Implications For Land Use Research Articles

Implications of soil substrate and land use for properties of fen soils in North-East Germany Part I: Basic soil conditions, chemical and biological properties of topsoils

The objective of the paper was to analyse the implications of the origin of peat (muck) soil substrate, the current type of land use and the state of anthropogenic soil development for the topsoil properties of fens. Chemical and biological properties of peat soils of the Rhin-Havelluch lowland and the Uckermark rural landscape were analyzed. The unit water content according to Ohde and the ash content were utilized to characterize the anthropogenic development status of peat topsoils. Several chemical properties were significantly influenced by soil substrate, in particular by the proportion and kind of the mineral component. The substrate was associated with the hydrological type of mire and the soil development state. TOC/N ratio and microbial activity were increased in cases of high lime spring mires and moorshified low ash peat. The proportion of easily soluble organic carbon increased, whereas the sulphur content decreased with the soil development state. The nitrogen content and the proportions of oxalate soluble iron and aluminium reached maxima in the moorshified state. The type of land use (grassland, forest) significantly influenced the topsoil pH and the proportion of oxalate soluble phosphorus. Soils under forest were clearly determined by topsoil acidification.

Implications of soil substrate and land use for properties of fen soils in North-East Germany Part III: Soil quality for grassland use

The aim of the study was to analyse aspects of fen soil quality for grassland use with regard to the different topsoil structure and their status of earthification/moorshification (degradation). Fifty fens of different origin, structural status and land use intensity were sampled, analysed and scored by different methods: Visual Soil Assessment, Peerlkamp test and Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating. Suitable soil structure scores were found at different land use intensities with the exception of stock tracks on pastures. These had lower water and air permeability and lower soil strength. Highest visual scores of macrostructure were found where the water table was deeper; while highest overall soil quality scores occurred where the water table was optimum. The accelerated status of moorshification had no effect on the soil quality scores and on the crop yield. At lower levels of soil development (earthification) the crop yield was slightly lower due to higher proportions of inedible plants. It may be concluded that degraded peat soils will have no loss of soil quality and have relatively high soil quality for grassland use if the water table can be managed in a suitable range and the sward quality is maintained.

Unresolved Legacies

In Canada, aboriginal legacies in landscapes and their implications for land use planning for biodiversity conservation remain poorly acknowledged. Similarly, inter-cultural conversations on values about and priorities for biological resources and habitat protection remain under-developed. This essay begins with a rhetorical question. Will it be possible to forge successful ecosystem recovery strategies, to maintain all elements of local biological diversity through land use planning, without far deeper cognizance of the aboriginal legacies in Canadian landscapes? I do not think so. This discussion, from the drier enclaves on the south coast of British Columbia, centres on a federally funded ecosystem recovery team in the first four years of its operation from 1999 to 2003 and the near total lack of outreach to, and engagement with, aboriginal people and First Nations. These were the same years as the final phase of development of Canada’s relatively weak Species At Risk Act (SARA).2

Hydrographic characterization of two tidal creeks with implications for watershed land use, flushing times, and benthic production

Many coastal ecosystems are undergoing anthropogenic stress from large increases in population and urbanization. In many regions changes in freshwater and material inputs to the coastal zone are altering the biogeochemical and biological capacities of ecosystems. Despite increased watershed inputs, large tidal volumes and flushing indicative of macrotidal estuaries can modulate the fate of introduced materials masking some of the symptoms of eutrophication. The Land Use Coastal Ecosystem Study (LU-CES) examined linkages between land use and environmental properties of Malind and Okatee Creeks in South Carolina from 2001 to 2004. The objectives of this particular study were to assess the hydrography of the two macrotidal creek ecosystems, explore differences in dissolved oxygen (DO), and develop a better understanding of the variations in primary and benthic secondary production in southeastern creek ecosystems. Depth, pH, salinity, and DO were reduced and more variable in Malind Creek than in Okatee Creek, although both creeks had strong semidiurnal frequencies in salinity time signatures. While time series analyses of DO saturation in Malind Creek revealed a dominant semidiurnal pattern, Okatee Creek had a distinctly diel DO pattern. The strongly semidiurnal fluctuations in DO and reduced flushing time indicated that biological processes were not fast enough to influence DO in Malind Creek. The Okatee Creek system had a much greater storage volume, a wider marsh, and a dominant 25-h DO frequency. These attributes contributed to an estimated 8-10 times more phytoplankton-based carbon in Okatee Creek and twice the annual benthic production. As expected from their proximity to the upland, low surface area, and high organic content, both ecosystems were net heterotrophic. This fundamental understanding of tidal creek hydrography is being used to help define linkages among differential watershed land uses, flushing characteristics, and levels of biological production in coastal ecosystems of the southeastern United States.

Beyond Population and Environment: Household Demographic Life Cycles and Land Use Allocation Among Small Farms in the Amazon

Most research featuring demographic factors in environmental change has focused on processes operating at the level of national or global populations. This paper focuses on household-level demographic life cycles among colonists in the Amazon, and evaluates the impacts on land use allocation. The analysis goes beyond prior research by including a broader suite of demographic variables, and by simultaneously assessing their impacts on multiple land uses with different economic and ecological implications. We estimate a system of structural equations that accounts for endogeneity among land uses, and the findings indicate stronger demographic effects than previous work. These findings bear implications for modeling land use, and the place of demography in environmental research.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) export to a temperate estuary: seasonal variations and implications of land use

Inputs of dissolved carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were assessed for an estuary and its catchment (Horsens, Denmark). Seasonal patterns in the concentrations of DOM in the freshwater supply to the estuary differed depending on the soil and drainage characteristics of the area. In streams draining more natural areas the, patterns observed were largely driven by seasonal temperature fluctuations. The material exported from agricultural areas was more variable and largely controlled by precipitation events. Positive exponential relationships were found between the nitrogen and phosphorus loading, and the percentage of catchment area used for agriculture. Colored DOM (CDOM) loading measurements were found to be a good predictor of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) loading across the different subcatchments, offering a rapid and inexpensive alternative of operationally monitoring DOC export. For all the dissolved nutrient inputs to the estuary, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved organic phosphorus dominated the loadings. Although 81% of the nitrogen annually supplied to the estuary was DIN, 83% of the nitrogen exported from the estuary was dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Results show that increasing the area of the catchment covered by forest and natural pastures would have a positive effect on the trophic status of the estuary, leading to a considerable decrease in the phosphorus loading and a shift in the nitrogen loading from DIN to DON. Such a change in land use would also increase the export of DOC and CDOM to the estuary having the potential to increase oxygen consumption and reduce the photic depth.

Sensitivity of DaisyGIS to LAI: Implications for land use based modelling of nitrate leaching

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 106(2): 75–85, 2006 Scaling is an important issue when measuring, modelling and understanding coupled socio-environmental terrestrial systems. Scaling may be enhanced through the incorporation of remotely sensed data. This paper assesses the sensitivity of DaisyGIS to changes in the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and discusses the implications for land use based modelling of nitrate leaching using remote sensing based LAI estimates. It is shown how DaisyGIS simulates nitrate leaching quite well over the period 2001 to 2004 except for one plot during a season with winter rape. It was found that the model is sensitive to changes in LAI with increases of up to 262% on nitrate leaching rates when reducing LAI by 15%. At the same time, the nitrate leaching rates at the field level vary considerably due to local changes in the water balance determined by soil profile characteristics. DaisyGIS is already an important tool for aiding decision makers and this study has shown how remote sensing based LAI estimates may be a valuable tool for model parameterisation and potentially for model validation.

Taxes and Fees as Forms of Land Use Regulation

In this article I expand on Turnbull’s presentation by highlighting two important aspects of regulations and their effects on land use. First, I summarize what we know about the dynamic effects of property taxation and discuss alternative tax regimes and their implications for land use. Second, I analyze the role of development impact fees and consider ways in which this new financing method may be rationalized.

Unpriced Regulatory Risk and the Competition of Rules: Unconsidered Implications of Land Use Planning

This paper argues that over the past 40 years land use regulation has created much of the financial value and, therefore, returns, in real estate in many countries, although most clearly in the UK. The evidence for this claim is best documented in the context of residential property but the circumstantial evidence that, in the UK at least, land use planning has similarly inflated commercial real estate values is powerful. Moreover, because of the wider economic impacts this regulation is increasingly having, there is a significant possibility of future deregulation. This would have a substantial impact on both capital values and rents of all classes of real estate but most especially residential and retail. This constitutes a significant risk for real estate as an asset class and, moreover, it is a risk of which real estate professionals appear unaware and is, therefore, unpriced.

Impacts of set-aside policy on the risk of soil erosion in central Spain

The 1992 European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) set-aside program led to an increase in area of set-aside land after 1992, but had a varying effect on soil erosion rates because of the different climatic, environmental and economic conditions of European agricultural regions. This study presents new data on the CAP implications for land use and management on subsidized-dependent agricultural zones of central Spain. The focus is on how this land change has impacted the soil erosion risk since 1992. In many parts of cereal-growing central Spain, with Mediterranean continental climate, set-aside land management is managed as unseeded fallow, a management type used to increase soil moisture and fertility for subsequent rotations. Unseeded fallow land management has also been related to increased susceptibility to soil erosion. In order to quantify the effects CAP reform policies have had on erosion rates, land changes from 1991 to 1998 were used to calculate annual rates of erosion susceptibility using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) in a geographic information systems (GIS) environment within a study watershed. Additional land use scenarios were simulated to estimate the effects fallow land modification would have on erosion risk. The results show the increase in unseeded fallow land management, due to the 1992 EU policy, led to an increase in the amount of land in high erosion risk categories. Although the increase in set-aside land due to the CAP has resulted in less area vulnerable to soil erosion in some regions of Europe, the agricultural regions of central Spain have experienced the opposite.

Mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ) in the Maya Lowlands: Implications for Past Land Use and Environmental Change?

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in the Maya Lowlands:Implications for Past Land Use and Environmental Change? Michael K. Steinberg Introduction The levels of influence that ancient farmers and their agricultural strategies had on the species' composition of present-day tropical forests have been a source of debate and sometimes contention among academics (Alcorn 1981; Puleston 1982; Lambert and Arnason 1982; Gomes-Pompa et al. 1987; Denevan 1992a; Peters 2000). While some studies claim that the presence of certain species today represent a direct link to the past and an indication of their ancient importance (Puleston 1982; Gomez-Pompa et al. 1987), other research has shown that ecological, not cultural factors determine today's tropical forest species' composition (Lambert and Arnason 1982). Both perspectives reign true in individual situations. Ancient agroforestry practices no doubt contributed to the composition and structure of today's forests (Alcorn 1981), but the ecology of each species also played a role regarding the presence of certain species as well. Even when a certain species was widely cultivated in the past, if that species was then not able to adapt to and compete in the successional process that ensues as fields are abandoned, it is unlikely to be present in today's tropical forests. For example, disturbance dependent and early successional wild species (often found in abandoned milpas) such as cecropia (Cecropia palmata) fall out of the forest community as canopies develop and close. Moreover, in some places dramatic environmental changes such as sea level changes along the coast precluded the continuity of ancient species (McKillop 1995). This discussion paper comments on what the presence of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in recent and modern southern Maya forests (the Peten, Mexico, Honduras, and Belize), indicates about past land use practices. In doing so, this paper contributes to the long running debate regarding land uses in the Maya lowlands during the Classic (AD 250-900) and Post Classic Period (AD 900-1500) – whether it was swidden, intensive agriculture, or a combination of both (Dunning and Beach 2000). I argue, in fact, that the presence of mahogany provides evidence that both land use strategies were employed simultaneously. While it is impossible to state with precision how abundant mahogany was at any time in the past - before, during, or after the Maya Classic - we can generally assume, based on the number of trees logged in the 18th and 19th Centuries, that at least the conditions were right during and after the Maya collapse for the mahogany to establish itself in great numbers. Logging records that were kept in places such as British Honduras indicate that the mahogany was a relatively common species, making its harvest a very lucrative endeavor (Camille 2000). [End Page 127] The Presence of Mahogany in the Modern Maya Lowlands Mahogany has been for several centuries and continues to be the most prized timber species in the American tropics, at times accounting for a large percentage of overall export income in certain tropical countries. In Belize for example, mahogany became the leading export in late 1700s and remained so until the middle 1900s, making up "over 70 percent of the annual export value of all of the colony's domestic goods" at the high point in its exploitation (Camille 2000:108). Mahogany exports peaked at 15 million square feet in 1930, but have declined since then as stocks have been exhausted (Camille 2000). Similarly, mahogany has been commercially logged for over 400 years in Mexico and Honduras (Snook 1996). Given past harvesting rates, today, mahogany is largely logged out of most of the Maya forests (Turner et al. 2001; Klepeis 2004). However, a few very old individuals can be found in more rugged areas within the Maya lowlands. Although mahogany, like most tropical tree species, does not dominate the overall community composition in late successional forests, its presence was substantial enough so that large of amounts of timber were logged from the Maya lowlands (Snook 1998). Mahogany was so abundant in the past that it is often listed as a common indicator species for lowland tropical evergreen rainforest and seasonal forest (Greller 2000). In order for mahogany to be present in old growth forests in the Maya lowlands...

Analyzing the effects of complete tropical forest removal on the regional climate using a detailed three‐dimensional energy budget: An application to Africa

Previous studies have indicated how tropical deforestation can have a significant influence on regional and global climate through altered biophysical exchanges of water, energy, and momentum at the land‐atmosphere boundary. However, the mechanisms for translating a surface forcing to changes in the atmospheric thermodynamics and circulation have not received as much attention. Here we present a new moist static energy budget method for examining the regional atmospheric response to removal of tropical forests and how land surface forcing is propagated into the atmosphere. A detailed three‐dimensional grid cell energy budget approach is used within a coupled atmosphere‐biosphere model (Community Climate Model, Version 3–Integrated Biosphere Simulator (CCM3‐IBIS)) to identify how land surface forcing affects the regional climate through the vertical and horizontal movement of moist static energy. This approach allows us to clearly identify where the moist static energy budget changes, which mechanisms are responsible for the changes, and how energy moves to adjacent areas and affects rainfall. Generally, replacement of the tropical forests with bare soil in the model leads to decreased rainfall in the tropics due to regional drying, while enhanced rainfall occurs in the subtropics associated with strengthened monsoon winds importing more moisture. Interesting regional complexities emerge, notably in tropical Africa. There, removal of the forests leads to lower rainfall near the coast but enhanced rainfall in central tropical Africa. This approach provides a useful diagnostic tool for examining the implications of land use and land cover change on the regional and global atmospheric thermodynamics and circulation.

Watershed protection for a world city: the case of New York

New York City's water supply system provides 5 billion liters/day to 9 million people from unfiltered surface sources. Since the early 1990s, the city has avoided federal requirements to filter its drinking water for public health purposes. Filtration avoidance stems from an unprecedented experiment in watershed management that has significant effects on land use in rural source regions. This article examines the historic transformation of the institutional apparatus of New York's water supply system and the land-use implications of its watershed protection program. Emphasis is placed on the multiple stakeholders who negotiate disparate interests concerning water supply, economic development, and environmental stewardship.

Hydrogeochemistry in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, and implications for land use in a World Heritage Site

The chemistry of surface and ground waters in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, home to thousands of large mammals and a World Heritage Site, is controlled by the volcanic host rock lithology, evaporative concentration, mineral precipitation and redissoluton, and biological factors. Three groups of waters are informally differentiated based on their ranges of concentration: (1) dilute inflow (meteoric runoff and springs from short flowpaths: pH<8, Cl −<10 mg/l); (2) concentrated inflow (concentrated runoff and springs from long flowpaths: pH=8–9, Cl −=10–100 mg/l); and (3) brackish waters (pools and Lake Makat: pH>9, Cl −>100 mg/l). Evaporative concentration and biological activity in swamps commonly produce strong geochemical gradients between dilute sources and peripheral concentrated ephemeral wetlands. Dilute inflow is found in the Lerai, Munge, and Oljoro Nyuki streams, and several large springs near the Crater wall such as Ngoitokitok and Seneto. Concentrated inflow is found in downstream reaches of the Munge stream, discharging from springs away from the Crater wall such as Engitati and Mti Moja, and in dry-season pools. Brackish waters are found discharging from springs on the southern margin of Lake Makat, in mudflats surrounding marshes, in ephemeral pools, and in the lake itself. Although few hydrologic data are available, the persistence of relatively fresh water in vegetated wetlands is consistent with lower sedge-dominated wetland evapotranspiration rates compared with open water. This suggests that wetlands may play an important role in ensuring fresh water availability in the basin, and it demonstrates the need for future hydrologic study. Most of the Ngorongoro waters originate as rainfall outside the Crater, and travel into the basin as surface or ground water flow, emphasizing the need for a watershed-scale approach to land management.

Growing Food in Cities: the Implications for Land-Use Policy

There has been much social, political and academic debate about the growing of food in recent years. These debates have been mirrored by a surge of academic interest concerning the ability of cities to produce enough food to feed their inhabitants. To date, research has tended to bypass or perhaps even ignore food that is grown within urban areas and the land-use policy implications of such activities. The purpose of this article is to explore the implications of this oversight. Having discussed this neglect, international examples are used to illustrate the nature of the relationship between land-use policy and urban agriculture. The article proceeds to detail the findings of an Economic and Social Research Council-funded research study investigating land-use policy and urban agriculture in the UK. This is primarily concerned with detailing the attitudes to and knowledge of urban food production of land-use officials, and an examination of the land-use regulatory framework utilized for urban food production. In conclusion, the article utilizes the evidence presented to demonstrate that, whilst urban agriculture is extensively practised, the urban land-use policy implications of urban agriculture deserve more attention by both land-use officials and researchers than has hitherto been the case.

LINKING FLORISTIC PATTERNS WITH SOIL HETEROGENEITY AND SATELLITE IMAGERY IN ECUADORIAN AMAZONIA

Florisitic ground surveys in tropical rain forests are laborious and time consuming, so we tested to what degree reflectance differences visible in Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite images can be used to predict differences in florisitic composition and species richness among rain forest sites. To gain ecological understanding of the rain forest ecosystem, we also tested to what extent variation in these vegetation characteristics can be explained by edaphic site conditions. The study was conducted in a relatively homogeneous area of Amazonian rain forest in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador. We established 27 transects of 5 m × 500 m within an area of ∼20 km × 25 km to study edaphic and floristic patterns mainly within the tierra firme (non-inundated) forest. In each transect, soil samples were collected for chemical and textural analyses, and the abundance of each species belonging to two understory plant groups, pteridophytes (ferns and fern allies) and the Melastomataceae, was assessed. Floristic similarity between transect pairs varied widely and ranged from almost no overlap in species composition to very high overlap. The among-transect floristic similarity patterns of the two plant groups were strongly correlated with each other no matter whether presence–absence or abundance data were used. The floristic similarity patterns were also strongly correlated with the similarity in pixel values of the infrared bands in the Landsat TM satellite image and with the similarity in most of the measured soil variables. Similarity in species richness, on the contrary, was neither correlated with similarity in pixel values nor with similarity in most of the soil variables. We conclude that reflectance patterns in satellite images can be efficiently used to predict landscape-scale floristic and edaphic patterns in tierra firme rain forest. Predicting patterns in species richness, on the other hand, is not possible in the same straightforward manner. These results have important practical implications for land use and conservation planning as well as for ecological and biodiversity research. Corresponding Editor: C. A. Wessman.

Evaluation of Accessibility Impacts of Land-Use Scenarios: The Implications of Job Competition, Land-Use, and Infrastructure Developments for the Netherlands

Activity-based accessibility measures, describing the level of access to spatially distributed activities, are not put to the same use in land use and/or transport policy evaluations as are infrastructure-based accessibility measures, which describe congestion levels or the average speed on the motorway network. In this paper we attempt to improve the current evaluation practice by the application of potential, activity-based, accessibility measures for the analysis of job accessibility, using existing traditional land-use and transport data and/or models. We try to improve the interpretability of the results by estimating the separate influence of land-use changes, infrastructure projects, and congestion on the development of job accessibility. A case study of the Netherlands shows the importance of incorporating job competition and the match between educational and job levels in the analysis of job accessibility.

Potential carbon mitigation and income in developing countries from changes in use and management of agricultural and forest lands.

The many opportunities for mitigating atmospheric carbon emissions in developing countries include reforesting degraded lands, implementing sustainable agricultural practices on existing lands and slowing tropical deforestation. This analysis shows that over the next 10 years, 48 major tropical and subtropical developing countries have the potential to reduce the atmospheric carbon burden by about 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon. Given a central price of $10 per tonne of carbon and a discount rate of 3%, this mitigation would generate a net present value of about $16.8 billion collectively for these countries. Achieving these potentials would require a significant global effort, covering more than 50 million hectares of land, to implement carbon-friendly practices in agriculture, forest and previously forested lands. These estimates of host-country income potentials do not consider that outside financial investment may or may not be available. Our calculations take no account of the additional benefits of carbon sequestration in forest soils undergoing reforestation, increased use of biomass and reduced use of fossil-fuel inputs and reduced agricultural emissions. In all events, realizing these incomes would necessitate substantially greater policy support and investment in sustainable land uses than is currently the case.

Planning for Urban Food: The Experience of Two UK Cities

Despite a surge of interest in all things related to food production and consumption, with a few exceptions, there has been a noticeable silence from planning researchers and practitioners concerning the land-use implications of urban food-growing actvities. Consideration of this and the factors detailed above prompted the following question—what are the implications of urban agriculture initiatives for the UK planning system? In attempting to answer this question this paper sets out to explore the nature of the relationship between urban agriculture and planning. This paper initially highlights the rise in interest in food issues; it then considers why urban food production should be considered within the remit of planning before detailing two case studies in an attempt to further unpack this relationship. Following a discussion of the research Ž ndings, the penultimate section attempts to make suggestions about how planning can contribute to urban agriculture. There has been much social and political debate about growing food in recent years (Shaw, 1999). This debate has been mirrored by a surge of academic interest in food. The UK-government-funded Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) ‘The Nation’s Diet’ programme (1992–1997) illustrates the growing concern with social aspects of food choice, the results of which are reported in Murcott’s edited collection (Murcott, 1998). Indeed, the emerging international engagement by academics with issues of food is re ected in a number of key texts (see, for example, Mennell et al., 1992; Lupman & Chapman, 1995; Lupton, 1996; Beardsworth & Keil, 1997; Keane, 1997; Macintyre et al., 1998). However, much of this research has tended to focus on rural agriculture, bypassing or perhaps even ignoring food that is grown within urban areas. Urban food production is central to the existence of many poorer cities across the globe (Ellis & Sunberg, 1998; Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 1998; Tewari, 2000; Bakker et al., 2001). It is only recently, however, that the richer industrial nations of the world have begun to consider the possibilities of urban agriculture and its potential beneŽ ts to relevant policy makers (Garnett,

Developing Land Use Policy for Environmental Objectives: Some Perspectives from the Rangeways Project in the Western Australian Goldfields

A decade ago, a national decline in the pastoral wool industry and increasing demand for other land uses made a rethink on land allocation, management and access in Australia's rangelands essential. Market forces were inadequate for achieving necessary structural adjustment and land values were based purely on perceived pastoral potential. Growing support for other land uses and other environmental and social values were not recognised by the market. As well, regional communities wanted greater involvement in decision-making about their future. The Rangeways project was established in 1995 to research ways of identifying and reconciling opportunities for different land uses within the framework of community-based regional planning and Ecologically Sustainable Development policy. Key outputs were to be processes, rather than a specific land use plan. At the end of the research phase in 2000, the project had successfully initiated community-based land use planning at a regional scale, but it remained a step along the way. This article summarises the project's breadth of activities and then focuses particularly on the economic and policy implications for land use.