The framework of an agricultural land-use decision support system based on ecological environmental constraints

Abstract

Agricultural land use is a complicated systems engineering. Modern agriculture faces increasingly more risks. Managers should obtain reliable information to assist in decision-making through certain methods that allow them to achieve an economic, social, and ecological environment that is crucial in coordinating the development of agricultural land-use patterns. This study proposes a framework of an agricultural land-use decision support system (LDSS) based on ecological environmental constraints according to the DSS design philosophy, which provides a scientific basis for managers to allocate land resources. This framework of LDSS consists of a land quality assessment module, an eco-economic coupling module, and a land-use optimisation module. Firstly, it establishes a natural-society-economic land quality evaluation system to simulate the comprehensive benefit relationship of land use. Secondly, it analyses the risks of soil, water, and ecological security in the process of land use; simulates and reveals the mechanism of occurrence; and completes the correlation equation expression between natural-economic-social indictor and land use risk. Based on different scenarios design, the ecological environmental risk factors are used as constraints. Finally, the multi-objective linear programming method is employed to calculate the optimal comprehensive benefits of land use and optimal land-use structure based on the constraints of the ecological environment. Then the study takes Changsha County, a high-intensification, main grain-producing area in Central and South China, as a case area to demonstrate the feasibility of the framework of LDSS, and draws the highest comprehensive benefits and optimal structure of land use under the premise that the rural ecological environment conforms to national standards. Case study shows that the LDSS framework is feasible, easy to operate, and easy to promote. The research results can provide efficient and practical support for managers to allocate land resources and formulate sustainable land-use policies rationally.