Modelling agricultural land abandonment in a fine spatial resolution multi-level land-use model: An application for the EU

Castillo, Carolina Perpiñá; Jacobs‐Crisioni, Chris; Diogo, Vasco; Lavalle, Carlo

doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2020.104946

Cited by 72 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Also, for the short‐term future, agricultural land abandonment is expected to continue as was shown in Perpiña Castillo et al (2021) for EU and United Kingdom. In total, the net agricultural land projected to flow into abandoned lands by 2030 amounts to 4.8 million ha.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Spain is expected to lose even more than 1 million ha of agricultural land between 2015 and 2030. The study by Perpiña Castillo et al (2021) also expects largest losses in the arable land taking up 70% of all abandonment in 2030 (around 4 million ha), while permanent grasslands and permanent crops make up 20% and 7%, respectively. In a separate study for Spain also by Perpiña Castillo et al (2020), it is projected that until 2030, 5% of the total agricultural land will go out of use which is well above the 3% EU average.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Identification of early abandonment in cropland through radar‐based coherence data and application of a Random‐Forest model

et al. 2022

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In the context of increased pressures on land for food and non‐food production, it is relevant to understand better, which land resources have become unused and abandoned and where these lands are. Data on where these lands are and what their extend is are not collected in regular statistics. In this paper, we present an approach to detect signs of abandonment in cropping land using radar coherence data. The methodology was tested in the Spanish regions of Albacete and Soria where agricultural land abandonment is a common process. The results show that land abandonment detection using radar coherence data works well for the region of Albacete in arable lands. The radar‐based analysis is a relatively simple method to detect land abandonment in an early to longer term state and can therefore be applied once developed and tested further in other regions to larger areas of the EU where land abandonment is serious and needs monitoring and policy response. The applicability of the method to Soria and Emilia Romagna (Italy) regions shows that there are still challenges to overcome to make the method more widely applicable for detecting land abandonment in other environmental zones of Europe. Lack of reliable training and validation data, like Land Parcel Identification Systems data, in regions is one of the challenges in this respect.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Identification of early abandonment in cropland through radar‐based coherence data and application of a Random‐Forest model

et al. 2022

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“…In the Mediterranean region, where anthropic activity has played an important role in shaping landscape configuration, cropland abandonment has been widespread during the second half of the last century [7][8][9]. Land-use change models predict an increase in this trend in the future [10,11]. The abandonment of traditional activities has left many Mediterranean landscapes in almost barren states, with poor vegetation cover [6,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonization Pattern of Abandoned Croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in a Mediterranean Mountain Region

Pérez‐Luque

Bonet‐García

Zamora

2021

Forests

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Land abandonment is a major global change driver in the Mediterranean region, where anthropic activity has played an important role in shaping landscape configuration. Understanding the woodland expansion towards abandoned croplands is critical to develop effective management strategies. In this study, we analyze the colonization pattern of abandoned croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in the Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain). We aimed to assess differences among populations within the rear edge of the Q. pyrenaica distribution. For this purpose, we characterized (i) the colonization pattern of Q. pyrenaica, (ii) the structure of the seed source (surrounding forests), and (iii) the abundance of the main seed disperser (Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius). The study was conducted in five abandoned croplands located in two representative populations of Q. pyrenaica located on contrasting slopes. Vegetation plots within three habitat types (mature forest, edge-forest and abandoned cropland) were established to compute the abundance of oak juveniles. The abundance of European jay was determined using data of bird censuses (covering 7 years). Our results indicate that a natural recolonization of abandoned croplands by Q. pyrenaica is occurring in the rear edge of the distribution of this oak species. Oak juvenile abundance varied between study sites. Neither the surrounding-forest structure nor the abundance of jays varied significantly between study sites. The differences in the recolonization patterns seem to be related to differences in the previous- and post-abandonment management.

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“…Between 2000 and 2018, the amount of land under cultivation globally declined by 2%, partly via conversion to impervious surfaces (e.g., urban areas), but mostly via fallowing or abandonment resulting in land open to colonization by new plant communities (Su et al, 2018; Yu & Lu, 2018; FAO, 2020). Exemplifying potential for this trend to persist, agricultural land abandonment in Europe is projected to continue at a rate of 400,000 ha/year through the 2030s, such that abandoned lands could comprise as much as 11% of the entire area that had been under cultivation in 2000 (Perpiña Castillo et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The abandonment of cultivated agricultural lands has been a driver of spatio‐temporal variation in land use globally and is projected to continue to be so over the next century (Perpiña Castillo et al, 2021). With a third (5 billion ha) of Earth's land area currently under cultivation as cropland or pasture, vegetation dynamics under past and present agricultural abandonment can exert enormous influence over global changes in biodiversity, climate, and future land use options (Cramer et al, 2008; FAO, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

Abella

Schetter

2021

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question Which plant community characteristics most consistently vary with prior land use? Location Oak Openings Preserve, Ohio, USA. Methods In 2020, we measured plant communities on 22 sites encompassing three prior land uses: (a) contemporary Quercus forests continuously forested since before the 1930s; (b) former agricultural lands, under cultivation in the 1930s and abandoned 70–80 years before our study and that were unburned; and (c) former agricultural lands also abandoned 70–80 years earlier and that were burned in 2013 prescribed fires. Among the three land uses, we compared 12 plant community variables, categorized into four groups characterizing different sets of community properties (structure, diversity, composition, and conservation values). Results A multivariate combination of the 12 community variables differed among all three land uses, each of the four categories of variables differed between at least two land uses, and eight of 12 individual variables differed between at least two land uses. Community structure displayed a gradient of decreasing tree canopy and understorey plant cover and increasing lichen–moss cover from continuously forested to unburned and burned formerly cultivated sites. Understorey plant species richness did not vary with land use, but species diversity was higher on cultivated sites, irrespective of fire history. While all three land uses now contain Quercus tree overstories, each land use exhibited unique understorey species composition. Only formerly cultivated sites contained state‐listed endangered species. Cultivated sites had a lower proportion of native species cover than did continuously forested sites, but native species still comprised over 90% of the plant cover on cultivated sites. Compared with continuous forests, the soil organic layer (O horizon) was five times thinner and loss on ignition in the 0–15 cm mineral soil 49% (unburned) and 66% (burned) lower on previously cultivated sites. Conclusions Community characteristics varied in their sensitivity to land use history, with species composition among the most sensitive to prior land use. A dense sapling layer of Acer rubrum forming in long‐unburned Quercus forests across much of eastern North America was absent in our study on formerly cultivated sites, possibly due to dry, infertile soil. From a restoration and conservation standpoint of the study region's pre‐settlement, frequently burned and open savannas and woodlands, previously cultivated sites may be easier to keep open via prescribed fire. Moreover, perhaps precisely because much of the flora historically developed in open savannas and woodlands which previously cultivated sites on the contemporary landscape most closely mimicked, previously cultivated sites presently contain higher species diversity and more conservation priority species than do continuously forested sites.

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Modelling agricultural land abandonment in a fine spatial resolution multi-level land-use model: An application for the EU

Cited by 72 publications

References 49 publications

Identification of early abandonment in cropland through radar‐based coherence data and application of a Random‐Forest model

Identification of early abandonment in cropland through radar‐based coherence data and application of a Random‐Forest model

Colonization Pattern of Abandoned Croplands by Quercus pyrenaica in a Mediterranean Mountain Region

Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

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