Abstract
The interrelation between land-use change and socioeconomic changes is complex and highly dynamic. We here present an assessment of the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) in Republic of South Africa (RSA) between 1961 and 2006. HANPP is an integrated socio-ecological accounting framework that traces changes in ecosystems resulting from anthropogenic activities (harvest and land conversions) and allows to study ecological, social and economic driving forces and constraints of long-term land-use changes. We use South Africa, with its history of the rise and collapse of the Apartheid regime, as an example for an analysis of HANPP trajectories in the background of major governance shifts, and base our analysis on the best available statistical datasets, specific analyses and model results. Surprisingly, land cover as well as HANPP in the RSA remained relatively constant between 1961 and 2006, with HANPP values oscillating between 21 and 25% and of the potential NPP. However, through our analysis of the components of HANPP and their interrelations, striking turning points throughout the last five decades become evident. This allows us to discern three distinct periods, each of the phases characterized by distinct HANPP trajectories. Throughout the entire period, a trend of decoupling of HANPP from population growth could be achieved through considerable gains in land-use efficiency. The HANPP analysis reveals that this prevailing trend of increasing land-use efficiency, based on technological improvements and biomass trade, came to a halt in the ‘crisis’ phase and immediately recovered afterwards.
Highlights
Land-use change and socioeconomic change are intrinsically interlinked
We here present an assessment of the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) in Republic of South Africa (RSA) between 1961 and 2006
HANPP is calculated as the sum of harvested biomass (NPPh) plus the amount of biomass appropriated through alterations in productivity due to anthropogenic land use (DNPPlc; see Fig. 1)
Summary
Land-use change and socioeconomic change are intrinsically interlinked. By using the land, societies alter ecological structures and processes in order to optimize the provision of goods and services by ecosystems. The resulting changes in ecosystems require adequate social responses, such as altered management schemes, in order to warrant the continuous provision of services and to avoid detrimental ecological effects This interplay between socioeconomic drivers, pressures, changes in ecological states and impacts is highly dynamic and complex (Liu et al 2007; Turner et al 2007; Liverman and Cuesta 2008) and motivated scholars to call for integrated, interdisciplinary perspectives for studying the various aspects of the land system and their change over time (Rindfuss et al 2004; GLP 2005; Turner et al 2007). As sustainability problems relate to problems of society–nature interactions (Haberl et al 2004a), accounting systems are required that allow to consistently observe, quantify and monitor interactions between societies and their natural environment Many such indicator systems have been proposed, focussing on the quantification and evaluation of the interplay between socioeconomic management, ecosystem services or the associated social or ecological impacts, for example on biodiversity (see, e.g. Haberl et al 2004b; GLP 2005; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; Hak and al 2007)
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