scholarly journals Drive Mechanisms of Soil Quality Changes in Peri-Urban Areas

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Hongbin Liu ◽  
Jie Lyu

The driving mechanism of soil quality (SQ) has important implications for arable land protection, sustainable agricultural development and ecological environment conservation. This study builds a “perception–response” theoretical framework to investigate how farmers’ land use behavior may affect SQ from the temporal and spatial perspectives. Based on soil sampling data, farmer survey data and socioeconomic statistical data collected in a typical peri-urban area of northeast China, geo-statistical analysis and econometric models have been applied to examine the effect of farmers’ land use behavior (FLUB) on SQ. The results show that during 1980–2010, the target of FLUB has been shifted from “grain output maximization” to “grain output and profit maximization” and then to “profit maximization”. The FLUB, including land use pattern, land use degree and land input intensity, also show obvious differences in space. These differences result in distinct impacts on the variation of SQ in time and space. Generally, the soil organic matter (OM) tends to decline, the available nitrogen (AVN) and available phosphorus (ANP) tend to rise, while the available potassium (AVK) increases after an initial decline. Moreover, the further distance from the city center, the greater the spatial variation of SQ in space. These findings are not only helpful from a theoretical and practical significance for policy-makers to improve SQ in the outskirts of metropolitan areas, but also make an important contribution to the sustainable development of peri-urban agriculture (PUA).

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Almobarak Falak ◽  
Lidia A. Mezhova

Central Chernozem is one of the largest agricultural regions in Russia. As a result of the long period of natural resources use the anthropogenic load on agricultural lands is increasing. The result of agricultural nature management is the increase of land degradation processes. Voronezh Region has a high agro-climatic potential, most of the territory is occupied by agricultural land, arable land prevails among them. Soil degradation is the most acute problem. There is a need to assess the impact of agricultural natural resources use on land resources of the region. Modular coefficients for assessment of geochemical impact of agriculture and animal husbandry on agricultural systems are proposed. The developed factor is a tool for identification of negative land use processes and environmental problems. The article deals with the issues of ecologically oriented, scientifically grounded strategy of agricultural nature management. Ecological approach to assessment of soil quality in the future will develop a strategy for balanced land use. The article has a scientific and practical character and is aimed at the development of methods of ecological assessment of soil quality. The proposed methodological approach identifies destructive processes in soils. For ecologically oriented strategy of development of regions it is important to define maximum allowable agricultural loads for preservation of sustainable environment.


Author(s):  
H. Haruna

Land use changes from forest into cultivated ecosystems result in negative impact on soil structure and quality. The purpose of this study was to determine effect of land use on soil quality in Afaka forest northern guinea savannah of Nigeria. Land use systems, including natural forest and cultivated land were identified. Eighteen (18) composite disturbed and undisturbed samples were collected from depth of 0-5 and 5-10 cm for analysis of pertinent soil properties in the laboratory using grid procedure. Most physical and chemical properties show relative variations in response to land use types and geomorphic positions. Results  indicate  that the soils had  high degree of weathering potentials, low  to moderate  bulk density at 0-5cm depth values between 1.42 to 1.49 Mg m-3 in  forest and  cultivated land, bulk density of  1.34 and 1.46 1.Mg m-3at 5 -1ocm depth   for forest and  cultivated land respectively. The soil water at 0-5cm depth is from 4.20 to 2.63 cm3/cm3, while at 5-10 cm depth these values vary from 4.32 to 2.13 cm3/cm3 under forest and cultivation land use. The pH (H2O) is 6.9 to 7.16 with low electrical conductivity of 0.13 dS/m(forest) and 0.12 dS/m (cultivation). The CEC of soils is recorded as 8.60 cmol kg-1 (forest) to 8.54 cmol kg-1 (cultivated)whereas  total nitrogen content of 1.21 g kg-1 and 1.11 g kg-1 and available phosphorus of 8.78 mg kg-1 (cultivated) and 5.47 mg kg-1 (forest).. Results indicate that soil fertility parameters were moderate to low for cultivated land and at all slope positions, suggesting that soil fertility management is required in order to make agriculture sustainable on Afaka area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Zhao ◽  
Sinan Li ◽  
Junwei Pu ◽  
Peipei Miao ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
...  

National land spatial planning is dominated by urban-agricultural-ecological functions and has become a Chinese national strategic issue. However, the three functional spaces have serious conflicts in the karst areas, causing inconsistencies in regional development and triggering poverty and a more serious situation for the ecological environment. In this study, we used the gray multi-objective dynamic programming model and the conversion of land use and its effects at small region extent model to simulate the developmental structures of future land use in the karst areas of Southwest China under a socioeconomic development scenario, an arable land protection scenario and an ecological security scenario. Finally, based on the coordination of the urban-agricultural-ecological functions, we used a functional space classification method to optimize the spatial structures of the national land space for 2035 year and to identify different functional areas. The results showed that the three scenarios with different objectives had differences in the quantities and spatial structures of land use but that the area of forestland was the largest and the area of water was the smallest in each scenario. The optimization of the national land space was divided into seven functional areas—urban space, agricultural space, ecological space, urban-agricultural space, urban-ecological space, agricultural-ecological space and urban-agricultural-ecological space. The ecological space was the largest and the urban-ecological space was the smallest among seven functional areas. The different types of functional spaces had significant differentiation characteristics in the layouts. The urban-agricultural space, urban-ecological space, agricultural-ecological space and urban-agricultural-ecological space can effectively alleviate the impacts of human activities and agricultural production activities in karst areas, promote the improvement of rocky desertification and improve the quality of the regional ecological environment. The results of this research can provide support for decisions about the balanced development of the national land space and the improvement of environmental quality in the karst areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila Tóth ◽  
Axel Timpe

Abstract Using ‘Urban Atlas’ as a data source, the authors present and critically discuss in this paper the application of figure-ground plans in combination with complex land-use maps as a tool for spatial analysis of urban agriculture in European cities and their multifunctional green infrastructure. The selected cities and metropolitan areas (including Dublin, Ruhr Metropolis, Geneva and Sofia) represent different regions in Europe from the Northwest to the Southeast. Urban fabric, agriculture and non-agricultural open spaces have been analysed and compared as the main land-use components. Agricultural open spaces include arable land with annual crops and permanent crops, such as vineyards, fruit trees and olive groves; pastures; as well as complex and mixed cultivation patterns. The results reveal the scale and land-use diversity of metropolitan regions and different spatial patterns of urban agriculture at the regional level and in central urban areas.


Author(s):  
T. B. Nahirniak ◽  
R. S. Grabovsky ◽  
M. R. Hrytsyna

The current state of land use in Ukraine is characterized by high agricultural development and land cultivation. The predominant share in the total land stock of Ukraine is occupied by agricultural land (70.8% of the country's territory). Ukraine accounts for about 0.45% of the world land fund, while arable land occupies 2.4% of its world-wide area. According to resource-based indicators of land use Ukraine is also characterized by an extremely high level of development of living space and only about 8% of the territory can be attributed to anthropogenically unchanged. Ecological and economic aspects of land use include of rational land use, which characterizes the optimal involvement of all lands in economic circulation and their effective use for the main purpose, creation of favorable conditions for increasing productivity of agricultural land and obtaining from the unit of area the maximum amount of products at the lowest cost of labor and funds. The article substantiates that degradation of soils has its own characteristics, caused by various factors and processes. It is established that the practice of land use and the state of study of the above problems will require further study of the preconditions for the development of land degradation processes caused by the main factors: human economic activity and climatic and relief-ground conditions. The existing system of land protection in agriculture due to the influence of a number of natural and economic factors, as well as insufficient attention from the state does not ensure their rational use. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to an integrated system of protection of agricultural land.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li ◽  
Shi ◽  
Duan ◽  
Chen ◽  
Wang ◽  
...  

Under the context of rapid urbanization, how to use construction land resources under the dual pressure of socioeconomic growth and cultivated land protection is critical to resource utilization and sustainable development. Thus, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study the relationship between socioeconomic change and construction land expansion. Based on decoupling theory, this study constructed a two-dimensional model to analyze the population-construction land and economy (non-agricultural GDP)-construction land decoupling status and characteristics in Hebei Province at the county level. Then, a decoupling-based construction land-use zoning model was built to explore construction land saving and intensive utilization strategies in different construction land-use zones. The results show that (1) the construction land area, population and non-agricultural GDP in Hebei Province increased in the study period, but there were spatial differences in the hot areas of growth. (2) In the population-construction land dimension, the growth of the population and construction land in Hebei Province was generally in an uncoordinated state. According to the results of the calculation, the samples of counties whose relationships between population and construction land were uncoordinated accounted for 75.76% of all counties, and 68.94% of all counties demonstrated weak decoupling. (3) In the economy-construction land dimension, 89.39% of all counties in Hebei Province had coordinated relationships between economy and construction land change. The expansion negative decoupling was the main decoupling state in Hebei Province in this dimension. (4) On the basis of two-dimensional decoupling type results, the construction land-use in Hebei was divided into four zones: “Population–economy dual coordinated”, “population unilateral coordinated”, “economy unilateral coordinated” and “population–economy dual uncoordinated”. The results showed that the “economy unilateral coordinated” zone included 68.18% of all counties. According to the characteristics of different construction land-use zones, this study provided various regulatory and control countermeasures and suggestions to improve the efficiency of construction land-use and to promote sustainable development in Hebei Province.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuying Jiao ◽  
Junran Li ◽  
Yongqiang Li ◽  
Ziyun Xu ◽  
Baishu Kong ◽  
...  

AbstractSoil physical properties and soil organic carbon (SOC) are considered as important factors of soil quality. Arable land, grassland, and forest land coexist in the saline-alkali reclamation area of the Yellow River Delta (YRD), China. Such different land uses strongly influence the services of ecosystem to induce soil degradation and carbon loss. The objective of this study is to evaluate the variation of soil texture, aggregates stability, and soil carbon affected by land uses. For each land use unit, we collected soil samples from five replicated plots from “S” shape soil profiles to the depth of 50 cm (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–50 cm). The results showed that the grassland had the lowest overall sand content of 39.98–59.34% in the top 50 cm soil profile. The content of soil aggregates > 0.25 mm (R0.25), mean weight diameter and geometric mean diameter were significantly higher in grassland than those of the arable and forest land. R0.25, aggregate stability in arable land in the top 30 cm were higher than that of forest land, but lower in the soil profile below 20 cm, likely due to different root distribution and agricultural practices. The carbon management index (CMI) was considered as the most effective indicator of soil quality. The overall SOC content and CMI in arable land were almost the lowest among three land use types. In combination with SOC, CMI and soil physical properties, we argued that alfalfa grassland had the advantage to promote soil quality compared with arable land and forest land. This result shed light on the variations of soil properties influenced by land uses and the importance to conduct proper land use for the long-term sustainability of the saline-alkali reclamation region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1241
Author(s):  
Anastasia Krina ◽  
Fotios Xystrakis ◽  
Kostas Karantininis ◽  
Nikos Koutsias

Wetlands are areas of high biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services of high value. However, they are under constant threat from intense anthropogenic pressures, mainly agriculture intensification, urbanization, pollution, and climate change. The temporal and spatial patterns of land use/land cover (LULC) changes within eleven large wetlands in Greece were analyzed based on thematic maps generated from aerial orthophotos taken in 1945, 1975, and 2007. Socio-economic developments and the consequent need for more arable land and utilization of water resources are among the factors that mainly determine their evolution. In 2007, LULC classes related to wetland vegetation were reduced to one third as compared to 1945 and they were mainly replaced with croplands and urban infrastructures. Each of the different sub-periods that was considered (1945–1975 and 1975–2007) was distinguished by characteristic patterns of change. Agricultural land increased up to 42% from 1945 to 1975 and became the dominant LULC class in all deltaic areas but Evros. A considerable stability was observed for the period 1975–2007 for all LULC classed but it is remarkable the extent of urban areas that doubled. There is a tendency of landscape simplification and homogenization among the deltaic areas and the output of Markov chain analysis indicates that future composition of deltaic landscapes will be similar to the current one if the main driving forces remain constant. Changes in LULC composition and structure are also combined with coastal erosion in all deltaic areas. This is attributed to the modification of sedimentary deposits due to dam construction. The results summarize the change trajectories of the major deltaic areas in Greece from 1945 to 2007 thus offering a great outlook of changes that allows managers to understand how policies and socio-economic requirements affect the deltaic ecosystems and what decisions should be made to protect and enhance them.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley C. van der Graaf ◽  
Richard Kranenburg ◽  
Arjo J. Segers ◽  
Martijn Schaap ◽  
Jan Willem Erisman

Abstract. The nitrogen cycle has been continuously disrupted by human activity over the past century, resulting in almost a tripling of the total reactive nitrogen fixation in Europe. Consequently, excessive amounts of reactive nitrogen (Nr) have manifested in the environment, leading to a cascade of adverse effects, such as acidification and eutrophication of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and particulate matter formation. Chemistry transport models (CTM) are frequently used as tools to simulate the complex chain of processes that determine atmospheric Nr flows. In these models, the parameterization of the atmosphere-biosphere exchange of Nr is largely based on few surface exchange measurement and is therefore known to be highly uncertain. In addition to this, the input parameters that are used here are often fixed values, only linked to specific land use classes. In an attempt to improve this, a combination of multiple satellite products is used to derive updated, time-variant leaf area index (LAI) and roughness length (z0) input maps. As LAI, we use the MODIS MCD15A2H product. The monthly z0 input maps presented in this paper are a function of satellite-derived NDVI values (MYD13A3 product) for short vegetation types (such as grass and arable land) and a combination of satellite-derived forest canopy height and LAI for forests. The use of these growth-dependent satellite products allows us to represent the growing season more realistically. For urban areas, the z0 values are updated, too, and linked to a population density map. The approach to derive these dynamic z0 estimates can be linked to any land use map and is as such transferable to other models. We evaluated the resulting changes in modelled deposition of Nr components using the LOTOS-EUROS CTM, focusing on Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The implementation of these updated LAI and z0 input maps led to local changes in the total Nr deposition of up to ~ 30 % and a general shift from wet to dry deposition. The most distinct changes are observed in land use specific deposition fluxes. These fluxes may show relatively large deviations, locally affecting estimated critical load exceedances for specific natural ecosystems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
Farida Begum ◽  
Muneer Alam ◽  
Sameena Mumtaz ◽  
Manzoor Ali ◽  
Seema Wafee ◽  
...  

Soil quality is a fundamental component of environmental quality and impact of land use is also a keydetrimental factor in today’s rapid urbanization era. The study aims to evaluate the effects of different land-use type on selected soil quality indicators. Sixty soil samples were collected from various land use types, i.e, pasture, forest and agriculture from a depth of 0-15cm. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the land use type significantly affected the soil’s physical and chemical properties. The moisture content was significantly higher (p<0.001) in the pasture (41.7%) than the forest (26.2%) and lowest in agricultural land (14.4%). The soil pH was significantly higher or slightly alkaline for agriculture (7.8), while for pasture (6.5) and forest (6.1), it was found to be slightly acidic. Electric conductivity (EC) and bulk density (BD) did not vary significantly with land use type, but the EC followed the decreasing order: forest (203.7μS/cm) < pasture (235μS/cm) < agriculture (328.7μS/cm). The soil organic matter (SOM) and soil organic carbon (SOC) significantly (p<0.05) differed with land use type and found in the order: forest (3.0%, 1.3 %) > pasture land (2.9%, 1.2%) > arable land (2.5%, 1.1%). NO3-N, available P and exchangeable K did not vary significantly across land use types. However, mean values were higher for agriculture (10.2mg/kg, 4.5mg/kg, 66mg/kg) than forest (10mg/kg,3.5mg/kg, 60mg/kg) and pasture (9.8mg/kg, 4.3, 60.2mg/kg). Alpine soils are good ecological indicators because of vulnerability to environmental change, therefore, regular monitoring of soil properties along with carbon stocks is essential to maintain soil health, enhance agricultural productivity and sustain agroecosystems.


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