Difference between revisions of "Land cover and land use"

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|ComponentCode=LCU
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|Application=Roads from Rio+20 (2012) project;
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|KeyReference=Mandryk et al., 2015;
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|InputVar=Crop fraction in agricultural area - grid; Potential natural vegetation - grid; Built-up area - grid; Bioenergy area; Extensive grassland area - grid; Potential natural vegetation - grid; Animal stock; Intensive grassland area; Management intensity crops; Management intensity livestock; Irrigation water withdrawal - grid; Water withdrawal other sectors - grid; Forest management type - grid; Change in soil properties - grid; Carbon pools in soil and timber - grid; Carbon pools in vegetation - grid; NPP (net primary production) - grid; MSA (mean species abundance) - grid; Regrowth forest area - grid; Agricultural area - grid; Protected area - grid; Degraded forest area; Harvested wood;
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|OutputVar=Land cover, land use - grid; Land supply for bioenergy - grid; Land supply;
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|Description=<h2>Introduction</h2>
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In addition to emissions, land cover and land use are key linkages between the Human system and the Earth system. Land cover and use are changed by humans for a variety of purposes, such as to produce food, fibres, timber and energy, to raise animals, for shelter and housing, transport infrastructure, tourism, and recreation. These human activities have affected most areas in the world, transforming natural areas to human-dominated landscapes, changing ecosystem structure and species distribution, and water, nutrient and carbon cycles. Natural landscape characteristics and land cover also affect humans, determining suitable areas for settlement and agriculture, and delivering a wide range of ecosystem services. As such, land cover and land use can be understood as the complex description of the state and processes in a land system in a certain location. It results from the interplay of natural and human processes, such as crop cultivation, fertilizer input, livestock density, type of natural vegetation, forest management history, and built-up areas.
  
|InputVar=Crop and grass fractions; Grassland, agricultural, and abandoned area; Potential natural vegetation;
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In IMAGE, elements of land cover and land use are calculated in several components, namely in land use allocation, forest management, livestock systems, carbon cycle and natural vegetation. The output from these components forms a description of gridded global land cover and land use that is used in these and other components of IMAGE. In addition, this description of gridded land cover and land use per time step can be provided as IMAGE scenario information to partners and other models for their specific assessments.
|OutputVar=Land cover; Land for bioenergy; Land supply;
 
|Description=<h2>Interaction between the human system and environmental system</h2>
 
There are several ways by which the human system directly influences the earth system. Land allocation and atmospheric emissions (see the component [[Emissions]]) form two of the most important factors, others include water extraction, and water and soil pollution.  
 
  
===Land allocation===
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==Model description==
Using the demand for land to produce agricultural food products and bio-energy, the Land Allocation model determines at a 5 min x 5 min grid where this production occurs using a set of allocation rules. For instance, grid cells with a high potential to produce agricultural products (in terms of climate, soil types), that are near water (for transport and irrigation) and near to existing urban or agricultural areas are considered to be most suitable for agricultural production. In the model these rules in combination with regional preferences for different types of production systems, determined from historical calibration, are used to allocated land use to the grid.
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Land cover and land use described in an IMAGE scenario is a compilation of output from various IMAGE components. This compilation provides insight into key processes in land-use change described in the model and an overview of all gridded land cover and land use information available in IMAGE (Input/Output Table below).
  
As observed in other baseline scenarios, in the [[Roads from Rio+20 (2012) project|Rio+20]] baseline the expansion of agricultural production in tropical regions leads to a loss of natural ecosystems, and an associated loss of biodiversity. In fact, most of the expansion is projected to occur in highly productive ecosystems near existing agricultural areas, thus including tropical forests and woodland, other high nature value savanna and grassland area. At the same time, in the temperate zones there is actually a contraction of the agricultural area. Here, the grid cells least suitable for production potential are abandoned. The resulting changes in agricultural area are depicted in the figure on the left.
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Land cover and land use is also the basis for the land availability assessment, which provides information on regional land supply to the [[Agricultural economy|agro-economic model]] , based on potential crop yields, protected areas, and external datasets such as slope, soil properties, and wetlands ([[Mandryk et al., 2015]]).
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|FrameworkElementType=interaction component
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Revision as of 09:48, 6 June 2017