Abstract
Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs. In order to illustrate this trade-off dilemma, four representative services, carbon sinks, water storage, biodiversity, and space for urbanization, are discussed here based on a review of contemporary literature that cuts across the domain of ecosystem services that are provided by land. Agricultural research will have to expand its focus from the field to the landscape level and in the process examine the cost of production that internalizes environmental costs. In some situations, the public cost of agriculture in marginal environments outweighs the private gains, even with the best technologies in place. Land use and city planners will increasingly have to address the cost of occupying productive agricultural land or the conversion of natural habitats. Landscape designs and urban planning should aim for the preservation of agricultural land and the integrated management of land resources by closing water and nutrient cycles, and by restoring biodiversity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 2196 |
| Journal | Sustainability (Switzerland) |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 Nov 28 |
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Keywords
- Agricultural land conversion
- Biodiversity
- Ecosystem services
- Integrated land and water resource management (ILWM)
- Urbanization
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Cite this
Trade-offs in multi-purpose land use under land degradation. / Vlek, Paul L.G.; Khamzina, Asia; Azadi, Hossein; Bhaduri, Anik; Bharati, Luna; Braimoh, Ademola; Martius, Christopher; Sunderland, Terry; Taheri, Fatemeh.
In: Sustainability (Switzerland), Vol. 9, No. 12, 2196, 28.11.2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Trade-offs in multi-purpose land use under land degradation
AU - Vlek, Paul L.G.
AU - Khamzina, Asia
AU - Azadi, Hossein
AU - Bhaduri, Anik
AU - Bharati, Luna
AU - Braimoh, Ademola
AU - Martius, Christopher
AU - Sunderland, Terry
AU - Taheri, Fatemeh
PY - 2017/11/28
Y1 - 2017/11/28
N2 - Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs. In order to illustrate this trade-off dilemma, four representative services, carbon sinks, water storage, biodiversity, and space for urbanization, are discussed here based on a review of contemporary literature that cuts across the domain of ecosystem services that are provided by land. Agricultural research will have to expand its focus from the field to the landscape level and in the process examine the cost of production that internalizes environmental costs. In some situations, the public cost of agriculture in marginal environments outweighs the private gains, even with the best technologies in place. Land use and city planners will increasingly have to address the cost of occupying productive agricultural land or the conversion of natural habitats. Landscape designs and urban planning should aim for the preservation of agricultural land and the integrated management of land resources by closing water and nutrient cycles, and by restoring biodiversity.
AB - Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs. In order to illustrate this trade-off dilemma, four representative services, carbon sinks, water storage, biodiversity, and space for urbanization, are discussed here based on a review of contemporary literature that cuts across the domain of ecosystem services that are provided by land. Agricultural research will have to expand its focus from the field to the landscape level and in the process examine the cost of production that internalizes environmental costs. In some situations, the public cost of agriculture in marginal environments outweighs the private gains, even with the best technologies in place. Land use and city planners will increasingly have to address the cost of occupying productive agricultural land or the conversion of natural habitats. Landscape designs and urban planning should aim for the preservation of agricultural land and the integrated management of land resources by closing water and nutrient cycles, and by restoring biodiversity.
KW - Agricultural land conversion
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Integrated land and water resource management (ILWM)
KW - Urbanization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85035351466&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85035351466&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/su9122196
DO - 10.3390/su9122196
M3 - Review article
VL - 9
JO - Sustainability
JF - Sustainability
SN - 2071-1050
IS - 12
M1 - 2196
ER -