scholarly journals The Role of Small Farm Activities for the Sustainable Management of Agricultural Landscapes: Case Studies from Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 5966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Slámová ◽  
Ingrid Belčáková
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Types ◽  
Traditional Land Use

In Europe, a broad variety of agricultural landscape types have originated as a result of traditional farming activities and landscape diversity maintenance over centuries. The rapid development of socio-economic activities during the twentieth century caused significant loss of traditional rural landscapes. Traditional/historical European agricultural landscape types (EALs) represent a type of cultural landscape with many specific unique cultural, historical, and biodiversity patterns. Despite their high value, maintenance in practice is lacking. European farmers and landowners need to learn how to implement innovative multifunctional farming techniques within these landscapes. An online interactive educational tool of the ERASMUS+ FEAL project (FEAL: multifunctional Farming for the sustainability of European Agricultural Landscapes) deals with these topics. Case studies from the FEAL project showed the best examples of sustainable agricultural management practices in different types of EALs. The aim of this article was to evaluate case studies within coordination of information on the environment (CORINE) Land Cover (CLC) 2012 classes representing traditional land use forms, nature and landscape protection areas, and ecologically important areas, as well as High Nature Value (HNV) farmland. Results based on 28 case studies from five European countries interpreted the positive external effects of farms on values of EALs. A prevailing number of farms exhibited a coincidence between CLC 2012 classes with traditional land use forms and HNV farmland and protected areas. Regarding land cover classes with traditional land use forms, key words selected by farmers gave importance to recreation and tourism, furthering of biodiversity, direct sale, social farming, renewable energy, and traditional building. The highest frequencies of the key words were achieved in CLC 2012 classes concerning (to some degree) natural and semi-natural ecosystems.

scholarly journals Estimating Soil Water Susceptibility to Salinization in the Mekong River Delta Using a Modified DRASTIC Model

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1636
Author(s):  
Thanh N. Le ◽  
Duy X. Tran ◽  
Thuong V. Tran ◽  
Sangay Gyeltshen ◽  
Tan V. Lam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Drastic Model ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Modified Drastic

Saltwater intrusion risk assessment is a foundational step for preventing and controlling salinization in coastal regions. The Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) is highly affected by drought and salinization threats, especially severe under the impacts of global climate change and the rapid development of an upstream hydropower dam system. This study aimed to apply a modified DRASTIC model, which combines the generic DRASTIC model with hydrological and anthropogenic factors (i.e., river catchment and land use), to examine seawater intrusion vulnerability in the soil-water-bearing layer in the Ben Tre province, located in the VMD. One hundred and fifty hand-auger samples for total dissolved solids (TDS) measurements, one of the reflected salinity parameters, were used to validate the results obtained with both the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models. The spatial analysis tools in the ArcGIS software (i.e., Kriging and data classification tools) were used to interpolate, classify, and map the input factors and salinization susceptibility in the study area. The results show that the vulnerability index values obtained from the DRASTIC and modified DRASTIC models were 36–128 and 55–163, respectively. The vulnerable indices increased from inland districts to coastal areas. The Ba Tri and Binh Dai districts were recorded as having very high vulnerability to salinization, while the Chau Thanh and Cho Lach districts were at a low vulnerability level. From the comparative analysis of the two models, it is obvious that the modified DRASTIC model with the inclusion of a river or canal network and agricultural practices factors enables better performance than the generic DRASTIC model. This enhancement is explained by the significant impact of anthropogenic activities on the salinization of soil water content. This study’s results can be used as scientific implications for planners and decision-makers in river catchment and land-use management practices.

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

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

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

Identifying the land use and land cover change drivers: methods and case studies of two forest reserves in Northern Benin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverin Biaou ◽  
Gerard Nounagnon Gouwakinnou ◽  
Honoré Samadori Sorotori Biaou ◽  
Marc Sèwanou Tovihessi ◽  
Beranger Kohomlan Awessou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Forest Reserves

scholarly journals Land Use/Land Cover Assessment over Time Using a New Weighted Environmental Index (WEI) Based on an Object-Oriented Model and GIS Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10234
Author(s):  
Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri ◽  
Claudia P. Romero ◽  
María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Environmental Index ◽  
Land Occupation ◽  
Gis Data ◽  
Over Time

For the first time, this paper introduces and describes a new Weighted Environmental Index (WEI) based on object-oriented models and GIS data. The index has been designed to integrate all the available information from extensive and detailed GIS databases. After the conceptual definition of the index has been justified, two applications for the regional and local scales of the WEI are shown. The applications analyze the evolution over time of the environmental value from land-use change for two different case studies in Spain: the Valencian Region and the L’Alcora municipality. Data have been obtained from the Spanish Land Occupation Information System (SIOSE) public database and integrate GIS information about land use/land cover on an extensive, high-detailed scale. Results demonstrate the application of the WEI to real case studies and the importance of integrating statistical analysis of WEI evolution over time to arrive at a better understanding of the socio-economic and environmental processes that induce land-use change.

scholarly journals The Loss of Landscape Ecological Functionality in the Barcelona Province (1956–2009): Could Land-Use History Involve a Legacy for Current Biodiversity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enric Tello ◽  
Joan Marull ◽  
Roc Padró ◽  
Claudio Cattaneo ◽  
Francesc Coll
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Total Species Richness

Could past land uses, and the land cover changes carried out, affect the current landscape capacity to maintain biodiversity? If so, knowledge of historical landscapes and their socio-ecological transitions would be useful for sustainable land use planning. We constructed a GIS dataset in 10 × 10 km UTM cells of the province of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) for 1956 and 2009 with the changing levels of farming disturbance exerted through the human appropriation of photosynthetic net primary production (HANPP), and a set of landscape ecology metrics to assess the impacts of the corresponding land-use changes. Then, we correlated them with the spatial distribution of total species richness (including vascular plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). The results allow us to characterize the main trends in changing landscape patterns and processes, and explore whether a land-use legacy of many complex agroforest mosaics maintained by the intermediate farming disturbance managed in 1956 could still exist, despite the decrease or disappearance of those mosaics before 2009 due to the combined impacts of agroindustrial intensification (meaning higher HANPP levels), forest transition (meaning lower HANPP levels) and urban sprawl. Statistical analysis reveals a positive impact of the number of larger, less disturbed forest patches, where many protected natural sites have been created in 1956–2009. However, it also confirms that this result has not only been driven by conservation policies and that the distribution of species richness is currently correlated with the maintenance of intermediate levels of HANPP. This suggests that both land-sharing and land-sparing approaches to biodiversity conservation may have played a synergistic role owing to the legacy of complex land cover mosaics of former agricultural landscapes that are now under a serious threat.

scholarly journals Land Cover and Land Use Change-Driven Dynamics of Soil Organic Carbon in North-East Slovakian Croplands and Grasslands Between 1970 and 2013

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Rastislav Skalský ◽  
Štefan Koco ◽  
Gabriela Barančíková ◽  
Zuzana Tarasovičová ◽  
Ján Halas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
North East ◽  
Soc Stock

AbstractSoil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural land forms part of the global terrestrial carbon cycle and it affects atmospheric carbon dioxide balance. SOC is sensitive to local agricultural management practices that sum up into regional SOC storage dynamics. Understanding regional carbon emission and sequestration trends is, therefore, important in formulating and implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. In this study, the estimation of SOC stock and regional storage dynamics in the Ondavská Vrchovina region (North-Eastern Slovakia) cropland and grassland topsoil between 1970 and 2013 was performed with the RothC model and gridded spatial data on weather, initial SOC stock and historical land cover and land use changes. Initial SOC stock in the 0.3-m topsoil layer was estimated at 38.4 t ha−1 in 1970. The 2013 simulated value was 49.2 t ha−1, and the 1993–2013 simulated SOC stock values were within the measured data range. The total SOC storage in the study area, cropland and grassland areas, was 4.21 Mt in 1970 and 5.16 Mt in 2013, and this 0.95 Mt net SOC gain was attributed to inter-conversions of cropland and grassland areas between 1970 and 2013, which caused different organic carbon inputs to the soil during the simulation period with a strong effect on SOC stock temporal dynamics.

scholarly journals Functional types of agricultural landscapes, peculiarities of their mapping

2014 ◽  
pp. 280-291
Author(s):  
Halyna Pylypenko ◽  
Oksana Tsurkan
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Formal Solution ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Gis Technologies ◽  
Functional Types

A formal solution of applied agrolandscape maps’ preparation using GIS-technologies on example of agrolandscape is presented. Four types of agro landscapes are featured taking into consideration landscape structure of territory and features of land use. A new format of disclosing agrolandscape map content is offered. Key words: steppe agrolandscape, nature-comfortable, adapted-balanced, inert-depressive, stressed-unbalanced types of agrolandscape structures.

scholarly journals Land use/land cover change effect on Soil erosion and Sediment Delivery on Winike Watershed, Omo Gibe Basin, Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abreham Berta Aneseyee
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Delivery Ratio ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Sediment Delivery ◽  
Sediment Export

Abstract Background: Information on soil loss and sediment export is essential to identify hotspots of soil erosion for conservation interventions in a given watershed. This study aims at investigating the dynamic of soil loss and sediment export associated with land use/land cover change and identifies soil loss hotspot areas in Winike watershed of Omo-gibe basin of Ethiopia. Spatial data collected from satellite images, topographic maps, meteorological and soil data were analyzed. Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) of sediment delivery ratio (SDR) model was used based on analysis of land use/land cover maps and RUSLE factors. Result: The results showed that total soil loss increased from 774.86 thousand tons in 1988 to 951.21 thousand tons in 2018 while the corresponding sediment export increased by 3.85 thousand tons in the same period. These were subsequently investigated in each land-use type. Cultivated fields generated the highest soil erosion rate, which increased by 10.02 t/ha/year in 1988 to 43.48 t/ha/year in 2018. This corresponds with the expansion of the cultivated area that increased from 44.95 thousand ha in 1988 to 59.79 thousand ha in 2018. This is logical as the correlation between soil loss and sediment delivery and expansion of cultivated area is highly significant (p<0.01). Sub-watershed six (SW-6) generated the highest soil loss (62.77 t/ha/year) and sediment export 16.69 t/ha/year, followed by Sub-watershed ten (SW-10) that are situated in the upland plateau. Conversely, the lower reaches of the watershed are under dense vegetation cover and experiencing less erosion. Conclusion: Overall, the changes in land use/land cover affect significantly the soil erosion and sediment export dynamism. This research is used to identify an area to prioritize the watershed for immediate management practices. Thus, land use policy measures need to be enforced to protect the hydropower generation dams at downstream and the ecosystem at the watershed.

scholarly journals On farm survival of Apulian legume and cereal landraces in relation to land cover/land use changes. A case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Rosa Piergiovanni ◽  
Benedetta Margiotta
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Cereal Species ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Collection Sites

Apulia (southeast of Italy) has always been an agricultural region in the Italian landscape. Nowadays, the countryside is a mix of natural environments and artificial landscapes. From 2014 to 2016, the region has been the object of a project aimed to collect information about geographic position and surface devoted to legume and/or cereal landrace cultivation. The collection missions carried out allowed the acquisition of 352 samples belonging to eight legumes and six cereal species. Chickpeas predominated among legumes, while durum and common wheat landraces prevailed among cereals. The cultivation of these landraces was mainly located in the marginal areas of central and southern Apulia region. The GIS technology, used in order to geo-reference the collection sites, allowed investigating the changes in land cover/land use (LCLU) occurred over the last three decades at each collecting site. In addition to the evidences collected at field level, the comparison of old ortho-photos and recent satellite images, available on Copernicus Land Monitoring Service of European Environment Agency, shown that very limited changes of LCLU have occurred. Near the collection sites, the agrarian landscape is remained highly fragmented as it was three decades ago. The cultivation side by side of irregular patches with legumes, cereals, olive trees, and grapevine characterize the agricultural landscape. Based on these evidences it can be infer that the absence of significant changes in LCLU has play a positive role in the safeguard of on farm conservation of Apulian landraces.

scholarly journals FATE OF AGRICULTURAL AREAS OF KAILALI DISTRICT OF NEPAL: A TEMPORAL LAND USE LAND COVER CHANGE (LUCC) ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Vol XLIII-B3-2020 ◽  
pp. 1601-1606
Author(s):  
◽  
L. Thapa ◽  
D. P. Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Land Resources

Abstract. Changes of agricultural land into non-agricultural land is the main issue of increasing population and urbanization. The objective of this paper is to identify the various land resources and its changes into other Land Use Land Cover (LULC) type. LANDSAT satellite data for 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 years of Kailali district Nepal was acquired for supervised LULC mapping and change analysis using ENVI 5.4 software. Sentinel-2 and Google earth satellite data were used for the accuracy assessment of the LULC map. The time-series data analysis from 1990–2000–2010–2018 shows major changes in vegetation and agriculture. The changes in LULC show that settlement and bare land is continuously increasing throughout these years. The change in land use and land cover during the period of 1990–2018 shows that the settlement area is increased by 204%; and agriculture is decreased by 57%. The fluctuating behavior of vegetation, agriculture and water bodies in which the areas decrease and increase over the selected periods is due to natural calamities and migration of the local population. This shows that human influence on the land resources is accelerating and leading to a deterioration of agricultural land. Thus effective agricultural management practices and policies should be carried out at the government level for minimizing land resources degradation by the human-induced impact.

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