Loss Of Agricultural Land Research Articles

Urbanisation and socio-ecological challenges in high mountain towns: Insights from Leh (Ladakh), India

Rapid urbanisation increasingly affects small and medium-sized towns adversely in high mountain regions, which are especially vulnerable to socioecological challenges like depleting natural resources and increasing risk exposure to natural hazards. The case study of Leh town, located in the Indian Himalaya, reveals an array of diverse patterns, drivers, and challenges that characterise the process of mountain urbanisation. Our study is based on an integrated methodological approach using very high resolution multi-temporal satellite imagery, field mapping and social research data to track socioeconomic and political developments. A rapid spatial expansion of housing settlements on both, former agricultural and barren land along with a densification of built-up areas can be observed. Between 2003 and 2017, 9400 new buildings were constructed whereas in the 34 years before (from 1969 to 2003), approximately the same number of new buildings were constructed. The building area more than quintupled from 36 ha to 196 ha between 1969 and 2017. Consequentially, agricultural land loss through construction activities increased from 1% in 1969 to 8% in 2017. Urban growth in Leh is driven by administrative and infrastructure development, a booming tourism sector, the diffusion of urban lifestyles, and the region’s geopolitical importance. The emerging socio-ecological challenges are tackled by different local actors. Our findings raise questions on the consequences of such rapid urbanisation on urban and environmental governance, especially with regard to water resources and natural hazards, and we offer practical recommendations for sustainable town planning.

Functional food plants in Debre Markos district, East Gojjam, Ethiopia

Abstract. Belay H, Wondimu T. 2018. Functional food plants in Debre Markos district, East Gojjam Ethiopia. Asian J Ethnobiol 2: 8-21. An ethnobotanical analysis of functional food plants was conducted in Debre Markos District, East Gojjam, Ethiopia, to record indigenous knowledge. Ethnobotanical methods were used to collect data from October 2015 to July 2016. Ten villages were chosen at random from the District's 21 villages to perform the analysis. A total of 80 informants (61 men and 19 women) ranging in age from 20 to 79 were chosen to participate in the study and provide information on functional food plants grown and used in the District. Twenty of the 80 informants were chosen (as key informants) on the basis of recommendations from elders and kebele administrators, while the rest were chosen at random. Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were used to gather ethnobotanical data. As functional food plants grown in the District, 29 species from 27 genera and 19 families were identified. The Poaceae and Fabaceae families proved to be the most diverse, with 5 and 4 species, respectively. Herbs (23), shrubs (3), and trees are the species' habits (growth forms) (3). Grains (23.4%) and leaves (23.4%) were the most commonly used plant components (13.8%). Cooking/boiling seeds was the most common form of preparation (23.4%), followed by raw/unprocessed seeds (12.9%). According to informant consensus, Lupinus albus L. (Gibto) was the most commonly recorded species (90%) followed by Eragrostis tef L. (Dabbo teff) (78.8%). Linum usitatissimum L. (Telba) was found to be the most favored species for preventing multiple diseases in a preference rating. Based on the general use-value of functional food plants, a direct matrix analysis showed that Eragrostis tef L. (Dabbo teff) was the most important species. Cinnamomum verum L. was identified by the fidelity level index. Lupinus albus L. (Kerefa) (Gibto) to have a high practical benefit in the prevention of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The key threat to a few functional food plants such as Lupinus albus (Gibto) in the study area was the loss of agricultural lands due to new building construction. The woreda is the central city of East Gojjam Zone. As a result, stalk owners must focus their efforts on resolving the problem

Assessment of biodiversity conservation in Entoto Natural Park, Ethiopia for ecotourism development

Abstract. Belay H, Wondimu T. 2018. Functional food plants in Debre Markos district, East Gojjam Ethiopia. Asian J Ethnobiol 2: 8-21. An ethnobotanical analysis of functional food plants was conducted in Debre Markos District, East Gojjam, Ethiopia, to record indigenous knowledge. Ethnobotanical methods were used to collect data from October 2015 to July 2016. Ten villages were chosen at random from the District's 21 villages to perform the analysis. A total of 80 informants (61 men and 19 women) ranging in age from 20 to 79 were chosen to participate in the study and provide information on functional food plants grown and used in the District. Twenty of the 80 informants were chosen (as key informants) on the basis of recommendations from elders and kebele administrators, while the rest were chosen at random. Semi-structured interviews and group discussions were used to gather ethnobotanical data. As functional food plants grown in the District, 29 species from 27 genera and 19 families were identified. The Poaceae and Fabaceae families proved to be the most diverse, with 5 and 4 species, respectively. Herbs (23), shrubs (3), and trees are the species' habits (growth forms) (3). Grains (23.4%) and leaves (23.4%) were the most commonly used plant components (13.8%). Cooking/boiling seeds was the most common form of preparation (23.4%), followed by raw/unprocessed seeds (12.9%). According to informant consensus, Lupinus albus L. (Gibto) was the most commonly recorded species (90%) followed by Eragrostis tef L. (Dabbo teff) (78.8%). Linum usitatissimum L. (Telba) was found to be the most favored species for preventing multiple diseases in a preference rating. Based on the general use-value of functional food plants, a direct matrix analysis showed that Eragrostis tef L. (Dabbo teff) was the most important species. Cinnamomum verum L. was identified by the fidelity level index. Lupinus albus L. (Kerefa) (Gibto) to have a high practical benefit in the prevention of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The key threat to a few functional food plants such as Lupinus albus (Gibto) in the study area was the loss of agricultural lands due to new building construction. The woreda is the central city of East Gojjam Zone. As a result, stalk owners must focus their efforts on resolving the problem.

The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS to Study Land Use Changes in Barka Wilaya, Oman

Many studies house indicated the increase of the proportion of urban areas over the arable land in many provinces of the Sultanate of Oman. This came as a result of urban growth and development processes taking place since the era of the Renaissance which started in 1970. Consequently, spatial variation in land use is an important issue to be taken into consideration, because lands are being converted to be less productive, due to the lack of raw soil, vegetation, and water as a result of human exploitation of the limited resources in different ways, in addition to the natural factors of droughts and floods and all that will eventually lead to land degradation. Barka province (wilayat) in al Batinah Governorate is one of the provinces, which has been affected by land cover/land use changes due to several reasons. Therefore, this study will focus on the determination of land use changes, whether commercial or residential that have been occurred in the province, in addition to the loss of agricultural areas and fertile land during the period from 1987 to 2015. Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) were utilized in order to delineate and to determine the cause of shrinking in the arable land and fertile land. Satellite images were used to detect the change in land use/land cover by applying selective digital image processing techniques such as supervised classification and change detection. Thematic maps were prepared using GIS software with attribute data about the land uses in the study area, which highlights and show the impact of urban growth on land degradation.

The Use of Remote Sensing and GIS to Study Land Use Changes in Barka Wilaya, Oman

Many studies house indicated the increase of the proportion of urban areas over the arable land in many provinces of the Sultanate of Oman. This came as a result of urban growth and development processes taking place since the era of the Renaissance which started in 1970. Consequently, spatial variation in land use is an important issue to be taken into consideration, because lands are being converted to be less productive, due to the lack of raw soil, vegetation, and water as a result of human exploitation of the limited resources in different ways, in addition to the natural factors of droughts and floods and all that will eventually lead to land degradation. Barka province (wilayat) in al Batinah Governorate is one of the provinces, which has been affected by land cover/land use changes due to several reasons. Therefore, this study will focus on the determination of land use changes, whether commercial or residential that have been occurred in the province, in addition to the loss of agricultural areas and fertile land during the period from 1987 to 2015. Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) were utilized in order to delineate and to determine the cause of shrinking in the arable land and fertile land. Satellite images were used to detect the change in land use/land cover by applying selective digital image processing techniques such as supervised classification and change detection. Thematic maps were prepared using GIS software with attribute data about the land uses in the study area, which highlights and show the impact of urban growth on land degradation.

Landscape and the city: Agro-forest systems, land fragmentation and the ecological network in Rome, Italy

This study investigates changes over time (2006–2012) in the composition of agro-forest landscape mosaics in Rome, Italy, and discusses landscape dynamics in light of ecological networks’ design and management. A multi-temporal analysis of land-use dynamics allows an empirical test of the hypothesis that urban expansion has a non-negligible role in degradation and loss of natural and agricultural land under environmental constraints. Recent urban expansion in different components of Rome’s ecological network (REP) negatively affected frequency and size of natural and semi-natural habitats. Empirical results pointed out that establishing a statutory REP in Rome, has partially contained metropolitan expansion in natural areas, while cropland were still converted to urban settlements in a relatively high rate. Implications of such dynamics for policies preserving agro-environmental connectivity are discussed in light of a more ‘holistic’ strategy of land fragmentation containment.

Landscape Transformations in Rapidly Developing Peri-urban Areas of Accra, Ghana: Results of 30 years

Abstract Beyond the loss of peri-urban agricultural and forested land as a result of built-up expansion, not much information exists on the changes in the structure of the peri-urban landscape in Ghana. The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which urban expansion is driving changes in landscape structure of the peri-urban fringes of Accra. We submit that rapid peri-urbanisation will fragment the existing agricultural and forested landscape with consequent ecological, socio-economic and urban governance implications. Using Landsat satellite images for the years 1985, 1991, 2002 and 2015 the study area was classified into four land cover classes. The study adopted the use of Urban Intensity Index (UII) and the Annual Rate of Urbanization (R) as measures of urbanization. Edge density (ED), largest patch index (LPI) and Aggregation index (AI) were used as proxies to measure landscape structural transformations. The study reveals substantial reductions and fragmentation in agricultural lands, riverine and open forests, while there has been over 200 percent increase in built-up areas. Beyond these revelations in spatiotemporal changes in landscape structure, the paper points to the ecological implications of the changes, and three key socio-economic and urban governance implications.

Analysis of land use/land cover changes using geospatial techniques in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, South India

Urbanization is a global phenomenon, but the rate of urban growth is relatively faster in developing countries like India. The drastic urban growth in India has resulted in a huge loss of agricultural land and water bodies, which needs to be quantified for future planning and development. In this context, the present study depicts a combined approach of remote sensing and GIS techniques for delineating the land use/land cover dynamics of Salem district of Tamil Nadu in South India. The Landsat Thematic Mapper data of the years 1992, 2001 and 2010 and Operational Land Imager data of the year 2015 were used to assess the changes in the land use and land cover. The supervised classification technique-maximum likelihood algorithm, was used in this study to classify the remote sensing data. The results indicate that the deciduous forests, croplands, cultivation and plantation lands and water bodies have decreased from 1992 to 2015 by about 398 km2, 250 km2, 45 km2 and 16 km2, respectively. At the same time, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, built-up lands and mines and barren lands have increased by about 288 km2, 293 km2 and 128 km2, respectively. The accuracy of the present study has been assessed by using error matrix method. The overall accuracy of the land use/land cover classification of the years 1992, 2001, 2010 and 2015 is about 88%, 95%, 93% and 93%, respectively. The study showed that the combination of remote sensing and GIS is an efficient tool to detect the changes in land use/land cover. The land use/land cover information thus obtained can be used to the decision-makers for effective land use planning and management.

Suburbs around the Czech provincial city of České Budějovice – territorial arrangement and problems

The article is a contribution to discussions about the territorial arrangement of suburbs, their types and other settlements in suburban zones around post-socialist CEE provincial cities, based on the example of the South Bohemian “one-hundred-thousand” city of České Budějovice, including territorial development problems of suburbs and other settlements. Suburbs, separated from the city by free space, originate there from the original villages. These suburbs are population-growing settlements with the majority of flats in newer houses, immigrants from the city and economically active people working in the city (based on census data and ongoing registrations). Nearby, moderately distant and more distant suburbs occur in three concentric suburban sub-zones around the examined city, in which the population and spatial size of the suburbs gradually diminish. Semi-suburbs with partial suburbanisation and small towns also occur there. The territorial development problems of some suburbs are mainly associated with the disordered (sub)urban sprawl, the inadequate architecture of new houses, the poor quality and capacity of the technical infrastructure, the lack of public transport connections to the city, the absence and low capacity of kindergartens and elementary schools, clashes with recreational second homes, the lack of greenery and the losses of agricultural land.

Probabilistic rainfall thresholds in Chibo, India: estimation and validation using monitoring system

The Himalayan region has been severely affected by landslides especially during the monsoons. In particular, Kalimpong region in Darjeeling Himalayas has recorded several landslides and has caused significant loss of life, property and agricultural land. The study region, Chibo has experienced several landslides in the past which were mainly debris and earth slide. Globally, several types of rainfall thresholds have been used to determine rainfall-induced landslide incidents. In this paper, probabilistic thresholds have been defined as it would provide a better understanding compared to deterministic thresholds which provide binary results, i.e., either landslide or no landslide for a particular rainfall event. Not much research has been carried out towards validation of rainfall thresholds using an effective and robust monitoring system. The thresholds are then validated using a reliable system utilizing Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) tilt sensor and volumetric water content sensor installed in the region. The system measures the tilt of the instrument which is installed at shallow depths and is ideal for an early warning system for shallow landslides. The change in observed tilt angles due to rainfall would give an understanding of the applicability of the probabilistic model. The probabilities determined using Bayes’ theorem have been calculated using the rainfall parameters and landslide data in 2010–2016. The rainfall values were collected from an automatic rain gauge setup near the Chibo region. The probabilities were validated using the MEMS based monitoring system setup in Chibo for the monsoon season of 2017. This is the first attempt to determine probabilities and validate it with a robust and effective monitoring system in Darjeeling Himalayas. This study would help in developing an early warning system for regions where the installation of monitoring systems may not be feasible.

Effects of Seasonal Flooding in Benin City and the need for a Community-Based Adaptation Model in Disaster Management in Nigeria

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of hydrologically induced environmental problem in Benin City and how communities (considered as non-state actors) can be sustainably integrated/participate in monitoring of environmental change, disaster preparedness, post disaster management mechanisms and influence water resources development/management decisions. The study focused on the seasonal flood events of years 2016 and 2017. The study showed that the impacts of flooding in Benin City ranges from submergence of physical infrastructures, loss of agricultural lands/ farms. Using the Focused Group Discussion and Interview methods, 61.9% of flood affected persons agreed that their houses were submerged, 80.5% indicated that their farms, including fish farms, piggery, snail farms, crops and poultry were damaged by floods, 9.6%, indicated having experienced food stock losses due to floods. Most common diseases/sicknesses experienced were diarrhoea (27%), malaria (37%); cough (20%), while sickness due to snake bite was the least (4%). Fe and fecal coli form count values were high during seasonal flood event. Most of the hydraulic regulation projects have failed mainly due to poor feasibility study, inadequacy of hydrological data, non-involvement of relevant stakeholder and the complete absence of community based groups during engineering construction works. The study proposed a State-Non-state actors Integrated Model, which will be registered as a Corporate organization to plan and monitor environmental changes relating to climate change, flood and gully erosion disasters and with the active involvement of NEMA, SEMA, LEMA and other related agencies and NGO. Depending on the size of each Local Government Area in Benin, the proposed committee will comprise of 25-50 members. The study recommends capacity building of members in the form of training and re-training in the areas of early warning, preparedness, adaptation, emergency plan, data collection method/analysis, writing of research grants proposals to fund the activities of the committee and monitoring for environmental changes.

Dramatic Loss of Agricultural Land Due to Urban Expansion Threatens Food Security in the Nile Delta, Egypt

Egypt has one of the largest and fastest growing populations in the world. However, nearly 96% of the total land area is uninhabited desert and 96% of the population is concentrated around the River Nile valley and the Delta. This unbalanced distribution and dramatically rising population have caused severe socio-economic problems. In this research, 24 land use/land cover (LULC) maps from 1992 to 2015 were used to monitor LULC changes in the Nile Delta and quantify the rates and types of LULC transitions. The results show that 74,600 hectares of fertile agricultural land in the Nile Delta (Old Lands) was lost to urban expansion over the 24 year period at an average rate of 3108 ha year−1, whilst 206,100 hectares of bare land was converted to agricultural land (New Lands) at an average rate of 8588 ha year−1. A Cellular Automata-Markov (CA-Markov) integrated model was used to simulate future alternative LULC change scenarios. Under a Business as Usual scenario, 87,000 hectares of land transitioned from agricultural land to urban areas by 2030, posing a threat to the agricultural sector sustainability and food security in Egypt. Three alternative future scenarios were developed to promote urban development elsewhere, hence, with potential to preserve the fertile soils of the Nile Delta. A scenario which permitted urban expansion into the desert only preserved the largest amount of agricultural land in the Nile Delta. However, a scenario that encouraged urban expansion into the desert and adjacent to areas of existing high population density resulted in almost the same area of agricultural land being preserved. The alternative future scenarios are valuable for supporting policy development and planning decisions in Egypt and demonstrating that continued urban development is possible while minimising the threats to environmental sustainability and national food security.

Impacts of Urbanization on Land Use Pattern and Environment: A Case Study of Ajmer City, Rajasthan

The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. More than half of the world’s population now lives in towns and cities, and by 2030 this number will swell to about 5 billion. ‘Urbanization has the potential to usher in a new era of wellbeing, resource efficiency and economic growth. But due to increased population the pressure of demand also increases in urban areas’ (Drakakis-Smith, David, 1996). The loss of agricultural land to other land uses occasioned by urban growth is an issue of growing concern worldwide, particularly in the developing countries like India. This paper is an attempt to assess the impact of urbanization on land use and land cover patterns in Ajmer city. Recent trends indicate that the rural urban migration and religious significance of the place attracting thousands of tourists every year, have immensely contributed in the increasing population of city and is causing change in land use patterns. This accelerating urban sprawl has led to shrinking of the agricultural land and land holdings. Due to increased rate of urbanization, the agricultural areas have been transformed into residential and industrial areas (Retnaraj D,1994). There are several key factors which cause increase in population here such as Smart City Projects, potential for employment, higher education, more comfortable and quality housing, better health facilities, high living standard etc. Population pressure not only directly increases the demand for food, but also indirectly reduces its supply through building development, environmental degradation and marginalization of food production (Aldington T, 1997). Also, there are several issues which are associated with continuous increase in population i.e. land degradation, pollution, poverty, slums, unaffordable housing etc. Pollution, formulation of slums, transportation congestion, environmental hazards, land degradation and crime are some of the major impacts of urbanization on Ajmer city. This study involves mapping of land use patterns by analyzing data and satellite imagery taken at different time periods. The satellite images of year 2000 and 2017 are used. The change detection techniques are used with the help of Geographical Information System software like ERDAS and ArcGIS. The supervised classification of all the three satellite images is done by ERDAS software to demarcate and analyze land use change.

Impact of urbanization on climate change and geographical analysis of physical land use land cover variation using RS-GIS.

<p>This study focuses on the impact of climate change on rainfall-runoff pattern, and to assess the surface runoff and groundwater recharge potential from the intensified rainfall for the effective management of surface and groundwater resources in Tirunelveli city. The rainfall contribution is consistent, dependent, maximum and intensified during the month of November followed by October and December. The intensified rainfall in these months causes a temperature decrease and the climate becomes more and more colder than ever. The indices SPI and DI clear show that there is a change in climatic pattern. Landuse Landcover (LULC) analysis shows that the residential area and mining area is on the increasing trend, Village area is slightly increasing, agricultural area and dense scrub area is on the decreasing trend. The present capacity of the storage tanks available in Tirunelveli city is less than the maximum runoff generated during the month of November. The increase in residential area in LULC reflects the direct linear relation with the population increase of the city. The impact of urbanization leads to LULC change with the loss of agricultural land and water bodies.</p>

Impact of Land Cover Change on Ecosystem Services in a Tropical Forested Landscape

Ecosystems provide a wide range of goods, services or ecosystem services (ES) to society. Estimating the impact of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on ES values (ESV) is an important tool to support decision making. This study used remote sensing and GIS tools to analyze LULC change and transitions from 2001 to 2016 and assess its impact on ESV in a tropical forested landscape in the southern plains of Nepal. The total ESV of the landscape for the year 2016 is estimated at USD 1264 million year−1. As forests are the dominant land cover class and have high ES value per hectare, they have the highest contribution in total ESV. However, as a result of LULC change (loss of forests, water bodies, and agricultural land), the total ESV of the landscape has declined by USD 11 million year−1. Major reductions come from the loss in values of climate regulation, water supply, provision of raw materials and food production. To halt the ongoing loss of ES and maintain the supply and balance of different ES in the landscape, it is important to properly monitor, manage and utilize ecosystems. We believe this study will inform policymakers, environmental managers, and the general public on the ongoing changes and contribute to developing effective land use policy in the region.

Towards multifunctional land use in an agricultural landscape: A trade-off and synergy analysis in the Lower Fraser Valley, Canada

Hedgerows and riparian buffers in agricultural landscapes can help increase landscape multifunctionality and thereby mitigate conflicts among agricultural production and environmental stewardship objectives. However, the relative merits of conserving versus increasing non-production perennial vegetation (NPPV) are not well understood despite the universal conflicts among such objectives in rapidly urbanizing and intensifying agricultural regions worldwide. Hence, using the most intensive agricultural region of British Columbia, Canada as a case study, we aimed to (i) evaluate the current status of NPPV in terms of carbon stocks and landscape connectivity metrics (ii) compare options for conservation relative to agricultural expansion in terms of maintenance of landscape multifunctionality (iii) identify management options for NPPV that could maximize ecological benefits using a normative scenario analysis. We determined that 83% of the NPPV found on the farmland in our study area is likely susceptible to conversion to expanding agricultural production or urban development. Scenario analysis showed planting hedgerows along all farm parcel boundaries and riparian buffers along all farmscape waterways will not compensate for the loss of multifunctionality from agricultural intensification based on expansion. Conserving or planting hedgerows alone however resulted in a disproportionate increase in connectivity given the relative loss of productive agricultural land. This analysis clearly highlights the potential trade-offs among the indicators evaluated as well as the benefits of intensification on land already in production. In the assessed landscape, protecting existing large patches of NPPV and augmenting the landscape pattern with hedgerows is an effective approach to conflicting objectives and ensuring landscape multifunctionality.

ОЦЕНКА РАЦИОНАЛЬНОCТИ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ПРИГОРОДНЫХ ЗЕМЕЛЬ СЕЛЬСКОХОЗЯЙСТВЕННОГО НАЗНАЧЕНИЯ ПОД ЖИЛУЮ ЗАСТРОЙКУ

The article gives the rationality evaluation of using agricultural lands in suburbs for low-rise residential housing on the example of the Belgorod region. The results let make a conclusion about the efficiency of such land turnover within the boundaries of one region. The loss of agricultural lands in the result of their transforming and including into the city lands is mostly compensated by increasing their investment attractiveness.

Wheat straw biochar application increases ammonia volatilization from an urban compacted soil giving a short-term reduction in fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency

The potential for using biochar to reclaim degraded urban land into productive land needs to be verified to address the incipient loss of agricultural land. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of wheat straw biochar (with four application rates including 0, 0.5%, 1%, and 2% w/w biochar to soil) on selected soil properties and crop growth (paddy rice was grown followed by wheat) in a compacted urban homestead soil (Anthrosol). Nitrogen use efficiency and ammonia volatilization were determined using stable isotope methodologies. Wheat straw biochar amendments elevated the soil pH, total C, and C/N ratio, and significantly lowered (P < 0.05) the soil bulk density by 12.0–17.7% with doses of 1–2%. Increasing doses of biochar (1–2%) increased ammonia volatilization by 91.4–107.0% during the flooded rice season, which resulted in significantly lower (P < 0.05) rice yield. This was reflected in the reduction of fertilizer 15N use efficiency, which was 32.6–76.0% lower (P < 0.05) than the control. However, the following wheat yield was significantly increased (P < 0.05) by 23.0% with 2% biochar amendment, while there were no differences in ammonia volatilization between biochar amendments and the control. Application of wheat straw biochar to a reclaimed urban Anthrosol increased seasonal flooded rice ammonia volatilization; however, no effect on ammonia volatilization was detected from the following aerobically grown wheat. The soils had a lower bulk density following biochar amendment and improved pH, which may have resulted in the higher wheat yield.

Mycorrhiza and Stress Tolerance of Vegetables: A Review

Abstract From year to year, the world growing area is being more poluted with heavy metals or excessive salt level and exposed to lack of moisture or avaiable nutrients in the soil. This resulting in a loss of agricultural land where vegetables were grown in the past. The producers must also fight with more resistant and new species or strains of soil pathogens, while chemical protection is not always the most suitable solution for human health and the environment. Our review focuses on the great importance of using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to alleviate abiotic and biotic stress, taking into account the use in vegetable production. The review is gradually focusing on individual stressors and defines the mechanisms of mycorrhizal fungi that contribute to the sustainable agriculture even under severe stress conditions.

Applying LPIS data to assess loss of agricultural land – experiences from Flanders and Denmark

ABSTRACTWorldwide, loss of farmland due to transition to other land uses is recognized as a major challenge. Data from the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) are potentially useful to assess agricultural land use dynamics as they contain detailed information on agricultural land use. In this paper, we therefore analyse data from two individual studies, one from Flanders and one from Denmark, to explore whether LPIS data are applicable to assess farmland loss. Our results show that in both Flanders and Denmark, around 4.5% of the total registered farmland area in LPIS was lost in a 5-year period (2008–2013 for Flanders and 2011–2016 for Denmark). Complementary land use data and aerial photo interpretation reveal that the majority of lost registered farmland still was in agricultural use after 5 years. Hence, the confirmed loss was only around 0.5% for Flanders and Denmark. We conclude that both Flemish and Danish LPIS data only with some difficulty are able to quantify loss of farmland and therefore question if LPIS data alone are suitable to assess change in farmland area. The major part of farmland leaving the register is most likely related to a general change in agricultural structure.