Increasing Land Use Research Articles

Economic and Agronomic Impacts of Agrivoltaics on Arable Land Use at the Example of the Stuttgart Region

Photovoltaics and wind energy must be considerably expanded to achieve the targeted climate neutrality in Germany in 2045 which may cause new conflicts. Especially ground-mounted photovoltaic systems, which are often associated with a high land consumption rate, conflict with other land uses such as agriculture. Due to the simultaneous electricity generation and agricultural use, agrivoltaics (AV) systems can increase land use efficiency which is why they are in the political focus. In this study, we go beyond the limited point-wise analyses of previous studies which have focused mainly on the technology itself and potential yield changes of individual crops and provide a spatially explicit analysis of the AV potential. This is done by an in-depth analysis on the example of arable land in the Stuttgart Region, one of the most important conurbations in Germany and Europe. The study focusses on the resulting agronomic effects in the region and the associated agro-economic effects. The analysis is carried out with an integrated land use model that optimises arable land use by maximising gross margins at the farm level. Legal framework conditions such as the regional plan are considered constraints, and existing studies on yield effects under AV are used. The results show that there are synergies through increases in the agricultural gross margins. These synergies could be realized on about 3% of arable land in the study region subject to the underlying assumptions made. With more than 10% of the arable land in the study region used for AV, the average gross margins in arable farming decrease by about 280 € per ha of AV. Farms or areas with a high share of special crops, such as strawberries, demonstrate the highest profitability. On the other hand, regions with a high share of root crops in the crop rotation seem to be less favourable to establish AV. This demonstrates that, the agricultural land use structure must be considered in the holistic assessment of the land use efficiency of AV installations. Our results help policymakers better assess the effects of AV on land use and are useful for identifying priority implementation areas, for instance, in regional or land use plans.

Post Wildfire Vegetation Response to the Wildland-Urban Interface: A Case Study of the Station Fire

In the past, wildfires served as a method for mother nature to promote biodiversity and to help maintain a functioning ecosystem. However, climate change alters the fire regime, significantly impacting vegetation recovery. Human disturbances and increased land use and land cover heighten vegetation disruption and abundance after a fire. Wildland-urban interface (WUI) – the region where the vegetation intermingles with the roads, houses, and human-made structures – threatens vegetation and the human population. Overall vegetation recovery after the Station Fire of 2009 spread through the San Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County was observed using Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Normalized Difference Burn Ratio (nDBR) spectral indices. In addition, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) images were used to measure aboveground biomass (AGB). The study analyzed vegetation biomass recovery by comparing human disturbances and the level of fire severity within the Station Fire perimeter. Low and moderate fire severity were compared in detail against WUI and non-WUI regions by quantifying the amount of biomass in the specified regions. Linear regression model results showed vegetation recovery rates were slower in WUI regions than in non-WUI regions despite having similar regeneration patterns while AGB rebound was similar across both region categories.

Environmental Effects on Bee Microbiota.

Anthropogenic activities and increased land use, which include industrialization, agriculture and urbanization, directly affect pollinators by changing habitats and floral availability, and indirectly by influencing their microbial composition and diversity. Bees form vital symbioses with their microbiota, relying on microorganisms to perform physiological functions and aid in immunity. As altered environments and climate threaten bees and their microbiota, characterizing the microbiome and its complex relationships with its host offers insights into understanding bee health. This review summarizes the role of sociality in microbiota establishment, as well as examines if such factors result in increased susceptibility to altered microbiota due to environmental changes. We characterize the role of geographic distribution, temperature, precipitation, floral resources, agriculture, and urbanization on bee microbiota. Bee microbiota are affected by altered surroundings regardless of sociality. Solitary bees that predominantly acquire their microbiota through the environment are particularly sensitive to such effects. However, the microbiota of obligately eusocial bees are also impacted by environmental changes despite typically well conserved and socially inherited microbiota. We provide an overview of the role of microbiota in plant-pollinator relationships and how bee microbiota play a larger role in urban ecology, offering microbial connections between animals, humans, and the environment. Understanding bee microbiota presents opportunities for sustainable land use restoration and aiding in wildlife conservation.

Impact of land use compactness on the habitat services from green infrastructure in Wuhan, China

As an important carrier of biodiversity, green infrastructure (GI) is significantly affected by changes in urban land use in the process of urbanization. In this study, habitat services from GI were used to represent biodiversity support services, and geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing and statistical analysis were combined to analyze the changes in urban land use compactness and GI habitat services in Wuhan in 2005, 2013 and 2018. Seven indices for land use compactness mainly covering three aspects (land use morphology, land use intensity and land function layout) were selected to explore the correlation and regression relationships between urban land use compactness and habitat services on a grid scale. The results show that: i) The urban land use in Wuhan presents a compact development trend except for the degree of integration; and habitat services decrease along with increasing land use compactness. ii) Relative to land use morphology and land function layout, land use intensity is a more prominent factor affecting habitat services, with construction land density and residential land density always being significant indicators for the habitat pattern. iii) Urban areas with different degrees of land use compactness tend to have different indices that affect the habitat services. Therefore, differential urban development strategies should be formulated based on the regional characteristics of land use compactness levels, so as to coordinate urban compact land use and biodiversity conservation.

A Connectivity Approach to Agricultural Diffuse Pollution in Tropical Montane Catchments Dominated by Swidden Landscapes

Shifting cultivation is widely practiced in many tropical mountainous watersheds. Agricultural practices are changing with the intensification of activities and the development of industrial monocultures associated with increasing land use and the use of pesticides and fertilisers. These changes have consequences for the evolution of sediment transfers in watersheds, resulting in new vulnerabilities for the inhabitants. This article shows the evolution of structural connectivity over 5 years in the village of Houaylack-Vangven, located in northern Laos, and its potential links with agricultural diffuse pollution. To develop a structural source-to-sink model to understand sediment transfers, our method was based on open-access data and various geographical tools. Field surveys were conducted to identify areas vulnerable to erosion and sediment transfers. The sources and sinks were then located using remote sensing techniques and image interpretation to then characterise connectivity rates. Finally, the relationship between the sources and sinks was analysed by graph theory to explore the potentialities for assessing the connectivity and exposure of sediment sinks. The main results are twofold: sinks coincide with areas at risk of contamination by pesticides and fertilisers, and the structural connectivity increases with the increasing of the source surfaces (swidden plots) due to the ongoing agricultural transition.

Performance assessment of the integration of semitransparent solar cells with different geometry of greenhouses under different climate regions

A lack of resources and suitable farming lands, climate change, and a rapidly growing population are some of the main concerns of the societies that pose security challenges to the governments. Creating controlled environments for cultivation, growing plants, and farming, such as greenhouses, may assist in overcoming these challenges. Greenhouses can significantly increase land use efficiency in agriculture by increasing crop yield and harvesting throughout the year, which has long been proven effective. The history of greenhouses for farming dates back to Roman times, and there are different barriers to their applications. An example is the provision of energy to control the cultivation conditions of plants in greenhouses, particularly for heating and cooling hot and cold climate areas. On the other hand, based on the global energy trend, decentralized energy production based on solar energy is highly regarded. In the same way, that households can harvest solar energy, greenhouses can also benefit from solar energy. However, because greenhouses need sunlight to cultivate plants, reducing sunlight using common photovoltaic panels is not logical. By incorporating semitransparent solar cells into these greenhouses, the issue of reduced sunlight could be addressed, and further efficiency gains could be achieved by reducing energy demand in these greenhouses. This research investigates the energy supply system's integration with greenhouses consumption. First, we assess different conventional types of greenhouses in terms of energy demand. Then, we investigate the energy demand with organic photovoltaic (OPV) integration for each type. Finally, the best design of the greenhouse for OPV integration is recommended. Results show that flat arch geometry is the best choice for dry and cold climates, while sawtooth geometry showed better improvements in tropical climates. In both temperate/mesothermal and continental/microthermal climates, A-frame geometry showed superiority in energy saving. Simulations revealed an annual electricity generation for a unit floor area of the greenhouses to be 173.7 kWh/m2 to 247.9 MWh/m2 for the optimum structural geometries that decrease the energy consumption of greenhouses. Additionally, the results show that the installation of the OPV can decrease energy consumption from 15 to 58% based on the greenhouse's location and structural geometry.

Uncovering the spatiotemporal impacts of built environment on traffic carbon emissions using multi-source big data

Understanding and predicting urban traffic carbon emissions constitute an urgent agenda in research and policy decision-making. Since the exhausted emissions vary in time and different urban settings, assessing the spatiotemporal distribution of carbon emissions is fundamentally important for land use planning. This paper attempts to identify the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the impacts of land use and built environment on urban traffic carbon emissions. A spatial standard deviational ellipse (SDE) model and a geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model were developed to explore the spatiotemporal dependency of traffic carbon emissions on land use and built environment factors and applied to the core urban zones of Dalian, China. Results show the center of gravity of traffic carbon emissions have a footprint characterized by a shift to the southeast first and then to the northwest, with weekday and weekend performance being consistent. Compared to other periods, emissions are spatially agglomerated during internal hours (9:00–15:59), especially during weekdays. Land use and built environment factors affect carbon emissions differently across space and time whereas the effects of residential population density, employment density, medical, road network density on weekdays are larger than that on weekends. Furthermore, we found that increasing land use mix leads to a greater negative impact on weekday emissions. This supplements the important role of mixed land use planning in decarbonization. Based on the findings, we propose various policy interventions to support the development of carbon neutral cities.

Long-term maize and pea intercropping improved subsoil carbon storage while reduced greenhouse gas emissions

Intercropping cereals with legumes is considered a promising option for improving productivity and sustaining soil health. However, the long-term effects of cereal and legume intercropping on soil carbon (C) storage and the physicochemical properties of soil profiles remain elusive. In the present study, an 11-year long-term field experiment was carried out on maize monoculture with zero (control) and conventional 375 kg ha−1 nitrogen (N) application rates (N375), as well as on pea and maize intercropping with zero N (Ps) and a 20% reduction in conventional N (PsN300). The crop yield was obtained each year. The cumulative changes in organic C, bulk density, and other physicochemical properties of the top 20 cm of soil at the beginning and end of the experiment, as well as their spatial changes along the 1 m soil profile at the end, were closely investigated. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated based on reported emission factors. Pea and maize intercropping under reduced fertilizer N application maintained maize growth and grain yield and increased land use efficiency (land equivalent ratio 1.1) relative to monoculture with farmers’ N inputs. After an 11-year intercropping, soil organic C concentrations increased by 6.7–12.4% in the top 0–20 cm layer and organic C stocks increased by 8.3–17.9%, and bulk density decreased by 6.4–14.2%. Intercropped soils with optimal N application (PsN300) sequestrated 14.8% more organic C in the 0–100 cm soil profile, particularly at depths of 40 cm and below, and the bulk density decreased by 7.0% on average compared with the monoculture with farmers’ N practices. Such intercropping benefits for soil organic C storage and physical properties in the 1-m profile were associated with greater soil microbial biomass C and N and dissolved organic C and N in the profile. Meanwhile, compared to farmers’ N and monoculture, intercropping under reduced N fertilizer application substantially decreased nitrate residues by 30.8% and GHG emissions by 17.8% per hectare or by 15.4% per ton grain yield, which was attributed to less N input, and downregulated enzyme activities involved in soil denitrification. Overall, this study showed that intercropping peas and maize with reduced N inputs is an environmentally sound strategy that improves soil physical quality and enhances deep C storage while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Intercropping chickpea–flax for yield and disease management

AbstractAscochyta blight (caused by Ascochyta rabiei) is a primary concern of chickpea production worldwide. Intercropping chickpea with a non‐host crop has the potential to suppress this disease and improve resource use efficiency for enhanced crop yield. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of seeding rate and row configuration of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)–flax (Linum usitatissimum L) intercropping on (1) yield and seed quality, (2) disease incidence and severity of Ascochyta blight of chickpea, and (3) land productivity of this intercropping system. Field trials were conducted at the Eastern Agricultural Research Center, Sidney, MT, and the Southern Agricultural Research Center, Huntley, MT, in 2020 and 2021. Chickpea was planted with flax in four intercropping configurations (70% chickpea–30% flax in mixed rows, 50% chickpea–50% flax in alternate rows, 50% chickpea–50% flax in mixed rows, and 30% chickpea–70% flax in mixed rows). Chickpea yield decreased with increased flax proportion in the mixed rows intercrop. Flax displayed higher competitiveness than chickpea, resulting in decreased yield and protein concentration in chickpea but increased yield and protein content in flax. Land equivalent ratio of intercropping was greater than one, showing improved land productivity (2%–23% greater than monocropping). Intercropping reduced Ascochyta blight disease incidence and severity; the 50% chickpea–50% flax and 30% chickpea–70% flax intercropping configurations could reduce the disease severity to 50% (in Huntley) and 67% (in Sidney) of that in the monocropping. These results indicated that seed ratio and planting configurations of chickpea–flax intercropping may be manipulated to increase land use efficiency and reduce Ascochyta blight in chickpea. Canadian Development Center ‘CDC Leader’ yielded greater than Royal in the higher disease pressure environment in Huntley indicated that selection of disease resistant cultivars is important for managing Ascochyta blight in chickpea.

ASSESING THE RESIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF CURED AND UNCURED POULTRY DROPPING ON AMARANTH (AMARANTHUS VIRIDIS L.) PRODUCTION AND SOIL QUALITY

Addition of poultry Manure (PM) to a piece of land at a given rate has been speculated to enhance Amaranth yield, increase land-use and improve soil quality. To address this speculation, the residual effects of Cured Poultry Dropping (CPD) and uncured Poultry Dropping (UPD) at different rate of application (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N/ha) were evaluated on Amaranth (Amaranthus viridis) production during two growing seasons at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ibadan. The effects of CPD and UPD on the yield of Amaranth and some post cropping soil properties were assessed. 150 kg N ha-1 UCP had higher fresh and dry biomass yield (12.14 t/ha and 1.94 t/ha) in dry season, while 100 kg N ha-1 CPD gave better yield (19.6 t/ha and 3.98 t/ha) at wet season. The post soil chemical properties showed that 150 kg N ha-1 CPD by standard deviation increased the organic carbon (43.1 g/kg), nitrogen (9.4 g/kg), phosphorus (55 mg/kg), and Calcium (9.5 Cmol/kg) content at dry season. While100 kg N ha-1 CPD increased the nitrogen (9.6 g/kg), organic carbon (36.1 g/kg), phosphorus (56 mg/kg) content at wet season. Although, there was significant difference amongst the rates of application in terms of yield at dry season, CPD still left the soil in better condition for subsequent cropping.

Integrating Agrivoltaic Systems into Local Industries: A Case Study and Economic Analysis of Rural Japan

The growing number of photovoltaic installations has created competition in land use between the need for electricity and food. Agrivoltaic systems (AVSs) can help solve this problem by increasing land use efficiency through the co-production of electricity and food. However, in Japan, where more than 2000 AVSs have been installed, some undesirable AVS cases have led to new problems. In this study, we developed an AVS installation model that is compatible with a regional society and limits the scale of AVS installation to a low-risk level. AVS projects have also entered local industrial clusters and stimulated the local economy. In this study, we used public information and geographic information systems to ensure quantifiability and applicability. The results revealed that the rural area targeted in this study had an AVS generation potential of 215% (equal to 17.8 GWh) of the region’s annual electricity consumption and an economic ripple effect of 108.9% (EUR 47.8 million) of the region’s gross regional product. Furthermore, the levelized cost of electricity was estimated to be 14.94–25.54 Euro cents/kWh under secure settings. This study provides solutions to food, economic, and energy problems in rural areas by promoting the installation of AVSs.

Legal Policy Towards The Transfer Of Function Of Agricultural Land In Ngawi District

Increased land use change is correlated with population growth in a given location. The process of changing the use of agricultural land from agriculture to other uses on some or all of the land area is known as conversion of agricultural land, and it typically has a negative influence on the environment and the potential of the land. The government needs to address the major issue of the change of agricultural land uses, particularly paddy fields to non-agricultural areas. The aim of this study is to ascertain the extent of land conversion in Ngawi Regency and the relationship between the phenomena of land conversion and the use of local laws there. An method known as descriptive qualitative is used in this investigation. Through the finding and narrative presentation of data, we shall interpret phenomena in this study. A conclusion that can be drawn from the research is that agricultural land in Ngawi Regency deteriorates year after year. This results from the development of communities, toll highways, and industrial areas on formerly agricultural territory. In Ngawi Regency, the execution of law enforcement in relation to land use changes has not been done adequately.

IMPACT OF LEGUMES AND CEREALS ON OLIVE PRODUCTIVITY IN THE SOUTH MEDITERRANEAN

Intercropping of trees with crops on the same piece of land at a given time has been hypothesized to: enhance crop yield, increase land-use and improve land equivalent ratio (LER). To address this hypothesis, we evaluated two legumes faba bean, lentil and three cereals durum wheat, soft wheat and barley grown in olive (Olea europea) agroforestry during two growing seasons (Y) with contrasting weather (Y1: 2015-2016 and Y2: 2016-2017) under a Mediterranean climate of north western Morocco. We assessed the effect of annual crops on olive growth and yield; the effect of trees on annual crop growth, yield components, and final yields; finally, we calculated the land equivalent ratio (LER) of olive agroforestry to assess the productivity of the associations. Legumes had no effect on olive growth and yield, while cereals negatively affected shoot elongation and olive yield compared to olive in sole crop. Olive limited crop growth and yield of all associated crops and yield reduction was around 33 % for legumes and 47 % for cereals in agroforestry than sole crop. The magnitude of reduction was higher in Y1 than Y2. Similar responses were found when comparing crops at different distances from trees. Annual crops generally had lower biomass and yield, near the trees compared to the middle of tree inter-rows, causing significant spatial heterogeneity in crops. The LER reached 1.36 with lentil and 1.33 with faba bean, the lowest LER was recorded with durum wheat in both years with 1.01 in Y1 and 1.02 in Y2, and the highest LER with cereals was registered with soft wheat and reached 1.19 in Y1.

Legal Policy on the Conversion of Agricultural Land Functions in Ngawi Regency

Increased land use change is correlated with population growth in a given location. The process of changing the use of agricultural land from agriculture to other uses on some or all of the land area is known as conversion of agricultural land, and it typically has a negative influence on the environment and the potential of the land. The government needs to address the major issue of the change of agricultural land uses, particularly paddy fields to non-agricultural areas. The aim of this study is to ascertain the extent of land conversion in Ngawi Regency and the relationship between the phenomena of land conversion and the use of local laws there.An method known as descriptive qualitative is used in this investigation. Through the finding and narrative presentation of data, we shall interpret phenomena in this study. A conclusion that can be drawn from the research is that agricultural land in Ngawi Regency deteriorates year after year. This results from the development of communities, toll highways, and industrial areas on formerly agricultural territory. In Ngawi Regency, the execution of law enforcement in relation to land use changes has not been done adequately

Path analysis and mediating effects of influencing factors of land use carbon emissions in Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration

Land use carbon emission is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases. In order to achieve carbon reduction, it is crucial to clarify the pathways of land use carbon emission influencing factors. The article takes Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration as the study area, combines the land use remote sensing data and energy consumption statistics from 1995 to 2018, and uses the STIRPAT extended model to identify the economic, population, energy, technology, policy, land and opening-up level as the latent variables affecting the land use carbon emission in the study area, to establish PLS-SEM to explore the influence of latent variables on dependent variables and the interaction between latent variables. The results show that the seven selected latent variables had good explanatory power on land use carbon emission with R2 reaching 0.983. Economy, population, energy and land — the latent variables in this study — can directly influence land use carbon emission. This study found that land was the most important factor in increasing land use carbon emissions, with a path coefficient of 1.471, while economy played a negative role, with a path coefficient of −1.401. Latent variables other than energy and land all had mediating effects on the dependent variable or the remaining latent variables directly or indirectly. Indirect effects included complete mediation and partial mediation. For example, technology and opening-up level cannot directly influence the dependent variable, but can have a completely indirect effect by affecting energy (complete mediation). The fitness and superiority of the model developed in this paper were extremely high, with values of 0.067 and 0.846 for SRMR and GOF, respectively. This study helps to clarify the influence paths of land use carbon emission and figuratively depicts the path direction and degree of influence among influencing factors, which will help Chang-Zhu-Tan urban agglomeration achieve carbon emission reduction.

Effects of China’s land-intensive use on carbon emission reduction: A new perspective of industrial structure upgrading

The rapid and disorderly expansion of urban construction land has resulted in massive carbon emissions, intensifying the contradiction between land use and low-carbon development. As an essential tool to increase land use efficiency, whether land-intensive use can balance economic and environmental benefits has emerged as a topical issue. This paper investigates the influence of land-intensive use on carbon emissions and its role mechanism under the perspective of industrial structure upgrading by using a two-way fixed-effects model with provincial panel data from 2008 to 2020 in China. The statistical results reveal that land-intensive use not only reduces carbon emissions but also boosts carbon emission efficiency, which achieves carbon emission reduction from both quantity and quality aspects. The carbon emission reduction effect of land-intensive use is mainly manifested in energy, capital, science, and education factors of land-intensive use. The carbon emission reduction benefits obtained through land-intensive use are more noticeable in regions with higher economic development levels. Land-intensive utilization is mainly responsible for carbon emission reduction through promoting industrial structure advanced quality. Our findings suggest that policy makers shall expedite land intensive use development, appropriately synchronize land use levels across regions, and adequately leverage the role mechanisms of advanced industrial structure as a potent measure to promote carbon emission reduction.

Land use intensification alters the relative contributions of plant functional diversity and soil properties on grassland productivity.

Understanding the mechanisms of grassland productivity variation is critical for global carbon cycling and climate change mitigation. Heretofore, it is unknown how different environmental factors drive small-scale spatial variation in productivity, and whether land use intensification, one of the most important global changes, can regulate the processes that drive productivity change. Here we performed an 18-year exclosure experiment across six sites with high-intensity mowing/grazing history in northern China to examine the effects of land use intensification on plant functional diversity, soil properties, and their relative contributions to above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP). We found that plant functional diversity and soil properties contributed to the variation in ANPP both independently and equally in enclosed grasslands (plant diversity: 20.6%; soil properties: 19.5%). Intensive land use significantly decreased the Rao's quadratic entropy (RaoQ) and community-weighted mean value (CWM) of plant height, and further suppressed the contributions of plant functional diversity to ANPP. In contrast, intensive land use increased soil available N, P, pH, electrical conductivity, and homogeneity of soil available P, and strengthened their contributions to ANPP (31.5%). Our results indicate that high-intensity land use practices in grasslands decrease the role of plant functional diversity, but strengthen the effects of soil properties on productivity. We, therefore, suggest that plant functional diversity can be used effectively to boost productivity in undisturbed grasslands, while soil properties might be a more critical consideration for grassland management in an areas with increased land use.

Stadtregionen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Wohnungsfrage und Flächensparen. Trends, Strategien und Lösungsansätze in Kernstädten und ihrem Umland

Growing city regions are in between the poles of high land and housing prices and national land-saving targets. The mobilization of building land to create living space and the reduction of new land take represent a conflict of goals that can only be resolved by taking an integrated look at the instruments for meeting both challenges. In order to address this conflict analytically, a regional causal loop diagram is used to map the complex mechanisms of action between housing markets and new land use for housing in core cities and their hinterland and to use it as a theoretical framework. Using a mixed-methods approach, trends in residential development as well as municipal solution strategies in German city regions are investigated. The results show increasing land use efficiency in core cities and the dense hinterland, with simultaneous high, price-induced migration gains in the less dense hinterland, where single-family housing still dominates. It becomes evident that the questions about land saving in the hinterland and housing in core cities have to be considered mutually. The regional land take can only be minimized if affordable and attractive housing is provided in the core cities, especially for families. For this, a more consistent use of existing land policy instruments in combination with a regional commitment to higher densities, especially in the hinterland, is necessary.

Improved legume pastures increase economic value, resilience and sustainability of crop-livestock systems

CONTEXTWell-managed legume pastures play a crucial role in agricultural systems, contributing to strategies for the increasingly complex challenges of supplying meat and wool, improving soil fertility, increasing land use efficiency while minimising environmental impacts, and building system resilience. OBJECTIVEThis paper examines the potential for a range of improved annual legume pasture species to deliver multiple benefits such as extending the length of the growing the season and closing feed gaps, boosting crop yields and farm profits, and contributing to natural resource management. METHODSUsing MIDAS, a bioeconomic model of a crop-livestock farming system, we quantified the relative profitability and sustainability of five self-regenerating legume pasture scenarios − burr medic (Medicago polymorpha L.), bladder clover (Trifolium spumosum L.), French serradella (Ornithopus sativus L.), biserrula (Biserrula pelecinus L.) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) − against the baseline scenario of (mainly) subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) for the medium-rainfall region of Western Australia. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe modelling indicated that profit gains of more than 25% were possible by using an improved self-regenerating legume option when compared to a subterranean clover-based pasture system. This could be achieved through greater utilisation of land under pastures and higher stocking rates while still maintaining a major cropping program. The whole-farm economic benefits of improved legume pastures resulted from land use adjustments to sustain more profitable cropping and livestock enterprises, and benefits were small at low stocking rates. The combination of additional feed at the start of the season and slower loss of energy values at the end of the season in the improved pasture scenarios was an important profit driver for the livestock enterprise. Other benefits included projected savings in nitrogen fertiliser for crops in rotation with the pasture, greater sheep carrying capacity, improved efficiencies in supplementary feed and labour costs per animal, lower groundwater recharge, and improved farm business resilience overall. Pastures with higher nutritional value could lead to reduced net emissions per DSE if they allow ruminants to reach finishing weight faster or improve reproductive efficiency. SIGNIFICANCEThis whole-farm study expands previous work by comparing a broad range of annual legume pasture species developed for the soils and climatic conditions of Western Australia. The general principles behind changes in land use revealed by the MIDAS modelling have wide application beyond this Australian region, confirming the potential role of well-managed legume pastures for achieving sustainable intensification of agricultural systems, while offering sufficient flexibility for grazing systems to cope with climate variability.

Spatial correlation evolution and prediction scenario of land use carbon emissions in China

Carbon dioxide emissions are the main drivers of global warming and extreme weather disasters caused by global warming have posed a threat to sustainable development and even to human survival. Land use has an important impact on carbon emissions and carbon storage. This study quantified land use carbon emissions, constructed land use carbon emission grid, and simulated future land use patterns under different scenarios in China during 2000–2018. Land use carbon emissions were found to increase by 400.29% in this period and were higher in the northeast. We discerned obvious spatial correlations between land use carbon emissions in various provinces of China and thus, recommended stronger inter-provincial cooperation in China to achieve overall emission reduction in the country. The carbon emissions spatial correlation network revealed that regions with superior economic and geographical location were in the center of the network. Compared with the carbon emissions in 2018, the simulated natural development scenario and ecological protection scenario indicated that the China's land use carbon emissions decreased in 2030. Thus, the results indicate that the individual provincial governance mode overlooked the spatial correlation between land use carbon emissions across various provinces, due to which these carbon emissions were not effectively reduced. The study highlighted the importance of ecological land protection, which is significant for promoting sustainable land use, increasing land use carbon sink, and reducing carbon emissions.