Land Climate Research Articles

Preface: Land use and climate change impacts on erosion and sediment transport

Preface: Land use and climate change impacts on erosion and sediment transport

Developing Agricultural Land Geospatial Information in Supporting Regional Food Resilience

One of the major obstacles in increasing the agricultural production yields is the inappropriate management of land use due to the differences in land biophysical characteristics in each region. Therefore, it is necessary to have spatial-based land use management that is appropriate for handling agricultural land. This research aims at structuring geospatial information of agricultural land biophysical characteristics and agricultural land appropriateness (potential and limiter) for food plants development in Pangkep Regency. This research uses the up-to-date approach of multi-scale observation, so the problems becoming the restricting factors of productivity can immediately be overcome. The method used consists of 2 stages, namely stage 1, analysis of agricultural land (biophysical) climate and land characteristics through land survey, laboratory analysis, and land characteristic spatialization; stage 2, analysis of agricultural land appropriateness (potential and limiter) using land appropriateness method offuzzy set/FAO, satellite image information extraction, ground truth, and ground sampling. The results of the research are in the form of geospatial information on agricultural land biophysical characteristics and agricultural land appropriateness (potential and limiter) for food plants development in Pangkep Regency. With the information, decision makers will have more ease and they integrate into making policies for agricultural land use management in Pangkep Regency that will end up aiming to increase food production.

Implications of Climate Change to Niche Patterns of Rothschild’s Giraffe in Africa

The distribution of species is strongly influenced by habitat quality and its changes over time. Climate change has been identified as one of the major drivers of habitat loss, threatening the survival of many range-restricted animal species. Identification of spatiotemporal hotspots of species occurrence is important for understanding basic ecological processes particularly for the conservation of species at risk. This study models the spatiotemporal distribution of Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) with the view of explaining the possible effects of changing habitat suitability in Kenya and across Africa. The study analyzes the relative importance of different climatic variables and establishes the variables that are the strongest predictors of the species’ geographic range. We apply species distribution modelling to predict the species' response to future climate and land use change scenarios. Our model is based on occurrence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) for the period 1923-2019 and climatic data from the WorldClim. We fit the model using the Maximum Entropy (Maxent) algorithm to identify the combination of environmental responses, which best predicts evolving hotspots of occurrence for this species and future habitat suitability in face of climate change. The study demonstrates the usability of occurrence data over time on Rothschild’s giraffe and gives insights on the integration of land use variables to be able to link species distribution patterns, land use change and climate change to effectively inform conservation management.

Modelling Technique for Sediment Evaluation at Reservoir (South India)

In India, the availability of accurate information on runoff is scarce. However, in view of the quickening watershed management programme for conservation and development of natural resources, run off information plays a major role in managing water resources. Soil erosion is a hydrological process which affects the fertility of the top soil and reduces the agricultural potential of reservoirs in India. Excessive exploitation increases the susceptibility of the soil to fluvial and upland erosion, which is responsible for increasing the sediment transport and deposition into the reservoir. In the recent studies, advanced mathematical models are being used to predict the hydrological processes such as land use, sedimentation, weather changes and other geological aspects. The present work deals with the evaluation of sedimentation at Vaigai reservoir situated in Tamilnadu state, India. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model has been used in this work. The model is used to simulate the catchment area of Vaigai reservoir for quantity of water and sediment inflow to the reservoir. The comparison has been carried out for predicted and observed values. The calibrated model can be used for further analysis of land use changes, climate and water quality analysis. Moreover, the modelling can also be applied for planning of future dam construction and prediction of flood disaster and hence, their applications play a vital role in development activities of a country.

Effects of grazing pressure on plant species composition and water presence on bofedales in the Andes mountain range of Bolivia.

Bofedales are high-Andean peatland plant communities with high capacity for water retention, which are regarded as oases of biodiversity. These areas have great social and economic value for livestock grazing, which plays an important role in their vegetation dynamics. However, the effects of increased livestock pressure on vegetation composition and surface water have not yet been clarified. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of current grazing practices on bofedal vegetation, species diversity and function. Specifically, the study aimed to (1) quantify carrying capacity and stocking rate in grazed bofedales and (2) quantify the effects of grazing pressure on plant composition and the extents of bare soil and surface water. Biomass and stocking rate estimates for 25 bofedales along the Cordillera Real (Tropical Andes, Bolivia) showed that all bofedales were overgrazed (carrying capacity/stocking rate (CC/SR) <1). Regression analyses showed significant decreases in number of plant species, species dominance, diversity and percent surface water as CC/SR declined (p < 0.05). Bofedales are negatively affected by increased grazing pressure and potentially affected by changes in livestock species. These pressures, combined with land use changes and climate change, could result in long-term negative effects for the ecological functioning and sustainability of bofedale

Measurement uncertainty in stream nutrient uptake: Detecting land-use impacts on tropical streams

Abstract Stream nutrient uptake is an important ecosystem service, because it supplies human needs such as water purification. Uncertainty in nutrient uptake measurement determines, in combination with effect magnitude, whether effects of land use, stream restoration or climate change can be detected by this method. However, measurement uncertainty for nutrient uptake metrics is rarely reported. Here, we compared whole-stream phosphate and nitrate uptake among three pristine and three agricultural tropical Cerrado streams. We quantified uncertainty in uptake metrics estimated by kinetic nutrient-addition experiments and evaluated their potential to detect land-use effects. Ambient phosphate and nitrate uptake lengths (SW) ranged from 11 to 106 m and from 29 to 357 m, respectively, in pristine streams and from 41 to 586 m and from 76 to 1372 m in agricultural streams. Moderate measurement uncertainty in SW allowed for the detection of land-use impacts with this metric. However, derived nutrient uptake metrics, such as ambient uptake rates and uptake velocities, as well as parameters of whole-stream saturation kinetics, were associated with high measurement uncertainties that prevented the detection of potential land-use effects. Sensitivity analyses suggested that avoiding high enrichment levels in kinetic addition experiments and increasing sampling effort for plateau nutrient and tracer concentration at the first and last sampling stations of investigated stream reaches are the most promising strategies to reduce measurement uncertainty. Analyzing nutrient uptake without considering measurement uncertainty might lead to poor interpretation in case studies and meta-analyses, such as incorrect evaluations of human impacts or comparisons among systems.

Analyzing the impacts of climate and land use changes on the water quality in the 3S river basin

Assessing water resources under the influence of environmental change have gained attentions of scientists. The objective of this study was to analyze the impacts of land use change and climate change on water resources in terms quantity and quality in the 3S basin in the period 1981–2008 by using hydrological modeling (SWAT model). The results showed that streamflow and water quality (TSS, T-N, and T-P) tend to increase under individual and combined effects of climate change and land use change. In addition, the impact of land use change on the flow was smaller than the climate change impact. However, water balance components and water quality were equally affected by two factors of climate change and land use change. In general, the results of this study could serve as a reference for water resource management and planning in the river basin.

The abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50\xa0years in Morelos, Mexico: a tracing study using a multi-level perspective

Understanding the causes of maize landrace loss in farmers’ field is essential to design effective conservation strategies. These strategies are necessary to ensure that genetic resources are available in the future. Previous studies have shown that this loss is caused by multiple factors. In this longitudinal study, we used a collection of 93 maize landrace accessions from Morelos, Mexico, and stored at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Maize Germplasm Bank, to trace back to the original 66 donor families after 50 years and explore the causes for why they abandoned or conserved their seed lots. We used an actor-centered approach, based on interviews and focus group discussions. We adopt a Multi-Level Perspective framework to examine loss as a process, accommodating multiple causes and the interactions among them. We found that the importance of maize landrace cultivation had diminished over the last 50 years in the study area. By 2017, 13 families had conserved a total of 14 seed lots directly descended from the 1967 collection. Focus group participants identified 60 accessions that could still be found in the surrounding municipalities. Our findings showed that multiple interconnected changes in maize cultivation technologies, as well as in maize markets, other crop markets, agricultural and land policies, cultural preferences, urbanization and climate change, have created an unfavorable environment for the conservation of maize landraces. Many of these processes were location- and landrace-specific, and often led to landrace abandonment during the shift from one farmer generation to the next.

Intercomparison of Surface Albedo Retrievals from MISR, MODIS, CGLS Using Tower and Upscaled Tower Measurements

Surface albedo is of crucial interest in land–climate interaction studies, since it is a key parameter that affects the Earth’s radiation budget. The temporal and spatial variation of surface albedo can be retrieved from conventional satellite observations after a series of processes, including atmospheric correction to surface spectral bi-directional reflectance factor (BRF), bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) modelling using these BRFs, and, where required, narrow-to-broadband albedo conversions. This processing chain introduces errors that can be accumulated and then affect the accuracy of the retrieved albedo products. In this study, the albedo products derived from the multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR), moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS), based on the VEGETATION and now the PROBA-V sensors, are compared with albedometer and upscaled in situ measurements from 19 tower sites from the FLUXNET network, surface radiation budget network (SURFRAD) and Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) networks. The MISR sensor onboard the Terra satellite has 9 cameras at different view angles, which allows a near-simultaneous retrieval of surface albedo. Using a 16-day retrieval algorithm, the MODIS generates the daily albedo products (MCD43A) at a 500-m resolution. The CGLS albedo products are derived from the VEGETATION and PROBA-V, and updated every 10 days using a weighted 30-day window. We describe a newly developed method to derive the two types of albedo, which are directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR) and bi-hemispherical reflectance (BHR), directly from three tower-measured variables of shortwave radiation: downwelling, upwelling and diffuse shortwave radiation. In the validation process, the MISR, MODIS and CGLS-derived albedos (DHR and BHR) are first compared with tower measured albedos, using pixel-to-point analysis, between 2012 to 2016. The tower measured point albedos are then upscaled to coarse-resolution albedos, based on atmospherically corrected BRFs from high-resolution Earth observation (HR-EO) data, alongside MODIS BRDF climatology from a larger area. Then a pixel-to-pixel comparison is performed between DHR and BHR retrieved from coarse-resolution satellite observations and DHR and BHR upscaled from accurate tower measurements. The experimental results are presented on exploring the parameter space associated with land cover type, heterogeneous vs. homogeneous and instantaneous vs. time composite retrievals of surface albedo.

Pengembangan Informasi Geospasial Lahan Pangan dalam Mendukung Kemandirian Pangan Wilayah

One of the major obstacles in increasing the agricultural production yields is the inappropriate management of land use due to the differences of land biophysical characteristics in each region. Therefore, it is necessary to have spatial-based land use management that is appropriate in handling agricultural land. This research aims at structuring geospatial information of food land biophysical characteristics and food land appropriateness (potential and limiter) for food plants development in Pangkep Regency. This research uses the up-to-date approach of multi-scale observation, so the problems becoming the restricting factors of productivity can immediately be overcome. The method used consists of 2 stages, namely stage 1, analysis of food land (biophysical) climate and land characteristics through land survey, laboratory analysis, and land characteristic spatialization; stage 2, analysis of food land appropriateness (potential and limiter) using land appropriateness method of fuzzy set / FAO, satellite image information extraction, ground truth, and ground sampling. The results of the research are in the form of geospatial information of food land biophysical characteristics and food land appropriateness (potential and limiter) for food plants development in Pangkep Regency. With the information, decision makers will have more ease and they integrate in making policies for food land use management in Pangkep Regency that will end up aiming to increase food production. Keywords: geospatial information, food land, land biophysics, land appropriateness, management

Performance of Sumur Gendong (SeDrainPond) Technology on Harvesting Water and Sediment with Respect to Effective Rainy Days

Land degradation and climate change are reducing soil fertility and water availability in agricultural areas. So, agricultural production is reduced, which is detrimental to food security and farmers’ livelihoods. These problems must be mitigated together with farmers. The farmers-based technology called Sumur Gendong (SeDrainPond) technology has been used and its performance has been analysed, in order to give farmers a basis to determine farming strategy. The performance of Sumur Gendong in harvesting water and sediments in relation to effective rainy days has been studied for this paper. The fertility of the harvested sediment has been also analysed, and a suggestion has been proposed to improve it. The study has been carried out using a combination of field measurements and laboratory analyses on 10 (ten) test ponds with average diameter 1 m and depth between 2 and 2.5 m on 5 hectares of paddies. The volume of water harvested from the pond annually has been 567 m3 and the one of harvested sediment has been 344 kg. The fertility of the harvested sediment has been moderate across the study area, on the basis of the combined soil chemical properties (CEC, AS, C-organic, P205 and K20).

A Seminar Review on Impact of Floriculture Industries in Ethiopia

The paper is reviewed the Ethiopian floriculture industries with the objectives to explain the Socio-Economic Significance of Floriculture to Ethiopia, the Socio-economic and Environmental view of Floriculture Industries and to identify the economic implication of floriculture in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has geographical advantages for a floriculture industry, i.e. the high altitude, the vast unexploited arable land and favourable climate for flowers as well as to achieve rapid economic growth. Because of the Government of Ethiopia gave more attention for favourable investment condition and a more enabling atmosphere for private sector development that is the floriculture sector started to grow fast in the last few years that has been increasing investors to invest. Hence, the exports of flowers have generated significant amounts of foreign exchange earnings, contributed to upgrade agricultural production skills, facilitating for best experience sharing and created substantial opportunities for waged employment and self-employment especially for females. However, the expansion of the sector is implemented with environmental degradation i.e. unsafe working conditions of floriculture farm laborers associated to massive chemical usage of the industry, exposing laborers to dangerous pesticides, with failing to provide health safeguards, and with damaging the environment from over use of nature resources as well as even if it creates for many jobs but the amount of pay is not attractive that is why the economic gains is still come at a cost to worker and environmental health. Moreover, the price fluctuation is party attributed to the instability in the supply and the insignificant export volume of cut-flowers is due to the underutilized potential of the sector and the high capital and knowledge intensive nature of the sector. Therefore, the review strongly recommended that Initiate and promote by giving incentives to floriculture producers to exercise integrated pest management practices and use of environmentally friendly agro-chemicals as well as foster better awareness by providing health and safety training to the works. And more importantly, investors ensure that projects respect the rule of law, reflect industry best practice, are viable economically, and result in durable shared value.

Towards sustainable drinking water abstraction: an integrated sustainability assessment framework to support local adaptation planning

ABSTRACTGlobally, groundwater is the major drinking water resource. Improving the sustainability of groundwater abstraction for drinking water calls for adaptation on a local scale. The aim of this research is to develop a locally oriented, integrated sustainability assessment framework to support the adaptation planning process for local drinking water abstractions. The framework uses 45 socio-economic, physical and technical sustainability criteria. Future developments that affect the sustainability of local drinking water abstractions are the increasing water demand, land use change, climate change and soil energy transition. Based on the sustainability challenges of local drinking water abstractions, water saving, protection and restoration of raw water quality, mitigation or reduction of impact of abstraction and improvement of supply security are identified as adaptation strategies. To illustrate the proposed approach the sustainability assessment framework was applied to two local drinking water abstractions in the Netherlands. The paper concludes that the proposed framework provides decision- makers with a transparent understanding of trade-offs that decisions have, and the information generated by the framework supports a careful balancing of relevant aspects playing a role in a decision on adapting local drinking water abstractions. Further development and upscaling of the proposed framework to a drinking water company’s level will contribute to sustainable development of drinking water abstraction on a strategic level.

Lithostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous Khao Ya Puk Formation in Nakhon Thai Region, Thailand: Implication for Depositional Environment

The Khao Ya Puk Formation (>400 m thick) is well exposed in the Nakhon Thai Region, and is subdivided into three members. The Khao Ya Puk Formation overlies conformably on top of the anhydrite layer of the upper rock salt Maha Sarakham Formation. In turn, it is overlain unconformably by the Phu Khat Formation. The Khao Ya Puk Formation is interpreted to have been deposited by freshwater lake area in arid climate inland subkha in the Late Cretaceous. Lithostatigraphically, Khao Ya Puk Formation can be correlated with the Phu Tok Formation that has been deposited in the Khorat-Ubon basin and Udon-Sakon basin of the Khorat Plateau.

Urban energy water food land climate change nexus in the flow and policy perspective: A review.

Intricate associations exist between the internal elements of urban ecosystems, with the adjustment in one element can exert impacts of varying degrees on others. The rapid urbanization has brought numerous challenges on the urban sustainable development. To basically solve these problems, the nexus approach needs to be adopted. We clarified three application scenarios of nexus and their corresponding definitions. Meanwhile, the development of urban nexus theory was also provided. The analysis between any two characters among energy, water, food, land and climate change (EWFLC) systems was presented from the perspective of the physical nexus and policy effect nexus, respectively. From the perspective of the physical nexus, most the present stu-dies are concentrated on the urban scale, and aim at the direct nexus, lacking of indirect nexus reaches relatively. Most of the relationships between each two characters will have positive impacts on the society or economy. From the perspective of the policy effect nexus, current policies focused on the five systems are mostly oriented to directly solve problems of targeted system. The intermediate objectives of policy implementation are mostly quantifiable. There are generally multiple indicators of the policy effect evaluations. Furthermore, an analysis framework of urban EWFLC systems simultaneously combining physical and policy nexus was proposed in this study, which aimed to help make policy selections and realize urban sustainable development.

Weaker land–climate feedbacks from nutrient uptake during photosynthesis-inactive periods

Terrestrial carbon–climate feedbacks depend on two large and opposing fluxes—soil organic matter decomposition and photosynthesis—that are tightly regulated by nutrients1,2. Earth system models (ESMs) participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 represented nutrient dynamics poorly1,3, rendering predictions of twenty-first century carbon–climate feedbacks highly uncertain. Here, we use a new land model to quantify the effects of observed plant nutrient uptake mechanisms missing in most other ESMs. In particular, we estimate the global role of root nutrient competition with microbes and abiotic processes during periods without photosynthesis. Nitrogen and phosphorus uptake during these periods account for 45 and 43%, respectively, of annual uptake, with large latitudinal variation. Globally, night-time nutrient uptake dominates this signal. Simulations show that ignoring this plant uptake, as is done when applying an instantaneous relative demand approach, leads to large positive biases in annual nitrogen leaching (96%) and N2O emissions (44%). This N2O emission bias has a GWP equivalent of ~2.4 PgCO2 yr−1, which is substantial compared to the current terrestrial CO2 sink. Such large biases will lead to predictions of overly open terrestrial nutrient cycles and lower carbon sequestration capacity. Both factors imply over-prediction of positive terrestrial feedbacks with climate in current ESMs. During periods of photosynthetic inactivity, roots compete for nutrients with microbes and abiotic processes. Most ESMs neglect this competition, leading to large positive biases in annual N leaching and N2O emissions estimates.

Investigating Home Range, Movement Pattern, and Habitat Selection of Bar-headed Geese during Breeding Season at Qinghai Lake, China.

Simple SummaryThe Bar-headed Goose is an important species in Asia, both culturally and ecologically. While prior studies have shown Qinghai Lake supports one of the largest breeding areas for Bar-headed Geese, little is known regarding the species movement ecology during the breeding season. In this study, we examined Bar-headed Goose home range size within the breeding grounds at Qinghai Lake and documented their daily movement patterns and habitat selection. We also identified several key breeding sites surrounding Qinghai Lake. Our research provides valuable information on this sensitive species that could help develop the strategy for waterfowl conservation and disease control.The Bar-headed Goose is the only true goose species or Anserinae to migrate solely within the Central Asian Flyway, and thus, it is an ideal species for observing the effects of both land use and climate change throughout the flyway. In this paper, we investigate the home range, movement pattern, and habitat selection of Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) during the breeding season at Qinghai Lake, which is one of their largest breeding areas and a major migration staging area in the flyway. We identified several areas used by the geese during the breeding season along the shoreline of Qinghai Lake and found that most geese had more than one core use area and daily movements that provided insight into their breeding activity. We also observed the intensive use of specific wetlands and habitats near Qinghai Lake. These data provide interesting insights into the movement ecology of this important species and also provide critical information for managers seeking to understand and respond to conservation concerns threatening Bar-headed Geese, such as landscape and habitat changes.

Tropical land carbon cycle responses to 2015/16 El Niño as recorded by atmospheric greenhouse gas and remote sensing data.

The outstanding tropical land climate characteristic over the past decades is rapid warming, with no significant large-scale precipitation trends. This warming is expected to continue but the effects on tropical vegetation are unknown. El Niño-related heat peaks may provide a test bed for a future hotter world. Here we analyse tropical land carbon cycle responses to the 2015/16 El Niño heat and drought anomalies using an atmospheric transport inversion. Based on the global atmospheric CO2 and fossil fuel emission records, we find no obvious signs of anomalously large carbon release compared with earlier El Niño events, suggesting resilience of tropical vegetation. We find roughly equal net carbon release anomalies from Amazonia and tropical Africa, approximately 0.5 PgC each, and smaller carbon release anomalies from tropical East Asia and southern Africa. Atmospheric CO anomalies reveal substantial fire carbon release from tropical East Asia peaking in October 2015 while fires contribute only a minor amount to the Amazonian carbon flux anomaly. Anomalously large Amazonian carbon flux release is consistent with downregulation of primary productivity during peak negative near-surface water anomaly (October 2015 to March 2016) as diagnosed by solar-induced fluorescence. Finally, we find an unexpected anomalous positive flux to the atmosphere from tropical Africa early in 2016, coincident with substantial CO release.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The impact of the 2015/2016 El Niño on the terrestrial tropical carbon cycle: patterns, mechanisms and implications’.

Research on Rare Cranes Population Response to Land Use Change of Nature Wetland

Shengjin Lake is the only national wetland nature reserve in Anhui Province with rare wintering waterbirds as the main protection object. In recent years, with the strengthening of human activities, the number of rare cranes has changed significantly. Taking the Shengjin Lake natural wetland as an example, this paper studied the response of crane population to land use change, which had important implications for the protection of cranes. This paper analyzed the land use of Shengjin Lake by referring to the eight periods of TM remote sensing images (1986, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2015) and using ERDAS and ArcGIS tools. The diversity of bird habitats in Shengjin Lake nature reserve was analyzed. Combined with the changes in the number of rare cranes from 1986 to 2015, the impacts of land use and climate change on the cranes in protected areas were analyzed. The results showed that: there was a correlation between the number of cranes land use types and climate changes. The type of land of Shengjin Lake nature reserve was relatively small change in the early years in 1986. It was a relatively large change in the type of land, and the number of cranes had a significantly reducing in 1990s. It until 2000, the number of rare cranes had a slight rebound; however from 2012 to 2015, the number of cranes had dropped again. It had a greater influence on the number of cranes about the change of construction land, reeds mudflats, mudflats, marsh land and paddy fields in the wetland.

Sustainability, institutional arrangement and challenges of community based climate smart practices in northwest Ethiopia

BackgroundCrop productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia is critically challenged by land degradation and climate change and variability. Massive plantations and several kilometers of soil and water conservation technologies have been practiced in response to those challenges. Yet land degradation and the level of sustainability of the technologies have continued to be critical challenges. Thus, the objective of this research was to examine the sustainability, challenges and future prospect of climate smart community-based soil and water conservation practices. Data were collected using household survey, key informant interview and focus group discussion. Analytic hierarchy process for multi-criteria decision making was used to analyze the sustainability of community-based climate smart practices.ResultsThe finding revealed that the overall score of the sustainability dimensions was about 67.5%, which lies in the zone of “sustained but at risk.” The institutional arrangement has limitations in that farmers were involved in implementation phase while there is little room in planning, monitoring and evaluation phases. The major challenges of the soil and water conservation practices were: destruction of the communal forests and structures for personal benefits, overlapping work calendar with irrigation and off-farm works and structures wasted farmland.ConclusionsThe success of the structures from the perspective of officials is expressed in terms of the numbers of kilometers constructed and community participation. However, it overlooks how it reduces the problem of land degradation and challenge of climate change and variability. Thus, in order to sustain the structures, direct participation of farmers at all stages of the work is encouraged. The sustainability of structures can also be partly ensured if it generates benefit to the local community.