse and functionally important protists in litter and soil. Living testate amoebae species richness, density and biomass were all lower in replacement land uses than in rainforest, with the impact being more pronounced in litter than in soil. Similar abundances of species of high and low trophic level in rainforest suggest that trophic interactions are more balanced, with a high number of functionally redundant species, than in rubber and oil palm. In contrast, plantations had a low density of high trophic level species indicating losses of functions. This was particularly so in oil palm plantations. In addition, the relative density of species with siliceous shells was >50% lower in the litter layer of oil palm and rubber compared to rainforest and jungle rubber. This difference suggests that rainforest conversion changes biogenic silicon pools and increases silicon losses. Overall, the lower species richness, density and biomass in plantations than in rainforest, and the changes in the functional composition of the testate amoebae community, indicate detrimental effects of rainforest conversion on the structure and functioning of microbial food webs. PMID:27463805

Simulation of land use change in the three gorges reservoir area based on CART-CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Min

2018-05-01

This study proposes a new method to simulate spatiotemporal complex multiple land uses by using classification and regression tree algorithm (CART) based CA model. In this model, we use classification and regression tree algorithm to calculate land class conversion probability, and combine neighborhood factor, random factor to extract cellular transformation rules. The overall Kappa coefficient is 0.8014 and the overall accuracy is 0.8821 in the land dynamic simulation results of the three gorges reservoir area from 2000 to 2010, and the simulation results are satisfactory.

Wetlands: Crop freezes and land-use change in Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marshall, C.H.; Pielke, R.A.; Steyaert, L.T.

2003-01-01

South Florida experienced a significant change in land usage during the twentieth century, including the conversion of natural wetlands into agricultural land for the cultivation of winter vegetable, sugar cane and citrus crops. This movement of agriculture from more northerly areas was intended partly to escape the risk of damaging winter freezes. Here we present evidence from a case study using a coupled atmosphere and land-surface computer-modelling system that suggests that the draining of wetlands may have inadvertently increased the frequency and severity of agriculturally damaging freezes in the south of Florida.

Effects of Land Use Change on Evapotranspiration and Water Yield in the Great Lakes Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, D.; Cherkauer, K. A.

2005-12-01

Human activities have affected the exchange of energy and water between atmosphere and land surface through land use change. Conversion of large regions of pre-settlement forest and grassland to a majority cropland cover in the Great Lakes region has resulted in regional scale changes to hydrologic responses. Understanding the impact of historic land use change is important for management of future resources. Effects of land use change on the water and energy cycle of three Great Lakes states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, are analyzed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) meteorological and soil data as well as pre-settlement and modern vegetation data taken from the USGS Land Use History of North American (LUHNA) were used as model input. Default vegetation input parameters were adjusted for the region based on a review of published studies. Results from a single grid cell vegetation sensitivity test show that on an average annual basis, forests transpire more than cropland and cropland more than grassland due to seasonal variations in Leaf Area Index (LAI) and stomatal resistances of vegetations. The hydrologic impact of region wide land use change was then analyzed by comparing simulations using both pre-settlement and current vegetation cover but the same meteorological forcings. Simulated changes resulting from land cover change vary with season and vegetation types. Reduction in forest cover increases water yield by decreasing evapotranspiration. Conversion between forest types resulted only in small differences in evaporation and water fluxes response. The most significant hydrologic changes were located in the southern part of the region where land use change has been primarily forest converted to cropland.

Managing Land to Enhance Water Resources: A Hydrologic Ecosystem Services Study in Kona, Hawai'i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brauman, K. A.; Daily, G. C.; Freyberg, D. L.

2010-12-01

In many water-limited environments, increasing groundwater recharge is a primary consideration in watershed management. In Kona, on the leeward side of Hawai’i Island, there are no perennial streams, and aquifers fed by rainfall on the mountain slopes are the sole source of water for coastal communities. Over 18 months, from the summer of 2006 through the winter of 2008, we measured precipitation, including rainfall and cloud interception, and meteorological drivers of evapotranspiration. Using a water balance approach, we were able to quantify the effects of land-use change on municipal water supply. Land-use change has a variety of potential impacts on aquifer level and thus on pumping expenses incurred by the downstream community. We weigh the private costs and benefits of land use change against the public costs and benefits to water supply by assessing avoided or additional cost to the water utility. One likely scenario, conversion of pasture land to plantation forest, decreases recharge and thus carries a public cost but is potentially lucrative for the landowner. The magnitudes of the public cost and the private benefit overlap, so a direct financial transaction between the utility and the landowner may be possible, improving overall welfare. A second scenario, conversion from open to dense forest, has some hydrologic benefit, but the cost to the landowner far exceeds this benefit. In this case, however, non-monetary public benefits such as carbon sequestration, habitat for biodiversity, and provision of non-timber forest goods are aligned with the hydrologic benefit. The full suite of benefits may have sufficient value to offset private cost and promote conversion to dense forest.

Short-term consequences of slash-and-burn practices on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of a tropical dry forest.

PubMed

Aguilar-Fernández, Mónica; Jaramillo, Víctor J; Varela-Fregoso, Lucía; Gavito, Mayra E

2009-03-01

Rates of land conversion from forest to cultivated land by slash-and-burn practices are higher in tropical dry forest (TDF) than any other Neotropical forest type. This study examined the short-term consequences of the slash-and-burn process on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We expected that slash-and-burn would reduce mycorrhizal colonization and propagules and change species richness and composition. Soil and root samples were taken from TDF control and pasture plots originated after slash-and-burn at four dates during the year of conversion to examine species composition, spore abundance, and infective propagules. Additionally, spore abundance and viability and viable intraradical colonization were measured twice during the second year after conversion. Forest and pasture plots maintained similar species richness and an overall 84% similarity during the first year after conversion. Infective propagules were reduced in pasture plots during the first year after slash-and-burn, whereas spore abundance and intraradical colonization remained similar in TDF and pasture plots both years of the study. Our results suggest, contrary to the expected, that forest conversion by means of slash-and-burn followed by cultivation resulted in few immediate changes in the AMF communities, likely because of the low heat conductivity of the soil and rapid combustion of plant residues.

Local Knowledge About The Structure, Function And Conversion Of Landscape In The Karangwangi Village, Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulfa Dwi Amelia, Fatiya; Iskandar, Johan

2017-10-01

Karangwangi people is one of indigenous people in West Java who has local knowledge about their nature thoroughly. They have local tradition about landscape ecosystem arrangement that based on sakral (sacred) norm. With this rule, local people will always try to preserve the sustainability of their natural environment. However, modernization, increasing population, decreasing forest, and increasing market economic penetration, causing this rule and structure of landscape in Karangwangi village has changed. Land conversion in Karangwangi was occur because of settlement and land investment by people outside the village. These behavior changes in tradition and landscape (structure, function and conversion) in Karangwangi may impact on their daily activities, and so do the changes in daily activities can change their behavior in tradition and landscape. This research was undertaken in the Village of Karangwangi, Sub-district of Cidaun, District of Cianjur, Province of West Java, Indonesia. This paper aims to identify how indigenous people in Karangwangi understand kinds of landscape and another conversion that was happen as a result of management. The method used in this paper is qualitative with ethno ecological approach. The resulted of the study show that local people in Karangwangi Village understand how chronological of landscape structure, function and conversion.

A MODELING APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING WATERSHED IMPERVIOUS SURFACE AREA FROM NATIONAL LAND COVER DATA 92

EPA Science Inventory

We used National Land Cover Data 92 (NLCD92), vector impervious surface data, and raster GIS overlay methods to derive impervious surface coefficients per NLCD92 class in portions of the Nfid-Atlantic physiographic region. The methods involve a vector to raster conversion of the ...

Learning about Agriculture within the Framework of Education for Sustainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tal, Tali

2008-01-01

The last two decades have seen increased threats to agricultural landscapes in Israel. Key factors include population growth, strong pressure from construction entrepreneurs and possible profit to land owners who benefit from a legal conversion of farmland into lands allocated for construction. While each Israeli elementary school student used to…

A study of logging residue at woods landings in Appalachia

Treesearch

Curtis D. Goho

1976-01-01

A study of residue on five woods landings in West Virginia showed that short lengths, poor quality, and low volumes are obstacles to utilization of this material. Short lengths and dirt accumulation would also pose serious problems for conversion to chips. Some local use for firewood and specialty products is possible.

Prescribing habitat layouts: Analysis of optimal placement for landscape planning [Chapter 23

Treesearch

Curtis H. Flather; Michael Bevers; John Hof

2002-01-01

Physical restructuring of landscapes by humans is a prominent stress on ecological systems (Rapport et al. 1985). Landscape restructuring occurs primarily through land-use conversions or alteration of native habitats through natural resource management. A common faunal response to such land-use intensification is an increased dominance of opportunistic species leading...

Public recreation on private forests: no more guarantees

Treesearch

Barry McPhee

1998-01-01

Studies across the U.S. have found that nontraditional ownership of Non-Industrial Private Forest-land (NIPF) ownership, centered on residential and recreational rather than timber production objectives, is gaining prevalence. Recent NIPF conversion in the Northern Forest of Northern New England and New York came under scrutiny by the Northern Forest Lands Council. A...

Stocks and fluxes of carbon associated with land use change in Southeast Asian tropical peatlands: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hergoualc'h, Kristell; Verchot, Louis V.

2011-06-01

The increasing and alarming trend of degradation and deforestation of tropical peat swamp forests may contribute greatly to climate change. Estimates of carbon (C) losses associated with land use change in tropical peatlands are needed. To assess these losses we examined C stocks and peat C fluxes in virgin peat swamp forests and tropical peatlands affected by six common types of land use. Phytomass C loss from the conversion of virgin peat swamp forest to logged forest, fire-damaged forest, mixed croplands and shrublands, rice field, oil palm plantation, and Acacia plantation were calculated using the stock difference method and estimated at 116.9 ± 39.8, 151.6 ± 36.0, 204.1 ± 28.6, 214.9 ± 28.4, 188.1 ± 29.8, and 191.7 ± 28.5 Mg C ha-1, respectively. Total C loss from uncontrolled fires ranged from 289.5 ± 68.1 Mg C ha-1 in rice fields to 436.2 ± 77.0 Mg C ha-1 in virgin peat swamp forest. We assessed the effects of land use change on C stocks in the peat by looking at how the change in vegetation cover altered the main C inputs (litterfall and root mortality) and outputs (heterotrophic respiration, CH4 flux, fires, and soluble and physical removal) before and after conversion. The difference between the soil input-output balances in the virgin peat swamp forest and in the oil palm plantation gave an estimate of peat C loss of 10.8 ± 3.5 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. Peat C loss from other land use conversions could not be assessed due to lack of data, principally on soil heterotrophic respiration rates. Over 25 years, the conversion of tropical virgin peat swamp forest into oil palm plantation represents a total C loss from both biomass and peat of 427.2 ± 90.7 Mg C ha-1 or 17.1 ± 3.6 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. In all situations, peat C loss contributed more than 63% to total C loss, demonstrating the urgent need in terms of the atmospheric greenhouse gas burden to protect tropical virgin peat swamp forests from land use change and fires.

Implications of agricultural land use change to ecosystem services in the Ganges delta.

PubMed

Islam, G M Tarekul; Islam, A K M Saiful; Shopan, Ahsan Azhar; Rahman, Md Munsur; Lázár, Attila N; Mukhopadhyay, Anirban

2015-09-15

Ecosystems provide the basis for human civilization and natural capital for green economy and sustainable development. Ecosystem services may range from crops, fish, freshwater to those that are harder to see such as erosion regulation, carbon sequestration, and pest control. Land use changes have been identified as the main sources of coastal and marine pollution in Bangladesh. This paper explores the temporal variation of agricultural land use change and its implications with ecosystem services in the Ganges delta. With time agricultural lands have been decreased and wetlands have been increased at a very high rate mainly due to the growing popularity of saltwater shrimp farming. In a span of 28 years, the agricultural lands have been reduced by approximately 50%, while the wetlands have been increased by over 500%. A large portion (nearly 40%) of the study area is covered by the Sundarbans which remained almost constant which can be attributed to the strict regulatory intervention to preserve the Sundarbans. The settlement & others land use type has also been increased to nearly 5%. There is a gradual uptrend of shrimp and fish production in the study area. The findings suggest that there are significant linkages between agricultural land use change and ecosystem services in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. The continuous decline of agricultural land (due to salinization) and an increase of wetland have been attributed to the conversion of agricultural land into shrimp farming in the study area. Such land use change requires significant capital, therefore, only investors and wealthier land owners can get the higher profit from the land conversion while the poor people is left with the environmental consequences that affect their long-term lives and livelihood. An environmental management plan is proposed for sustainable land use in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Special involuntary conversion situations involving timberland

Treesearch

William C. Siegal

2001-01-01

If standing timber is destroyed or stolen, or if forest land is condemned for public use, the owner may be entitled to take a deduction on his or her income tax return. These types of losses are called involuntary conversions. In previous National Woodlands articles I've discussed in detail casualty losses, which represent the major type of timber involuntary...

Recent biodiversity patterns in the Great Plains: Implications for restoration and management

Treesearch

Carolyn Hull Sieg; Curtis H. Flather; Stephen McCanny

1999-01-01

Ecosystem, species and genetic dimensions of biodiversity have eroded since widespread settlement of the Great Plains. Conversion of native vegetation in the region followed the precipitation gradient, with the greatest conversion in the eastern tallgrass prairie and eastern mixed-grass types. Areas now dominated by intensive land uses are "hot spots" for...

Climatic effects of 30 years of landscape change over the Greater Phoenix, Arizona, region: 1. Surface energy budget changes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Georgescu, M.; Miguez-Macho, G.; Steyaert, L.T.; Weaver, C.P.

2009-01-01

This paper is part 1 of a two-part study that evaluates the climatic effects of recent landscape change for one of the nation's most rapidly expanding metropolitan complexes, the Greater Phoenix, Arizona, region. The region's landscape evolution over an approximate 30-year period since the early 1970s is documented on the basis of analyses of Landsat images and land use/land cover (LULC) data sets derived from aerial photography (1973) and Landsat (1992 and 2001). High-resolution, Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), simulations (2-km grid spacing) are used in conjunction with consistently defined land cover data sets and associated biophysical parameters for the circa 1973, circa 1992, and circa 2001 time periods to quantify the impacts of intensive land use changes on the July surface temperatures and the surface radiation and energy budgets for the Greater Phoenix region. The main findings are as follows: since the early 1970s the region's landscape has been altered by a significant increase in urban/suburban land area, primarily at the expense of decreasing plots of irrigated agriculture and secondarily by the conversion of seminatural shrubland. Mean regional temperatures for the circa 2001 landscape were 0.12??C warmer than the circa 1973 landscape, with maximum temperature differences, located over regions of greatest urbanization, in excess of 1??C. The significant reduction in irrigated agriculture, for the circa 2001 relative to the circa 1973 landscape, resulted in dew point temperature decreases in excess of 1??C. The effect of distinct land use conversion themes (e.g., conversion from irrigated agriculture to urban land) was also examined to evaluate how the most important conversion themes have each contributed to the region's changing climate. The two urbanization themes studied (from an initial landscape of irrigated agriculture and seminatural shrubland) have the greatest positive effect on near-surface temperature, increasing maximum daily temperatures by 1??C. Overall, sensible heat flux differences between the circa 2001 and circa 1973 landscapes result in a 1 W m-2 increase in domain-wide sensible heating, and a similar order of magnitude decrease in latent heating, highlighting the importance of surface repartitioning in establishing near-surface temperature trends. In part 2 of this study, we address the role of the surface budget changes on the mesoscale dynamics/thermodynamics, in context of the large-scale environment. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Estimating the Effects of Conversion of Agricultural Land to Urban Land on Deep Percolation of Irrigation Water in the Grand Valley, Western Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mayo, John W.

2008-01-01

The conversion of agricultural land to urban residential land is associated with rapid population growth in the Grand Valley of western Colorado. Information regarding the effects of this land-use conversion on deep percolation, irrigation-water application, and associated salt loading to the Colorado River is needed to support water-resource planning and conservation efforts. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) assessed deep percolation and estimated salt loading derived from irrigated agricultural lands in the Grand Valley in a 1985 to 2002 monitoring and evaluation study (NRCS M&E). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado River Salinity Control Forum and the Mesa Conservation District, quantified the current (2005-2006) deep percolation and irrigation-water application characteristics of 1/4-acre residential lots and 5-acre estates, urban parks, and urban orchard grass fields in the Grand Valley, and compared the results to NRCS M&E results from alfalfa-crop sites. In addition, pond seepage from three irrigation-water holding ponds was estimated. Salt loading was estimated for the urban study results and the NRCS M&E results by using standard salt-loading factors. A daily soil-moisture balance calculation technique was used at all urban study irrigated sites. Deep percolation was defined as any water infiltrating below the top 12 inches of soil. Deep percolation occurred when the soil-moisture balance in the first 12 inches of soil exceeded the field capacity for the soil type at each site. Results were reported separately for urban study bluegrass-only sites and for all-vegetation type (bluegrass, native plants, and orchard grass) sites. Deep percolation and irrigation-water application also were estimated for a complete irrigation season at three subdivisions by using mean site data from each subdivision. It was estimated that for the three subdivisions, 37 percent of the developed acreage was irrigated (the balance being impermeable surfaces).

78 FR 14324 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB: Assisted Living Conversion...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-05

... Proposed Information Collection to OMB: Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP) and Emergency Capital... public comments on the subject proposal. The Assisted Living Conversion Program and the Emergency Capital... applicant's eligibility and the capacity to carry out a successful conversion of a project or make the...

40 CFR 147.1252 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1252 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Mississippi is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1252 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1252 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Mississippi is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Georgia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Vermont is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Georgia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Wyoming is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1551 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1551 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Jersey is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nebraska is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2651 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2651 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.1551 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1551 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Jersey is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1752 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Dakota § 147.1752 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Dakota is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1451 - EPA administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1451 EPA administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nevada is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Island § 147.2001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2453 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Virginia § 147.2453 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of West Virginia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Wyoming is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.951 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.951 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Louisiana is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1901 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1901 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Oregon is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Island § 147.2001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1901 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1901 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Oregon is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1501 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Hampshire § 147.1501 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Hampshire is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.1703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Carolina is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.1252 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1252 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Mississippi is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1501 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Hampshire § 147.1501 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Hampshire is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1752 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Dakota § 147.1752 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Dakota is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nebraska is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.951 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.951 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Louisiana is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nebraska is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1501 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Hampshire § 147.1501 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Hampshire is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1752 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Dakota § 147.1752 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Dakota is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1901 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1901 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Oregon is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2453 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Virginia § 147.2453 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of West Virginia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Illinois is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Illinois is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.1703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Carolina is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.1403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nebraska is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1501 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Hampshire § 147.1501 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Hampshire is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Missouri is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2453 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Virginia § 147.2453 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of West Virginia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Island § 147.2001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1451 - EPA administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1451 EPA administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nevada is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1101 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Massachusetts § 147.1101 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Massachusetts is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.1703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Carolina is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.2303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Vermont is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1101 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Massachusetts § 147.1101 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Massachusetts is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2051 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.2051 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1752 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Dakota § 147.1752 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Dakota is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1101 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Massachusetts § 147.1101 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Massachusetts is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1252 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1252 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Mississippi is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1101 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Massachusetts § 147.1101 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Massachusetts is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Wyoming is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Wyoming is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2453 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Virginia § 147.2453 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of West Virginia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Missouri is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.860 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.860 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Kansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2051 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.2051 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Vermont is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Georgia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Missouri is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Vermont is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Island § 147.2001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1053 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1053 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maryland is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1451 - EPA administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1451 EPA administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nevada is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1551 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1551 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Jersey is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.951 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.951 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Louisiana is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.1703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Carolina is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.1252 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1252 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Mississippi is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1501 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Hampshire § 147.1501 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Hampshire is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1901 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1901 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Oregon is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Missouri is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2453 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Virginia § 147.2453 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of West Virginia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1403 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1403 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nebraska is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1451 - EPA administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1451 EPA administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nevada is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1053 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1053 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maryland is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Georgia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.860 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.860 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Kansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1053 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1053 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maryland is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1101 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Massachusetts § 147.1101 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Massachusetts is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.860 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.860 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Kansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Illinois is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Illinois is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1053 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1053 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maryland is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1551 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1551 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Jersey is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1901 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1901 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Oregon is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.951 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.951 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Louisiana is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Wyoming is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.860 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.860 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Kansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.951 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.951 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Louisiana is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2001 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Island § 147.2001 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Missouri is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.553 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.553 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Georgia is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.1703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Carolina is administered by EPA. This program consists of...

40 CFR 147.1053 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1053 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Maryland is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2303 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2303 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Vermont is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.1551 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1551 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of New Jersey is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.860 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.860 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Kansas is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2051 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.2051 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1752 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Dakota § 147.1752 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of North Dakota is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1451 - EPA administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1451 EPA administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Nevada is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2051 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.2051 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.703 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.703 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Illinois is administered by EPA. This program consists of the UIC...

40 CFR 147.2051 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... Carolina § 147.2051 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Rhode Island is administered by EPA. This program consists of the...

40 CFR 147.2510 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2510 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... section for Indian lands in Wisconsin no owner or operator shall construct, operate, maintain, or convert...

40 CFR 147.1603 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1603 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in New Mexico, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.2253 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2253 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Utah, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.2510 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2510 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... section for Indian lands in Wisconsin no owner or operator shall construct, operate, maintain, or convert...

40 CFR 147.2510 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2510 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... section for Indian lands in Wisconsin no owner or operator shall construct, operate, maintain, or convert...

40 CFR 147.2253 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2253 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Utah, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.2253 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2253 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Utah, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.2510 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2510 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... section for Indian lands in Wisconsin no owner or operator shall construct, operate, maintain, or convert...

40 CFR 147.2510 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.2510 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for Indian lands in the... section for Indian lands in Wisconsin no owner or operator shall construct, operate, maintain, or convert...

40 CFR 147.2253 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2253 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Utah, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.2253 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands....2253 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in the State of Utah, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.1603 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1603 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in New Mexico, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.1603 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1603 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in New Mexico, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

40 CFR 147.1603 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1603 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all classes of wells on Indian lands in New Mexico, except for Class II wells on Navajo Indian lands for which EPA has...

Transient simulations of historical climate change including interactive carbon emissions from land-use change.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matveev, A.; Matthews, H. D.

2009-04-01

Carbon fluxes from land conversion are among the most uncertain variables in our understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle, which limits our ability to estimate both the total human contribution to current climate forcing and the net effect of terrestrial biosphere changes on atmospheric CO2 increases. The current generation of coupled climate-carbon models have made significant progress in simulating the coupled climate and carbon cycle response to anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but do not typically include land-use change as a dynamic component of the simulation. In this work we have incorporated a book-keeping land-use carbon accounting model into the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model (UVic ESCM), and intermediate-complexity coupled climate-carbon model. The terrestrial component of the UVic ESCM allows an aerial competition of five plant functional types (PFTs) in response to climatic conditions and area availability, and tracks the associated changes in affected carbon pools. In order to model CO2 emissions from land conversion in the terrestrial component of the model, we calculate the allocation of carbon to short and long-lived wood products following specified land-cover change, and use varying decay timescales to estimate CO2 emissions. We use recently available spatial datasets of both crop and pasture distributions to drive a series of transient simulations and estimate the net contribution of human land-use change to historical carbon emissions and climate change.

Analysis of spatio-temporal land cover changes for hydrological impact assessment within the Nyando River Basin of Kenya.

PubMed

Olang, Luke Omondi; Kundu, Peter; Bauer, Thomas; Fürst, Josef

2011-08-01

The spatio-temporal changes in the land cover states of the Nyando Basin were investigated for auxiliary hydrological impact assessment. The predominant land cover types whose conversions could influence the hydrological response of the region were selected. Six Landsat images for 1973, 1986, and 2000 were processed to discern the changes based on a methodology that employs a hybrid of supervised and unsupervised classification schemes. The accuracy of the classifications were assessed using reference datasets processed in a GIS with the help of ground-based information obtained through participatory mapping techniques. To assess the possible hydrological effect of the detected changes during storm events, a physically based lumped approach for infiltration loss estimation was employed within five selected sub-basins. The results obtained indicated that forests in the basin declined by 20% while agricultural fields expanded by 16% during the entire period of study. Apparent from the land cover conversion matrices was that the majority of the forest decline was a consequence of agricultural expansion. The model results revealed decreased infiltration amounts by between 6% and 15%. The headwater regions with the vast deforestation were noted to be more vulnerable to the land cover change effects. Despite the haphazard land use patterns and uncertainties related to poor data quality for environmental monitoring and assessment, the study exposed the vast degradation and hence the need for sustainable land use planning for enhanced catchment management purposes.

Perennial filter strips reduce nitrate levels in soil and shallow groundwater after grassland-to-cropland conversion.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaobo; Helmers, Matthew J; Asbjornsen, Heidi; Kolka, Randy; Tomer, Mark D

2010-01-01

Many croplands planted to perennial grasses under the Conservation Reserve Program are being returned to crop production, and with potential consequences for water quality. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of grassland-to-cropland conversion on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations in soil and shallow groundwater and to assess the potential for perennial filter strips (PFS) to mitigate increases in NO3-N levels. The study, conducted at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR) in central Iowa, consisted of a balanced incomplete block design with 12 watersheds and four watershed-scale treatments having different proportions and topographic positions of PFS planted in native prairie grasses: 100% rowcrop, 10% PFS (toeslope position), 10% PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips), and 20 PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips). All treatments were established in fall 2006 on watersheds that were under bromegrass (Bromus L.) cover for at least 10 yr. Nonperennial areas were maintained under a no-till 2-yr corn (Zea mays L.)--soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] rotation since spring 2007. Suction lysimeter and shallow groundwater wells located at upslope and toeslope positions were sampled monthly during the growing season to determine NO3-N concentration from 2005 to 2008. The results indicated significant increases in NO3-N concentration in soil and groundwater following grassland-to-cropland conversion. Nitrate-nitrogen levels in the vadose zone and groundwater under PFS were lower compared with 100% cropland, with the most significant differences occurring at the toeslope position. During the years following conversion, PFS mitigated increases in subsurface nitrate, but long-term monitoring is needed to observe and understand the full response to land-use conversion.

Assessing Independent Variables Used in Econometric Modeling Forest Land Use or Land Cover Change: A Meta-Analysis

Treesearch

J Jeuck; F. Cubbage; R. Abt; R. Bardon; J. McCarter; J. Coulston; M. Renkow

2014-01-01

: We conducted a meta-analysis on 64 econometric models from 47 studies predicting forestland conversion to agriculture (F2A), forestland to development (F2D), forestland to non-forested (F2NF) and undeveloped (including forestland) to developed (U2D) land. Over 250 independent econometric variables were identified from 21 F2A models, 21 F2D models, 12 F2NF models, and...

Climate and Land Use Controls on Soil Organic Carbon in the Loess Plateau Region of China

PubMed Central

Tao, Bo; Chen, Guangsheng; Lu, Chaoqun; Yang, Jia; Pan, Shufen; Wang, Guodong; Li, Shiqing; Tian, Hanqin

2014-01-01

The Loess Plateau of China has the highest soil erosion rate in the world where billion tons of soil is annually washed into Yellow River. In recent decades this region has experienced significant climate change and policy-driven land conversion. However, it has not yet been well investigated how these changes in climate and land use have affected soil organic carbon (SOC) storage on the Loess Plateau. By using the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we quantified the effects of climate and land use on SOC storage on the Loess Plateau in the context of multiple environmental factors during the period of 1961–2005. Our results show that SOC storage increased by 0.27 Pg C on the Loess Plateau as a result of multiple environmental factors during the study period. About 55% (0.14 Pg C) of the SOC increase was caused by land conversion from cropland to grassland/forest owing to the government efforts to reduce soil erosion and improve the ecological conditions in the region. Historical climate change reduced SOC by 0.05 Pg C (approximately 19% of the total change) primarily due to a significant climate warming and a slight reduction in precipitation. Our results imply that the implementation of “Grain for Green” policy may effectively enhance regional soil carbon storage and hence starve off further soil erosion on the Loess Plateau. PMID:24788559

Climate and land use controls on soil organic carbon in the loess plateau region of China.

PubMed

Dang, Yaai; Ren, Wei; Tao, Bo; Chen, Guangsheng; Lu, Chaoqun; Yang, Jia; Pan, Shufen; Wang, Guodong; Li, Shiqing; Tian, Hanqin

2014-01-01

The Loess Plateau of China has the highest soil erosion rate in the world where billion tons of soil is annually washed into Yellow River. In recent decades this region has experienced significant climate change and policy-driven land conversion. However, it has not yet been well investigated how these changes in climate and land use have affected soil organic carbon (SOC) storage on the Loess Plateau. By using the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we quantified the effects of climate and land use on SOC storage on the Loess Plateau in the context of multiple environmental factors during the period of 1961-2005. Our results show that SOC storage increased by 0.27 Pg C on the Loess Plateau as a result of multiple environmental factors during the study period. About 55% (0.14 Pg C) of the SOC increase was caused by land conversion from cropland to grassland/forest owing to the government efforts to reduce soil erosion and improve the ecological conditions in the region. Historical climate change reduced SOC by 0.05 Pg C (approximately 19% of the total change) primarily due to a significant climate warming and a slight reduction in precipitation. Our results imply that the implementation of "Grain for Green" policy may effectively enhance regional soil carbon storage and hence starve off further soil erosion on the Loess Plateau.

Assessing post-industrial land cover change at the Pine Point Mine, NWT, Canada using multi-temporal Landsat analysis and landscape metrics.

PubMed

LeClerc, Emma; Wiersma, Yolanda F

2017-04-01

This study investigates land cover change near the abandoned Pine Point Mine in Canada's Northwest Territories. Industrial mineral development transforms local environments, and the effects of such disturbances are often long-lasting, particularly in subarctic, boreal environments where vegetation conversion can take decades. Located in the Boreal Plains Ecozone, the Pine Point Mine was an extensive open pit operation that underwent little reclamation when it shut down in 1988. We apply remote sensing and landscape ecology methods to quantify land cover change in the 20 years following the mine's closure. Using a time series of near-anniversary Landsat images, we performed a supervised classification to differentiate seven land cover classes. We used raster algebra and landscape metrics to track changes in land cover composition and configuration in the 20 years since the mine shut down. We compared our results with a site in Wood Buffalo National Park that was never subjected to extensive anthropogenic disturbance. This space-for-time substitution provided an analog for how the ecosystem in the Pine Point region might have developed in the absence of industrial mineral development. We found that the dense conifer class was dominant in the park and exhibited larger and more contiguous patches than at the mine site. Bare land at the mine site showed little conversion through time. While the combination of raster algebra and landscape metrics allowed us to track broad changes in land cover composition and configuration, improved access to affordable, high-resolution imagery is necessary to effectively monitor land cover dynamics at abandoned mines.

Assessing the potential additionality of certification by the Round table on Responsible Soybeans and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrett, Rachael D.; Carlson, Kimberly M.; Rueda, Ximena; Noojipady, Praveen

2016-04-01

Multi-stakeholder roundtables offering certification programs are promising voluntary governance mechanisms to address sustainability issues associated with international agricultural supply chains. Yet, little is known about whether roundtable certifications confer additionality, the benefits of certification beyond what would be expected from policies and practices currently in place. Here, we examine the potential additionality of the Round table on Responsible Soybeans (RTRS) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in mitigating conversion of native vegetation to cropland. We develop a metric of additionality based on business as usual land cover change dynamics and roundtable standard stringency relative to existing policies. We apply this metric to all countries with RTRS (n = 8) and RSPO (n = 12) certified production in 2013-2014, as well as countries that have no certified production but are among the top ten global producers in terms of soy (n = 2) and oil palm (n = 2). We find RSPO and RTRS both have substantially higher levels of stringency than existing national policies except in Brazil and Uruguay. In regions where these certification standards are adopted, the mean estimated rate of tree cover conversion to the target crop is similar for both standards. RTRS has higher mean relative stringency than the RSPO, yet RSPO countries have slightly higher enforcement levels. Therefore, mean potential additionality of RTRS and RSPO is similar across regions. Notably, countries with the highest levels of additionality have some adoption. However, with extremely low adoption rates (0.41% of 2014 global harvested area), RTRS likely has lower impact than RSPO (14%). Like most certification programs, neither roundtable is effectively targeting smallholder producers. To improve natural ecosystem protection, roundtables could target adoption to regions with low levels of environmental governance and high rates of forest-to-cropland conversion.

Application of genetic algorithm to land use optimization for non-point source pollution control based on CLUE-S and SWAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qingrui; Liu, Ruimin; Men, Cong; Guo, Lijia

2018-05-01

The genetic algorithm (GA) was combined with the Conversion of Land Use and its Effect at Small regional extent (CLUE-S) model to obtain an optimized land use pattern for controlling non-point source (NPS) pollution. The performance of the combination was evaluated. The effect of the optimized land use pattern on the NPS pollution control was estimated by the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model and an assistant map was drawn to support the land use plan for the future. The Xiangxi River watershed was selected as the study area. Two scenarios were used to simulate the land use change. Under the historical trend scenario (Markov chain prediction), the forest area decreased by 2035.06 ha, and was mainly converted into paddy and dryland area. In contrast, under the optimized scenario (genetic algorithm (GA) prediction), up to 3370 ha of dryland area was converted into forest area. Spatially, the conversion of paddy and dryland into forest occurred mainly in the northwest and southeast of the watershed, where the slope land occupied a large proportion. The organic and inorganic phosphorus loads decreased by 3.6% and 3.7%, respectively, in the optimized scenario compared to those in the historical trend scenario. GA showed a better performance in optimized land use prediction. A comparison of the land use patterns in 2010 under the real situation and in 2020 under the optimized situation showed that Shennongjia and Shuiyuesi should convert 1201.76 ha and 1115.33 ha of dryland into forest areas, respectively, which represented the greatest changes in all regions in the watershed. The results of this study indicated that GA and the CLUE-S model can be used to optimize the land use patterns in the future and that SWAT can be used to evaluate the effect of land use optimization on non-point source pollution control. These methods may provide support for land use plan of an area.

A Meta-Analysis of Global Urban Land Expansion

PubMed Central

Seto, Karen C.; Fragkias, Michail; Güneralp, Burak; Reilly, Michael K.

2011-01-01

The conversion of Earth's land surface to urban uses is one of the most irreversible human impacts on the global biosphere. It drives the loss of farmland, affects local climate, fragments habitats, and threatens biodiversity. Here we present a meta-analysis of 326 studies that have used remotely sensed images to map urban land conversion. We report a worldwide observed increase in urban land area of 58,000 km2 from 1970 to 2000. India, China, and Africa have experienced the highest rates of urban land expansion, and the largest change in total urban extent has occurred in North America. Across all regions and for all three decades, urban land expansion rates are higher than or equal to urban population growth rates, suggesting that urban growth is becoming more expansive than compact. Annual growth in GDP per capita drives approximately half of the observed urban land expansion in China but only moderately affects urban expansion in India and Africa, where urban land expansion is driven more by urban population growth. In high income countries, rates of urban land expansion are slower and increasingly related to GDP growth. However, in North America, population growth contributes more to urban expansion than it does in Europe. Much of the observed variation in urban expansion was not captured by either population, GDP, or other variables in the model. This suggests that contemporary urban expansion is related to a variety of factors difficult to observe comprehensively at the global level, including international capital flows, the informal economy, land use policy, and generalized transport costs. Using the results from the global model, we develop forecasts for new urban land cover using SRES Scenarios. Our results show that by 2030, global urban land cover will increase between 430,000 km2 and 12,568,000 km2, with an estimate of 1,527,000 km2 more likely. PMID:21876770

The Population Growth and Carrying Capacity in Semarang City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hariyanto; Hadi, Sudharto P.; Buchori, Imam

2018-02-01

Population growth and development of city activities take some lands to carry them. As a result, land use competition happens among persons, society or sector. Land necessity for settlement, industry, or sector has taken over farm land, therefore farm land has been converted intensively and massively. Chronologically, population growth will cause land necessity increase. Unproductive land, especially farm land will be converted. Furthermore, farm land conversion will cause carrying capacity change. Carrying capacity has certain bio capacity. With the population growth, it will increase resource consumption; on the other side, farm land conversion will decrease carrying capacity. The objective of the study is to know about the influence of population growth towards carrying capacity (bio capacity) in Semarang city. Land consumption per capita is indeed influenced by city population, the higher the population is, the lower the land consumption per capita. With the population growth, it will influence carrying capacity. Carrying capacity here is the ratio of area to population. Analytical descriptive method is applied in the study with all sub-districts in Semarang city as the analysis unit. Population here is sub-district area and population per sub-district in Semarang city. Population growth data period is from 2000 until 2015. Main variables of the study are area per sub-district, population, population growth, carrying capacity. Result of the study shows significant influence of carrying capacity decrease, especially some outskirts in Semarang city. This condition happens because the outskirts in Semarang city tend to have dense population growth. Range of carrying capacity in Semarang city is from 0,007 to 0,117 of 0 to 1. Almost all sub-districts in Semarang city show miserable condition, except Mijen and Tugu. The conclusion of the study is that population will decrease carrying capacity. Therefore, the government should control population growth by paying attention to its distribution.

Modeling land use change impacts on water resources in a tropical West African catchment (Dano, Burkina Faso)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yira, Y.; Diekkrüger, B.; Steup, G.; Bossa, A. Y.

2016-06-01

This study investigates the impacts of land use change on water resources in the Dano catchment, Burkina Faso, using a physically based hydrological simulation model and land use scenarios. Land use dynamic in the catchment was assessed through the analysis of four land use maps corresponding to the land use status in 1990, 2000, 2007, and 2013. A reclassification procedure levels out differences between the classification schemes of the four maps. The land use maps were used to build five land use scenarios corresponding to different levels of land use change in the catchment. Water balance was simulated by applying the Water flow and balance Simulation Model (WaSiM) using observed discharge, soil moisture, and groundwater level for model calibration and validation. Model statistical quality measures (R2, NSE and KGE) achieved during calibration and validation ranged between 0.6 and 0.9 for total discharge, soil moisture, and groundwater level, indicating a good agreement between observed and simulated variables. After a successful multivariate validation the model was applied to the land use scenarios. The land use assessment exhibited a decrease of savannah at an annual rate of 2% since 1990. Conversely, cropland and urban areas have increased. Since urban areas occupy only 3% of the catchment it can be assumed that savannah was mainly converted to cropland. The conversion rate of savannah was lower than the annual population growth of 3%. A clear increase in total discharge (+17%) and decrease in evapotranspiration (-5%) was observed following land use change in the catchment. A strong relationship was established between savannah degradation, cropland expansion, discharge increase and reduction of evapotranspiration. The increase in total discharge is related to high peak flow, suggesting (i) an increase in water resources that are not available for plant growth and human consumption and (ii) an alteration of flood risk for both the population within and downstream of the catchment.

Impact of land use type conversion on carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A spatial-temporal perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Mei; Huang, Xianjin; Chuai, Xiaowei; Yang, Hong; Lai, Li; Tan, Junzhong

2015-05-01

Our work is the first study to explore the national and provincial composite carbon storage variations in terrestrial ecosystems of China caused by the entire flows of land use type conversion (LUTC). Only water body was excluded. The results indicated that terrestrial ecosystems of China lost 219 Tg-C due to LUTC from 1980 to 1995, and the amount was 60 Tg-C during the period 1995-2010. Despite the decrease in the total amount, carbon losses from LUTC intensified, but most of the losses were balanced by the opposite conversions. Our analyses also revealed that LUTCs in China were becoming detrimental to carbon reduction, mainly due to the insufficient increase of forest land to meet the growing demand for carbon absorption, the accelerating disappearance of grassland and the rapid expansion of settlements. More than 50% of the carbon storage variations for a single LUTC flow concentrated in several provinces. To improve China’s LUTC status from the aspect of low-carbon, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang and coastal regions, such as Shandong, Jiangsu and Liaoning, should be dealt with first according to their conditions. This study can be helpful to planners, policy makers and scholars concerned about carbon reduction in China.

Simulating and evaluating best management practices for integrated landscape management scenarios in biofuel feedstock production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ha, Miae; Wu, May

Sound crop and land management strategies can maintain land productivity and improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural crop and feedstock production. With this study, it evaluates a strategy of incorporating landscape design and management concepts into bioenergy feedstock production. It examines the effect of land conversion and agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on water quality (nutrients and suspended sediments) and hydrology. The strategy was applied to the watershed of the South Fork Iowa River in Iowa, where the focus was on converting low-productivity land to provide cellulosic biomass and implementing riparian buffers. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) wasmore » employed to simulate the impact at watershed and sub-basin scales. The study compared the representation of buffers by using trapping efficiency and area ratio methods in SWAT. Landscape design and management scenarios were developed to quantify water quality under (i) current land use, (ii) partial land conversion to switchgrass, and (iii) riparian buffer implementation. Results show that implementation of vegetative barriers and riparian buffer can trap the loss of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and sediment significantly. The effect increases with the increase of buffer area coverage. Implementing riparian buffer at 30 m width is able to produce 4 million liters of biofuels. When low-productivity land (15.2% of total watershed land area) is converted to grow switchgrass, suspended sediment, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and nitrate loadings are reduced by 69.3%, 55.5%, 46.1%, and 13.4%, respectively. The results highlight the significant role of lower-productivity land and buffers in cellulosic biomass and provide insights into the design of an integrated landscape with a conservation buffer for future bioenergy feedstock production.« less

Comparison of surface energy budgets and feedbacks to microclimate among different land use types in an agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China.

PubMed

Zhao, Wei; Hu, Zhongmin; Li, Shenggong; Guo, Qun; Liu, Zhengjia; Zhang, Leiming

2017-12-01

The biophysical effect of land use conversion plays a significant role in regulating climate change. Owing to albedo and evapotranspiration (ET) change, the effect of energy budget difference on land surface temperature (LST) is important but unclear among contrasting land use types, especially in temperate semi-arid regions. Based on moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, we compared the differences in albedo, ET, and LST between cropland and grassland (CR-GR), and between planted forest and grassland (PF-GR) in the Horqin Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia, an agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. Our main objective was to explore the magnitude and direction of albedo and ET change during the growing season and, subsequently, to estimate the biophysical effects on LST as a result of land use and land cover change. Our results indicate no significant difference in mean monthly albedo for CR-GR and PF-GR. Cropland lost more water through ET and significantly decreased daytime LST compared with grassland from July to September, but no significant differences in ET and LST were observed for PF-GR in any month. The biophysical climate effects were more pronounced for CR-GR compared with PF-GR. The response of LST to the changes in energy budget confirmed that ET was the critical driving factor relative to albedo. Compared with grassland, cropland and planted forest tended to cool the land surface by 5.15°C and 1.51°C during the growing season, respectively, because of the biophysical effects. Our findings suggest the significance of local-scale biophysical effect on climate variation after land use conversion in semi-arid regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulating and evaluating best management practices for integrated landscape management scenarios in biofuel feedstock production

DOE PAGES

Ha, Miae; Wu, May

2015-09-08

Sound crop and land management strategies can maintain land productivity and improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural crop and feedstock production. With this study, it evaluates a strategy of incorporating landscape design and management concepts into bioenergy feedstock production. It examines the effect of land conversion and agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on water quality (nutrients and suspended sediments) and hydrology. The strategy was applied to the watershed of the South Fork Iowa River in Iowa, where the focus was on converting low-productivity land to provide cellulosic biomass and implementing riparian buffers. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) wasmore » employed to simulate the impact at watershed and sub-basin scales. The study compared the representation of buffers by using trapping efficiency and area ratio methods in SWAT. Landscape design and management scenarios were developed to quantify water quality under (i) current land use, (ii) partial land conversion to switchgrass, and (iii) riparian buffer implementation. Results show that implementation of vegetative barriers and riparian buffer can trap the loss of total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and sediment significantly. The effect increases with the increase of buffer area coverage. Implementing riparian buffer at 30 m width is able to produce 4 million liters of biofuels. When low-productivity land (15.2% of total watershed land area) is converted to grow switchgrass, suspended sediment, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and nitrate loadings are reduced by 69.3%, 55.5%, 46.1%, and 13.4%, respectively. The results highlight the significant role of lower-productivity land and buffers in cellulosic biomass and provide insights into the design of an integrated landscape with a conservation buffer for future bioenergy feedstock production.« less

Early trends in landcover change and forest fragmentation due to shale-gas development in Pennsylvania: a potential outcome for the Northcentral Appalachians.

PubMed

Drohan, P J; Brittingham, M; Bishop, J; Yoder, K

2012-05-01

Worldwide shale-gas development has the potential to cause substantial landscape disturbance. The northeastern U.S., specifically the Allegheny Plateau in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, is experiencing rapid exploration. Using Pennsylvania as a proxy for regional development across the Plateau, we examine land cover change due to shale-gas exploration, with emphasis on forest fragmentation. Pennsylvania's shale-gas development is greatest on private land, and is dominated by pads with 1-2 wells; less than 10 % of pads have five wells or more. Approximately 45-62 % of pads occur on agricultural land and 38-54 % in forest land (many in core forest on private land). Development of permits granted as of June 3, 2011, would convert at least 644-1072 ha of agricultural land and 536-894 ha of forest land. Agricultural land conversion suggests that drilling is somewhat competing with food production. Accounting for existing pads and development of all permits would result in at least 649 km of new road, which, along with pipelines, would fragment forest cover. The Susquehanna River basin (feeding the Chesapeake Bay), is most developed, with 885 pads (26 % in core forest); permit data suggests the basin will experience continued heavy development. The intensity of core forest disturbance, where many headwater streams occur, suggests that such streams should become a focus of aquatic monitoring. Given the intense development on private lands, we believe a regional strategy is needed to help guide infrastructure development, so that habitat loss, farmland conversion, and the risk to waterways are better managed.

Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Carlson, Kimberly M; Curran, Lisa M; Ratnasari, Dessy; Pittman, Alice M; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S; Asner, Gregory P; Trigg, Simon N; Gaveau, David A; Lawrence, Deborah; Rodrigues, Hermann O

2012-05-08

Industrial agricultural plantations are a rapidly increasing yet largely unmeasured source of tropical land cover change. Here, we evaluate impacts of oil palm plantation development on land cover, carbon flux, and agrarian community lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. With a spatially explicit land change/carbon bookkeeping model, parameterized using high-resolution satellite time series and informed by socioeconomic surveys, we assess previous and project future plantation expansion under five scenarios. Although fire was the primary proximate cause of 1989-2008 deforestation (93%) and net carbon emissions (69%), by 2007-2008, oil palm directly caused 27% of total and 40% of peatland deforestation. Plantation land sources exhibited distinctive temporal dynamics, comprising 81% forests on mineral soils (1994-2001), shifting to 69% peatlands (2008-2011). Plantation leases reveal vast development potential. In 2008, leases spanned ∼65% of the region, including 62% on peatlands and 59% of community-managed lands, yet <10% of lease area was planted. Projecting business as usual (BAU), by 2020 ∼40% of regional and 35% of community lands are cleared for oil palm, generating 26% of net carbon emissions. Intact forest cover declines to 4%, and the proportion of emissions sourced from peatlands increases 38%. Prohibiting intact and logged forest and peatland conversion to oil palm reduces emissions only 4% below BAU, because of continued uncontrolled fire. Protecting logged forests achieves greater carbon emissions reductions (21%) than protecting intact forests alone (9%) and is critical for mitigating carbon emissions. Extensive allocated leases constrain land management options, requiring trade-offs among oil palm production, carbon emissions mitigation, and maintaining community landholdings.

Committed carbon emissions, deforestation, and community land conversion from oil palm plantation expansion in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

PubMed Central

Carlson, Kimberly M.; Curran, Lisa M.; Ratnasari, Dessy; Pittman, Alice M.; Soares-Filho, Britaldo S.; Asner, Gregory P.; Trigg, Simon N.; Gaveau, David A.; Lawrence, Deborah; Rodrigues, Hermann O.

2012-01-01

Industrial agricultural plantations are a rapidly increasing yet largely unmeasured source of tropical land cover change. Here, we evaluate impacts of oil palm plantation development on land cover, carbon flux, and agrarian community lands in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. With a spatially explicit land change/carbon bookkeeping model, parameterized using high-resolution satellite time series and informed by socioeconomic surveys, we assess previous and project future plantation expansion under five scenarios. Although fire was the primary proximate cause of 1989–2008 deforestation (93%) and net carbon emissions (69%), by 2007–2008, oil palm directly caused 27% of total and 40% of peatland deforestation. Plantation land sources exhibited distinctive temporal dynamics, comprising 81% forests on mineral soils (1994–2001), shifting to 69% peatlands (2008–2011). Plantation leases reveal vast development potential. In 2008, leases spanned ∼65% of the region, including 62% on peatlands and 59% of community-managed lands, yet <10% of lease area was planted. Projecting business as usual (BAU), by 2020 ∼40% of regional and 35% of community lands are cleared for oil palm, generating 26% of net carbon emissions. Intact forest cover declines to 4%, and the proportion of emissions sourced from peatlands increases 38%. Prohibiting intact and logged forest and peatland conversion to oil palm reduces emissions only 4% below BAU, because of continued uncontrolled fire. Protecting logged forests achieves greater carbon emissions reductions (21%) than protecting intact forests alone (9%) and is critical for mitigating carbon emissions. Extensive allocated leases constrain land management options, requiring trade-offs among oil palm production, carbon emissions mitigation, and maintaining community landholdings. PMID:22523241

40 CFR 147.1852 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1852 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all wells on Indian... forth in subpart GGG of this part. The UIC program for all other wells on Indian lands consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1852 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1852 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all wells on Indian... forth in subpart GGG of this part. The UIC program for all other wells on Indian lands consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1852 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 22 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1852 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all wells on Indian... forth in subpart GGG of this part. The UIC program for all other wells on Indian lands consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1852 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1852 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all wells on Indian... forth in subpart GGG of this part. The UIC program for all other wells on Indian lands consists of the...

40 CFR 147.1852 - EPA-administered program-Indian lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false EPA-administered program-Indian lands... § 147.1852 EPA-administered program—Indian lands. (a) Contents. The UIC program for all wells on Indian... forth in subpart GGG of this part. The UIC program for all other wells on Indian lands consists of the...

Impacts of land cover transitions on surface temperature in China based on satellite observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuzhen; Liang, Shunlin

2018-02-01

China has experienced intense land use and land cover changes during the past several decades, which have exerted significant influences on climate change. Previous studies exploring related climatic effects have focused mainly on one or two specific land use changes, or have considered all land use and land cover change types together without distinguishing their individual impacts, and few have examined the physical processes of the mechanism through which land use changes affect surface temperature. However, in this study, we considered satellite-derived data of multiple land cover changes and transitions in China. The objective was to obtain observational evidence of the climatic effects of land cover transitions in China by exploring how they affect surface temperature and to what degree they influence it through the modification of biophysical processes, with an emphasis on changes in surface albedo and evapotranspiration (ET). To achieve this goal, we quantified the changes in albedo, ET, and surface temperature in the transition areas, examined their correlations with temperature change, and calculated the contributions of different land use transitions to surface temperature change via changes in albedo and ET. Results suggested that land cover transitions from cropland to urban land increased land surface temperature (LST) during both daytime and nighttime by 0.18 and 0.01 K, respectively. Conversely, the transition of forest to cropland tended to decrease surface temperature by 0.53 K during the day and by 0.07 K at night, mainly through changes in surface albedo. Decreases in both daytime and nighttime LST were observed over regions of grassland to forest transition, corresponding to average values of 0.44 and 0.20 K, respectively, predominantly controlled by changes in ET. These results highlight the necessity to consider the individual climatic effects of different land cover transitions or conversions in climate research studies. This short-term analysis of land cover transitions in China means our estimates should represent local temperature effects. Changes in ET and albedo explained <60% of the variation in LST change caused by land cover transitions; thus, additional factors that affect surface climate need consideration in future studies.

Assessment of Spatio-temporal Barren-lands Expansion and Agricultural Adaptation due to Climate Change and Anthropogenic Activity: A Geospatial Approach in Hot Semi-arid Region of Maharashtra State, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, A.; Inamdar, A. B.

2017-12-01

Major parts of Upper Godavari River Basin are intensely drought prone and climate vulnerable in Maharashtra State, India. The economy of the state depends on the agronomic productivity of this region. So, it is necessary to monitor and regulate the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activity on agricultural land in that region. This study investigates and maps the barren-lands and alteration of agricultural lands, their decadal deviations with the multi-temporal LANDSAT satellite images; and finally quantifies the agricultural adaptations. This work involves the utilization of remote sensing and GIS tools and modeling. First, climatic trend analysis is carried out with dataset obtained from India Meteorological Department. Then, multi-temporal LANDSAT images are classified (Level I, hybrid classification technique are followed) to determine the decadal Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes and correlated with the agricultural water demand. Finally, various LANDSAT band analysis is conducted to determine irrigated and non-irrigated cropping area estimation and identifying the agricultural adaptations. The analysis of LANDSAT images shows that barren-lands are most increased class during the study period. The overall spatial extent of barren-lands are increased drastically during the study period. The geospatial study (class-to-class conversion study) shows that, most of the conversion of the barren-lands are from the agricultural land and reserve or open forests. The barren-lands are constantly increasing and the agricultural land is linearly decreasing. Hence, there is an inverse correlation between barren-lands and agricultural land. Moreover, there is a shift to non-irrigated and less water demanding crops, from more water demanding crops, which is a noticeable adaptation. The surface-water availability is highly dependent on rainfall and/or climatic conditions. It is changing either way in a random fashion based upon the quantity of rainfall occurred in near preceding years. The agricultural lands are densely replenished around the dams and natural water bodies which serve as the water supply stations for the irrigation purposes. Hence, the study shows there are alteration in LULC, agricultural practices and surface-water availability and expansion of barren-lands.

NASA Land Cover and Land Use Change (LCLUC): an interdisciplinary research program.

PubMed

Justice, Chris; Gutman, Garik; Vadrevu, Krishna Prasad

2015-01-15

Understanding Land Cover/Land Use Change (LCLUC) in diverse regions of the world and at varied spatial scales is one of the important challenges in global change research. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the NASA LCLUC program, its focus areas, and the importance of satellite remote sensing observations in LCLUC research including future directions. The LCLUC Program was designed to be a cross-cutting theme within NASA's Earth Science program. The program aims to develop and use remote sensing technologies to improve understanding of human interactions with the environment. Since 1997, the NASA LCLUC program has supported nearly 280 research projects on diverse topics such as forest loss and carbon, urban expansion, land abandonment, wetland loss, agricultural land use change and land use change in mountain systems. The NASA LCLUC program emphasizes studies where land-use changes are rapid or where there are significant regional or global LCLUC implications. Over a period of years, the LCLUC program has contributed to large regional science programs such as Land Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA), the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), and the Monsoon Area Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS). The primary emphasis of the program will remain on using remote sensing datasets for LCLUC research. The program will continue to emphasize integration of physical and social sciences to address regional to global scale issues of LCLUC for the benefit of society. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Long-Term Climate Implications of Persistent Loss of Tropical Peat Carbon Following Land Use Conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frolking, S. E.; Dommain, R.; Glaser, P. H.; Joos, F.; Jeltsch-Thommes, A.

2016-12-01

The climate mitigation potential of tropical peatlands has gained increased attention as Southeast Asian tropical peat swamp forests are being deforested, drained and burned at very high rates, causing globally significant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere. We used a simple force-restore model to represent the perturbation to the atmospheric CO2 and CH4 burdens, and net radiative forcing, resulting from long-term conversion of tropical peat swamp forests to oil palm or acacia plantations. Drainage ditches are installed in land-use conversion to both oil palm and acacia, leading to a persistent change in the system greenhouse gas balance with the atmosphere. Drainage causes the net CO2 exchange to switch from a weak sink (removal from the atmosphere) in the accumulating peat of a swamp forest to a relatively strong source as the peat is oxidized. CH4 emissions increase due to relatively high emissions from the ditches themselves. For these systems, persistent CO2 fluxes have a much stronger impact on atmospheric radiative forcing than do the CH4 fluxes. Prior to conversion, slow peat accumulation (net CO2 uptake) over millennia establishes a slowly increasing net radiative cooling perturbation to the atmosphere. Upon conversion, CO2 loss rates are 16-32 times higher than pre-conversion CO2 uptake rates. Rapid loss rates cause the net radiative forcing perturbation to quickly (decades) become a net warming, which can persist for many centuries after the peat has all been oxidized.

Factors Influencing Farmers' Expectations to Sell Agricultural Land for Non-Agricultural Uses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zollinger, Brett; Krannich, Richard S.

2002-01-01

In this study we identify factors that influence farmers' expectations to sell some or all of their farming operation in areas where the increase in the conversion of agricultural land has been relatively rapid. Findings indicate that the following factors increase farmers' propensity to sell some or all of the agricultural operation for…

Changes in fragmentation of western Washington forest land (Project WC-EM-08-01)

Treesearch

Andrew Gray

2013-01-01

Land conversion and forest fragmentation is an important issue across the country. Forest fragmentation is one of the international Montréal criteria and indicators that the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, must assess periodically (Riitters and others 2004). Characteristics of increased fragmentation include increases in the amount of forest-nonforest...