The governance of natural resources used by many individuals in common is an issue of increasing concern to policy analysts. Both state control and privatization of resources have been advocated, but ...neither the state nor the market have been uniformly successful in solving common pool resource problems. After critiquing the foundations of policy analysis as applied to natural resources, Elinor Ostrom here provides a unique body of empirical data to explore conditions under which common pool resource problems have been satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily solved. Dr Ostrom uses institutional analysis to explore different ways - both successful and unsuccessful - of governing the commons. In contrast to the proposition of the 'tragedy of the commons' argument, common pool problems sometimes are solved by voluntary organizations rather than by a coercive state. Among the cases considered are communal tenure in meadows and forests, irrigation communities and other water rights, and fisheries.
We have developed an integrated modeling framework (IMF) to quantify indicators for ecosystem services (ES) and economic development (ED) in agricultural landscapes. Austria serves as a case study in ...which impacts, trade-offs, and synergies of ES and ED are assessed for different agricultural policy pathways and regional climate change scenarios. Agricultural intensification and incentivized use of provisioning ES (e.g. biomass production) lead to higher macro-economic output (e.g. GDP) but usually reduce ES related to regulation and maintenance (e.g. ecological integrity, climate regulation), as well as cultural services (landscape diversity). We revealed both synergies for certain ES (e.g. biomass production and soil organic carbon stocks) as well as large spatial deviations from the national mean across the heterogeneous agricultural landscapes in Austria. Climate change scenarios (i) lead to substantial variation in ES and ED indicators and (ii) usually amplify trade-offs by stimulating land use intensification. Our findings depict the complex relationship between different ES and ED indicators as well as the importance of considering spatial heterogeneity and regional climate change. This assessment can help to improve targeting of agri-environmental schemes in order to provide a more balanced and efficient supply of ES and to foster rural development.
•Integrated modeling framework (IMF) for Austrian agricultural landscapes•Quantification of ecosystem services (ES) and economic development (ED)•Impact of policy and climate change scenarios on trade-offs and synergies•Trade-offs are prevalent but there are potentials for fostering synergies.•Agri-environmental policies could be improved to provide a more balanced ES supply.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This volume renews the political sociology of land. Chapters examine dynamics of political control and contention in a range of settings, including land grabs in Asia and Africa, expulsions and ...territorial control in South America, environmental regulation in Europe, and controversies over fracking, gentrification, and property taxes in the USA.
Scenario‐based biodiversity modelling is a powerful approach to evaluate how possible future socio‐economic developments may affect biodiversity. Here, we evaluated the changes in terrestrial ...biodiversity intactness, expressed by the mean species abundance (MSA) metric, resulting from three of the shared socio‐economic pathways (SSPs) combined with different levels of climate change (according to representative concentration pathways RCPs): a future oriented towards sustainability (SSP1xRCP2.6), a future determined by a politically divided world (SSP3xRCP6.0) and a future with continued global dependency on fossil fuels (SSP5xRCP8.5). To this end, we first updated the GLOBIO model, which now runs at a spatial resolution of 10 arc‐seconds (~300 m), contains new modules for downscaling land use and for quantifying impacts of hunting in the tropics, and updated modules to quantify impacts of climate change, land use, habitat fragmentation and nitrogen pollution. We then used the updated model to project terrestrial biodiversity intactness from 2015 to 2050 as a function of land use and climate changes corresponding with the selected scenarios. We estimated a global area‐weighted mean MSA of 0.56 for 2015. Biodiversity intactness declined in all three scenarios, yet the decline was smaller in the sustainability scenario (−0.02) than the regional rivalry and fossil‐fuelled development scenarios (−0.06 and −0.05 respectively). We further found considerable variation in projected biodiversity change among different world regions, with large future losses particularly for sub‐Saharan Africa. In some scenario‐region combinations, we projected future biodiversity recovery due to reduced demands for agricultural land, yet this recovery was counteracted by increased impacts of other pressures (notably climate change and road disturbance). Effective measures to halt or reverse the decline of terrestrial biodiversity should not only reduce land demand (e.g. by increasing agricultural productivity and dietary changes) but also focus on reducing or mitigating the impacts of other pressures.
We project the changes in terrestrial biodiversity intactness from 2015 to 2050 corresponding with three of the shared socio‐economic pathways combined with different levels of climate change, using an updated version of the GLOBIO model. Biodiversity intactness declined in all three scenarios, with large losses particularly for sub‐Saharan Africa. Effective measures to halt or reverse the decline of terrestrial biodiversity should not only reduce land demand but also reduce or mitigate the impacts of other pressures.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Soil erosion is a common land degradation problem and has disastrous impacts on natural ecosystems and human life. Therefore, researchers have focused on detection of land cover–land use changes ...(LCLUC) with respect to monitoring and mitigating the potential soil erosion. This article aims to appraise the relationship between LCLUC and soil erosion in the Cameron Highlands (Malaysia) by using multitemporal satellite images and ancillary data. Land clearing and heavy rainfall events in the study area has resulted in increased soil loss. Moreover, unsustainable development and agricultural practices, mismanagement, and lack of land use policies increase the soil erosion rate. Hence, the main contribution of this study lies in the application of appropriate land management practices in relation to water erosion through identification and prediction of the impacts of LCLUC on the spatial distribution of potential soil loss in a region susceptible to natural hazards such as landslide. The LCLUC distribution within the study area was mapped for 2005, 2010, and 2015 by using SPOT‐5 temporal satellite imagery and object‐based image classification. A projected land cover–land use map was also produced for 2025 through integration of Markov chain and cellular automata models. An empirical‐based approach (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) coupled with geographic information system was applied to measure soil loss and susceptibility to erosion over the study area for four periods (2005, 2010, 2015, and 2025). The model comprises five parameters, namely, rainfall factor, soil erodibility, topographical factor, conservation factor, and support practice factor. Results exhibited that the average amount of soil loss increased by 31.77 t ha−1 yr−1 from 2005 to 2015 and was predicted to dramatically increase in 2025. The results generated from this research recommends that awareness of spatial and temporal patterns of high soil loss risk areas can help deploy site‐specific soil conservation measures and erosion mitigation processes and prevent unsystematic deforestation and urbanization by the authorities.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Tenancy markets provide an opportunity to trade land between labor-scarce farm households and labor-abundant households. In China and other rapidly growing countries in Asia where rural to urban ...migration is becoming active, facilitating well-functioning tenancy markets is important to increase farm size and farmer’s income. In China, however, individual land rights are weak and in many communities land may be reallocated by village leaders to other households if it is rented out. We hypothesize that the risk of expropriation of rented-out land is a major constraint on land rental transactions in China. We find empirical evidence in support of this hypothesis using farm household data.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Since 1960, all 50 states in the US have adopted some form of preferential tax treatment for farmland. These provisions often take the form of use‐value assessment, where farmland is taxed on the ...basis of its value in agricultural production, as opposed to its full market value. While the main goal of use‐value assessment is to slow the conversion of farmland to non‐agricultural uses, other channels of influence are also possible, such as those stemming from reinvestment of foregone tax expenses. Despite its widespread nature, there is little empirical evidence pertaining to the influence of use‐value assessment on land‐use or investment decisions. Using a postmatching difference‐in‐differences framework, we exploit the temporal and spatial discontinuities surrounding the adoption of use‐value assessment in Kansas in 1989 to measure how use‐value assessment affected plot‐level land development and irrigation investment decisions. The results of our analysis indicate that, as intended, the use‐value assessment policy curtailed development in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Evidence regarding the potential investment‐spurring effects of use‐value assessment is more mixed, suggesting that farmers may have increased irrigation in some areas because of use‐value assessment‐induced tax savings.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
We analyze the impact of a 2021 reform in Ukraine that—after earlier digitization efforts did not produce desired results—mandated use of transparent online auctions by local governments rather than ...a central agency to lease rights to public agricultural land.The shift to a collusion-proof electronic auction system increased lease revenue by 175% for our preferred specification. Had all public land that Ukraine transferred since 2015 been auctioned using postreform mechanisms, local governments would receive incremental lease revenue of US$500 million per year for the duration of the lease. Where public land is important, reforms to ensure rights to such land are allocated transparently, competitively and in a decentralized way could improve social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 provides a suite of data products, including land cover and land cover change of the conterminous United States from 2001 to 2016, at two- to three-year ...intervals. The development of this product is part of an effort to meet the growing demand for longer temporal duration and more frequent, accurate, and consistent land cover and change information. To accomplish this, we designed a new land cover strategy and developed comprehensive methods, models, and procedures for NLCD 2016 implementation. Major steps in the new procedures consist of data preparation, land cover change detection and classification, theme-based postprocessing, and final integration. Data preparation includes Landsat imagery selection, cloud detection, and cloud filling, as well as compilation and creation of more than 30 national-scale ancillary datasets. Land cover change detection includes single-date water and snow/ice detection algorithms and models, two-date multi-index integrated change detection models, and long-term multi-date change algorithms and models. The land cover classification includes seven-date training data creation and 14-run classifications. Pools of training data for change and no-change areas were created before classification based on integrated information from ancillary data, change-detection results, Landsat spectral and temporal information, and knowledge-based trajectory analysis. In postprocessing, comprehensive models for each land cover theme were developed in a hierarchical order to ensure the spatial and temporal coherence of land cover and land cover changes over 15 years. An initial accuracy assessment on four selected Landsat path/rows classified with this method indicates an overall accuracy of 82.0% at an Anderson Level II classification and 86.6% at the Anderson Level I classification after combining the primary and alternate reference labels. This methodology was used for the operational production of NLCD 2016 for the Conterminous United States, with final produced products available for free download.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
