Land Use Suitability Research Articles

Land-use Suitability Evaluation Criteria for Precision Agriculture Adoption in a Moderately Yielding Soya bean Cropping Area in Thailand

Land-use Suitability Evaluation Criteria for Precision Agriculture Adoption in a Moderately Yielding Soya bean Cropping Area in Thailand

An integrated GIS-based analysis system for land-use management of lake areas in urban fringe

Lake areas in Chinese urban fringes are under increasing pressure of urbanization. Consequently, the conflict between rapid urban sprawl and the maintenance of water bodies in such areas urgently needs to be addressed. An integrated GIS-based analysis system (IGAS) for supporting land-use management of lake areas in urban fringes was developed in this paper. The IGAS consists of modules of land-use suitability assessment and change/demand analysis, and land evaluation and allocation. Multicriteria analysis and system dynamics techniques are used to assess land-use suitability and forecast potential land-use variation, respectively. Cost approximation and hypothetical development methods are used to evaluate land resource and market values, respectively. A case study implementing the system was performed on the Hanyang Lake area in the urban fringe of Wuhan City, central China, which is under significant urbanization pressure. Five categories of suitability were investigated by analyzing 11 criteria and related GIS data. Two scenarios for potential land-use changes from 2006 to 2020 were predicted, based on a systematic analysis and system dynamics modeling, and a hierarchical land-use structure was designed for the conservation of aquatic ecosystems. The IGAS may help local authorities better understand and address the complex land-use system, and develop improved land-use management strategies that better balance urban expansion and ecological conservation.

Key Elements in a Framework for Land Use Impact Assessment Within LCA (11 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Land use by agriculture, forestry, mining, house-building or industry leads to substantial impacts, particularly on biodiversity and on soil quality as a supplier of life support functions. Unfortunately there is no widely accepted assessment method so far for land use impacts. This paper presents an attempt, within the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, to provide a framework for the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of land use. Materials and Methods: This framework builds from previous documents, particularly the SETAC book on LCIA (Lindeijer et al. 2002), developing essential issues such as the reference for occupation impacts; the impact pathways to be included in the analysis; the units of measure in the impact mechanism (land use interventions to impacts); the ways to deal with impacts in the future; and bio-geographical differentiation. Results: The paper describes the selected impact pathways, linking the land use elementary flows (occupation; transformation) and parameters (intensity) registered in the inventory (LCI) to the midpoint impact indicators and to the relevant damage categories (natural environment and natural resources). An impact occurs when the land properties are modified (transformation) and also when the current man-made properties are maintained (occupation). Discussion: The size of impact is the difference between the effect on land quality from the studied case of land use and a suitable reference land use on the same area (dynamic reference situation). The impact depends not only on the type of land use (including coverage and intensity) but is also heavily influenced by the bio-geographical conditions of the area. The time lag between the land use intervention and the impact may be large; thus land use impacts should be calculated over a reasonable time period after the actual land use finishes, at least until a new steady state in land quality is reached. Conclusions: Guidance is provided on the definition of the dynamic reference situation and on methods and time frame to assess the impacts occurring after the actual land use. Including the occupation impacts acknowledges that humans are not the sole users of land. Recommendations and Perspectives: The main damages affected by land use that should be considered by any method to assess land use impacts in LCIA are: biodiversity (existence value); biotic production potential (including soil fertility and use value of biodiversity); ecological soil quality (including life support functions of soil other than biotic production potential). Bio-geographical differentiation is required for land use impacts, because the same intervention may have different consequences depending on the sensitivity and inherent land quality of the environment where it occurs. For the moment, an indication of how such task could be done and likely bio-geographical parameters to be considered are suggested. The recommendation of indicators for the suggested impact categories is a matter of future research.

Implications of changing national policies on land use in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Land use in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh had undergone changes over the past several centuries. The landscape, which was mostly covered with forest with interspersed shifting cultivation plots until the beginning of the colonial period, has gradually changed into a landscape with a blend of land uses. Overall, the forest area has gradually declined, while the area under shifting cultivation and sedentary agriculture has expanded. The process of the change was multi-directional. National forestry, land use, land taxation, population migration polices, and development activities, such as construction of a hydroelectric dam and roads, played an important role in this process. Shifting cultivation had inflicted little damage on the forest until the beginning of the colonial period. The pace of deforestation accelerated with the nationalization of forests which abolished tribal people's customary use and management rights to the forest, and allowed large-scale commercial logging both legally and illegally. The pace was further intensified by the policy encouraging population migration to CHT and construction of a reservoir on the Karnafuli River. Efforts were made to replace shifting cultivation with more productive types of sedentary agriculture. However, much change could not take place in the absence of secure land rights, supportive trade policies, and the required support services and facilities, including infrastructure. Locationally suitable land use evolved in areas where transportation facilities were available and farmers were granted land title with the necessary extension services and credit facilities. These findings have important policy implications for the promotion of environmentally and economically sound land use in CHT.

Ordered weighted averaging with fuzzy quantifiers: GIS-based multicriteria evaluation for land-use suitability analysis

The objective of this paper is to incorporate the concept of fuzzy (linguistic) quantifiers into the GIS-based land suitability analysis via ordered weighted averaging (OWA). OWA is a multicriteria evaluation procedure (or combination operator). The nature of the OWA procedure depends on some parameters, which can be specified by means of fuzzy (linguistic) quantifiers. By changing the parameters, OWA can generate a wide range of decision strategies or scenarios. The quantifier-guided OWA procedure is illustrated using land-use suitability analysis in a region of Mexico.

Production and Economics of Native Pecan Silvopastures in Central United States

Riverine silvopastoral practices with native pecan (Carya illinoinensis) are a suitable land use for areas subjected to seasonal flooding in southern and central regions of the United States. Nut, timber and forage production, and the economics of managed pecan silvopastures were examined in southeastern Kansas. During 1981–2000, annual hulled nut production varied between 50 and 1600 kg ha−1 in stands averaging 72 years of age, and ranging in density between 35 and 74 trees ha−1. The nut crop had a pattern of biennial bearing with some exceptions. Tree stem diameter and stand basal area increased linearly with time. Nut production was not related to stand age or tree density, however, suggesting that nut production had reached a steady state level. Merchantable timber yield ranged between 0.25 and 1.35 m3 ha−1 year−1. In pecan silvopastures with a mean tree age of 37 years, forage production varied between 1500 and 4600 kg DM ha−1 in 2001 and 2002. In 2001 only, grass production decreased with decreasing solar radiation within the range of 0.25–0.83 of fraction light transmitted. In both years, the grass understory had acceptable quality for cow-calf production with average crude protein content between 9 and 11.8%, and no evidence of excessive levels of ergoalkaloids from tall fescue. Twenty-seven vascular plants were identified in the understory of which nut sedge (Cyperus esculentus), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), wild oat (Avena fatua) and Canadian wild rye (Elymus canadensis) were the most abundant. Economic simulations obtained with the U.S. Agroforestry Estate Model indicated that pecan nut price is the main variable driving economic outputs under current production conditions. Annual cash flows from nut sales had smaller fluctuations than nut yields because of an inverse relation between nut price and yield. Improved timber production appears an option for increasing profitability of pecan silvopastures.

05/00734 Technical and economical system comparison of photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power systems depending on annual global irradiation

In this paper all provinces of South Africa with a good potential for the implementation of large-scale concentrating solar power plants are identified using geographic information systems. The areas are assumed suitable if they get sufficient sunshine, are close enough to transmission lines, are flat enough, their respective vegetation is not under threat and they have a suitable land use profile. Various maps are created showing the solar resource, the slope, areas with “least threatened” vegetation, proximity to transmission lines and areas suitable for the installation of large concentrating solar power plants. Assuming the installation of parabolic trough plants, it is found that the identified suitable areas could accommodate plants with a nominal capacity of 510.3 GW in the Northern Cape, 25.3 GW in the Free State, 10.5 GW in the Western Cape and 1.6 GW in the Eastern Cape, which gives a total potential nominal capacity of 547.6 GW for the whole country.

Urban land-use allocation in a Mediterranean ecotone: Habitat Heterogeneity Model incorporated in a GIS using a multi-criteria mechanism

Urban land-use allocation in areas of transition (ecotones) is a complex task due to tensions between the need to develop residential and industrial areas and the wish to preserve high biodiversity and heterogeneous landscapes. This controversy is especially enhanced in a small and dense country like Israel, where efforts to achieve sustainable development are faced with difficulties typical of sensitive ecological regions and rapid population growth. This study incorporates the use of a multi-criteria mechanism in a GIS for the evaluation of the suitability of ecologically sensitive areas for four possible land-uses: nature reserves; forest plantations; residential areas; and industrial areas. The evaluation procedure pronounces the effect of: existing land-uses; soil characteristics; topographic attributes; vegetation cover; and landscape heterogeneity (as expressed by the Habitat Heterogeneity Model (HHM) that was developed within the frame of this study). The study area is the surroundings of a city that was established 30 years ago and is located in a transition zone between Mediterranean climate and the desert. The evaluation method used here provides a suitability layer for each of the four land-uses and a final layer that could recommend the most suitable land-use for each cell. The outcome of the system developed can be used as a basis for planners and decision makers dealing with the development of cities and their surroundings in regions of high ecological and environmental sensitivity.

On the potential impacts of land use change policies on automobile vehicle miles of travel

Recent US traffic growth is summarized and its causes discussed, emphasizing the complex causal linkages between automobile travel and the underlying land use patterns that shape it. This causal framework is used to frame a discussion of how the demands for vehicle travel might be reduced through suitable land use impacting policy instruments. This includes instruments that alter the location, mix and intensity of traffic generating and attracting land use, as well as instruments that affect land development through the supply of added transportation capacity. The existing scientific evidence for the effects of land development patterns on aggregate vehicle miles of travel is found to be of limited use at the present time. For the most part this results from past data limitations and because of the variety of both spatial and temporal scales across which such data needs to be collected and analyzed. It is also concluded that successful travel reduction policies are likely to evolve as part of a broader public policy debate over quality of life issues, notably those involving “urban sprawl” and the balance of economic development against environmental sustainability. The full costs of expanding while also maintaining the current automobile dominated transportation infrastructure may also provide an economic rationale for change.

Utilização de sistema de informação geográfica na avaliação do uso da terra em Botucatu (SP)

Foi utilizado o SIG-IDRISI, com o objetivo de verificar a adequação do uso da terra em 1997/98, na parte inicial da Bacia do Rio Pardo, Botucatu/Pardinho (SP), visando à obtenção de subsídios para o planejamento adequado do uso da área. As classes e subclasses de capacidade de uso foram determinadas de acordo com o Sistema de Classificação da Capacidade de Uso das Terras. As terras da área estudada foram discriminadas como: classe VIe, terras susceptíveis à erosão (90,49%); classe Va, terras planas, não-sujeitas à erosão, limitadas por excesso de água (3,48%); classe IVe, terras severamente limitadas por risco de erosão (0,50%); classe IIIa, terras planas com excesso de água (3,34%); classe IIIe, terras com declividade moderada e deflúvio rápido, riscos severos de erosão (1,32%); e classe IIe, terras produtivas, com risco ligeiro a moderado de erosão (0,87%). Pela análise conjunta da capacidade de uso e do uso atual das terras, verificou-se que 89,28% das áreas não apresentaram conflito de utilização; 2,24% estavam cultivadas com culturas anuais e perenes, adequação para tal uso, e 8,48% da área com pastagens deveria ser substituída por reflorestamento e, ou, preservação ambiental.

Land-use suitability analysis in the United States: historical development and promising technological achievements.

Various methods of spatial analysis are commonly used in land-use plans and site selection studies. A historical overview and discussion of contemporary developments of land-use suitability analysis are presented. The paper begins with an exploration into the early 20th century with the infancy of documented applications of the technique. The article then travels through the 20th century, documenting significant milestones. Concluding with present explorations of advanced technologies such as neural computing and evolutionary programming, this work is meant to serve as a foundation for literature review and a premise for the exploration of new advancements as we enter into the 21st century.

Land-use change in a small catchment of northern Loess Plateau, China

In China, the new land policy “household responsibility system”, implemented since late 1970s and early 1980s, has advanced China’s agriculture and led to some changes in land-use structure. In this study, land-use change due to this land policy in a small catchment of the Loess Plateau, northern Shaanxi province, China, was studied by an interpretation of two aerial photographs (1975 and 1997). The land-use pattern in 1975 and 1997 was studied by various pattern measures: areal percentage, patch number per unit area, mean patch area, landscape diversity, fractal dimension and relative land-use suitability index. The results indicated that after implementation of the new land policy, the area percentage of terrace farmland, slope farmland, sparse woodland and bushland decreased obviously, while the area and the percentage of dense woodland, orchard and sparse wild grassland increased. Mean patch size of terrace farmland, dense woodland, bushland and sparse wild grassland became larger, while mean patch size of slope farmland, sparse woodland and orchard became smaller. Fractal dimension analysis indicated that, compared with 1975, the patch shape of orchard and slope farmland was becoming complex, while the patch shape of dense woodland, sparse woodland, bushland terrace farmland and sparse wild grassland was becoming more regular. Based on land-use suitability evaluation by calculating the R-value, the present land-use structure appears to be suitable.

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER CAMAQUÃ RIVER WATERSHED (BRAZIL) — A STUDY OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

The Lower Camaquã River Watershed is settled within two major geologic systems: the Pre-Cambrian basement and the Southern Brazilian Coastal Plain. Geological, environmental and socio-economic characteristics of this section of the watershed provide a heterogeneous landscape mosaic of interconnected natural and anthropic elements. In this work, the Sapato Creek watershed is used as a case study for an environmental analysis of the Lower Camaquã system. Landscape elements were identified, described and modelled as a way to understand their structure and dynamics. Satellite images (1:100,000) and field checking were utilised in the characterisation of the landscape elements and identification of land use categories. The results supported the characterisation of the structural and functional organisation of the watershed, potential impacts and the suitability of land use for the system. A conceptual methodological strategy is presented as an effective tool for transferring the recommendations produced in this work to decision-makers directly involved with environmental management in the region. The strategy relies on the interaction between scientists, decision-makers and watershed stakeholders to foster the identification of possible educational actions that could lead to a rational use of land and natural resources in the watershed.

Using GIS and outranking multicriteria analysis for land-use suitability assessment

Land-use planners often make complex decisions within a short period of time when they must take into account sustainable development and economic competitiveness. A set of land-use suitability maps would be very useful in this respect. Ideally, these maps should incorporate complex criteria integrating several stakeholders' points of view. To illustrate the feasibility of this approach, a land suitability map for housing was realised for a small region of Switzerland. Geographical Information System technology was used to assess the criteria requested to define the suitability of land for housing. An example dealing with the evaluation of noise levels illustrates the initial steps of this procedure. Because the required criteria are heterogeneous and measured on various scales, an outranking multicriteria analysis method called ELECTRE-TRI was used. However, using it to assess the suitability of any point in a territory was impractical due to computational limitations. Therefore, a mathematical function to evaluate closeness relationships and classify the study area into homogeneous zones was used. This function is compatible with the outranking function of ELECTRE-TRI used to assess the suitability index. The resulting maps lend efficient support to negotiation and are very useful in dealing with inherent conflicts in land-use planning.

Kırsal Yörede Köy Bazında Ağaç ve Orman Kaynaklarının Yönetimi ve Faydalanma Şekilleri (Isparta İli-Aliköy Örneği)

This study was carried out in order to determine the management of tree and forest resources in Isparta-Alikoy. The Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) aproach was used to conduct the study in the village. The total land area of Alikoy is about 43780 decare.at present the total population of this village is about 1311 and the total number of households is 486. There is considerable emmigration of young adults to urban areas, espicially to Isparta City. The village economy is heavily dependent on cash crop farming of barley, wheat, maize and rye and raising livestock. Land tenure is the most important problem in Alikoy, and creating other problems i.e. unconscious of agriculturel practise, declining productivty, low household income, less income generating activities, lack of water and shortage of fuel wood and timber. Whole village was introduced sosyoeconomic and culturel conditions, and given land use form in this study. On the other side, this study was determined the managmement forms of tree and forest sources in Alikoy. This village case study is also an attempt to promote development of sustainable forest products through a community forestry approach. Homegarden, boundary planting and alley cropping are suitable land use practices for village. Keywords: Tree of sources, Management, Utilize.

Assessing regional sustainability: the case of land use and land cover change in the middle Yiluo catchment of the Yellow River basin, China

Land use in long-settled areas outside zones especially affected by climatic change and not much or long subject to rapid economic development can be shown to reflect sustainable practice. The research reported here used terrain characteristics of such areas (over five land-use types) to establish a benchmark framework for assessing land-use suitability. The paper shows that such a framework can be used to assess the degree of sustainability of land-use changes, the latter being identified by analysis of time-lapse (1996–9) Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The assessment framework comprises a hybrid physically/statistically based model, suitable for deployment in sustainability assessment requiring comparatively fine spatial resolution.

Policy maturity and the development of novel remedial techniques

Abstract The need for a legislative framework to deal with contaminated land and its relationship to the market for novel remedial techniques is described. Problems of bureaucracy, inflexibility and liability are cited as reasons for a move towards more mature policy approaches, including brownfield development, the use of economic incentives, and remedial action based on suitability of land use. The contaminated land policy of the UK is outlined and the question as to whether this policy will prevent the kind of protracted legal battles experienced in the USA under Superfund is posed. Regulatory capture is suggested as a reason for the UK's predominantly deregulatory stance and it is proposed that this has the potential to stifle the development of advanced techniques. Barriers and opportunities to development are outlined: licensing, pilot studies and perception. It is concluded that ‘Suitable for Use’ will protect public health and the environment cost effectively — albeit at the expense of a strong market for advanced remedial techniques in the UK. Poor policy decisions by government are highlighted as a reason for uncertainty in the UK's remedial market. Niche markets and turnkey operations are identified as areas where UK firms have the potential to succeed.

Acidification: its impact on the environment and mitigation strategies

The effect of acidification on ecosystems is reviewed. About 30% of the world land area is acidified mostly by natural processes. Only a small part of it is acidified from pollution which leads to extensive forest and surface water deterioration in Europe and North America. The damage is especially visible in areas of poor soil quality. The acid deposition pattern is characterized, with a special emphasis on Poland. It was shown that strategies for mitigation of ecosystem acidification lead to a decrease of SO 2 emissions due to the use of lower sulphur content fuels and application of desulphurisation methods. Also, a decrease in NO x emissions is observed due to use of catalysts and application of NO x removal technologies. However, since about 50% of NO x emission is from vehicles, this improvement is offset by a continuously increasing vehicle population. The application of liming, forest fertilisation and suitable land use for mitigation of ecosystem acidification is also reviewed.

Integrating conservation and forestry production: exploring trade-offs between biodiversity and production in regional land-use assessment

Regional integration of biodiversity conservation and forestry production requires land-use allocations based on trade-offs that attempt to maximise long-term net benefits to society. In this context, effective surrogate information for biodiversity must be used in order estimate the complementarity value of each area—its unique contribution to biodiversity, given other already-protected areas. Net benefits will be maximised only when the complementarity value for each protected area exceeds its weighted cost or suitability for an alternative land use. This study explored this issue using one particular surrogacy approach, based on environmental data, combined with a recently-developed procedure that incorporates biodiversity assessment into a multi-criteria analysis framework. This procedure, as implemented in a software package DIVERSITY, allows the study of a range of relative weightings on biodiversity protection versus suitabilities for alternative land uses, identifying sets of protected areas that maximise total net benefit. A case study integrating biodiversity and forestry production in the Bateman's Bay region of New South Wales, Australia, is presented, in which the suitabilities for forestry are estimated using a spatial decision-support package, LUPIS. LUPIS is linked to the DIVERSITY package in order to combine exploration of different weightings on various forestry-related criteria with weightings on biodiversity. The results demonstrate that, relative to biodiversity allocations that ignore competing land-uses, taking trade-offs into account can lead in principle to an allocation of protected areas that maintains a high degree of biodiversity representation while reducing conflict with forestry requirements.

Geological Hazard and Risk Evaluation Using GIS: Methodology and Model Applied to Medellin, Colombia

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to characterize and evaluate geologic hazards, vulnerability and risk in the northwestern urban area of Medellin, Colombia. Seven factors were considered in assessing hazards: bedrock and surficial geology, structural geology, climate, topography, geomorphic units and processes, land use, and hydrology. Hazard was assessed using a two-step procedure: 1. Each factor was subdivided into category ratings (1, lowest hazard to 10, highest hazard) based on the correspondence of components of that factor with hazards such as slope failure, as indicated by Boulean overlay processes applied to maps of the factors. 2. Each factor was then subjectively weighted, and this weighting value was multiplied by the factor's category rating for a specific site. Summing these values for the seven factors produced an overall rating for the site. GIS-based software (GRASS) used the algorithms for these factors to generate hazard zoning maps of areas prone to landslides, floods, and streambank erosion. After geological hazards were defined for the study area, we estimated the vulnerability (Ve) of various elements for an event of ‘i’ intensity. The zoning of risk was evaluated as a function of the magnitude of hazards versus the vulnerability of human and social infrastructure to be affected by any hazards. Results were obtained as risks of landslide, of floods, and of bank erosion, from zero (very low) to five (extremely high). Combining these analyses with planning requirements, we categorized the study area into 14 classes of land-use suitability for planning procedures; 7 classes defined as areas suitable for human settlement, and 7 classes defined as unsuitable for building, and most effectively reserved for parks and forests. The categories and maps produced in this manner are useful to urban planners concerned with geologic hazard management and mitigation.