A multi-decadal change analysis of the irrigation ponds in Taoyuan, Taiwan was conducted by using multi-source data including digitized ancient maps, declassified single-band CORONA satellite images, and multispectral SPOT images. Supervised LULC classifications were conducted using four textural features derived from the single-band CORONA images and spectral features derived from SPOT images. Post-classification analysis revealed that the number of irrigation ponds in the study area decreased during the post-World War II farmland consolidation period (1945 – 1965) and the subsequent industrialization period (1970 – 2000). However, efforts on restoration of irrigation ponds in recent years have resulted in gradual increases in the number (9%) and total area (12%) of irrigation ponds in the study area.

Nowadays the relationship between planning land use and actual land use is not so clear in general. A lot of efforts have been put in the failures of regulation for the expansion of construction land. However, it still lacks an integrated approach to study the effectiveness of land use regulation in terms of different land use types. Furthermore, the existing evaluation of land use plan mainly focuses on a general level, a detailed research on the regulation effectiveness of each construction land use type is absent. Therefore, this research tries to evaluate regulation effectiveness of land use plan, which takes Cangwu country, Guangxi Province as an example. The finding by analysis is that the total area of construction land expansion was about 3494.73 ha, nearly 1.1 times of the plan quota. Moreover, the effectiveness differs greatly in various construction land use types. Town, industrial/mining sites can be well regulated through the quota of land use plan. While, the quota regulation system is not as effective for other type of construction land. Thus, we suggest to improve the regulation effectiveness of construction land through different plan instruments.

With the changing relationship between urban and rural areas in China, the rural areas are experiencing rapid social transformation. To ensure successful implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, land consolidation has become a major measure of rural economic reform. Existing research focuses on quantitative studies exploring the relationship between land consolidation and rural economic development, but there is a lack of studies on the relationship between land consolidation and social change. In this study, Jin’an Village is selected as the research area, using semi-structured interviews and semi-participatory observation to obtain original materials, aiming to make a detailed description of the specific practice of land consolidation, and to analyze the impact of land consolidation on the transformation of rural social consciousness. The study found that rural land consolidation involves villagers in the land consolidation process, which can effectively stimulate villagers’ participation in public affairs. Concurrently, the interaction between villagers and outside investors disrupts the conventional socialization model in rural areas and motivates villagers to act in accordance with contractual agreements. The conclusion is that land consolidation in rural areas can enhance the political democracy and legal consciousness of local villagers, which can lead to a change in local social consciousness. Our findings also emphasize the crucial necessity to grant rural villagers with improved accessibility to professional services and information, coupled with the continued promotion of land consolidation to advance modernization in these areas.

In-cloud ice mass accretion on wind turbines is a common challenge faced by energy companies operating in cold climates. On-shore wind farms in Scandinavia are often located in regions near patches of forest, the heterogeneity length scales of which are often less than the resolution of many numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. The representation of these forests--including the cloud water response to surface roughness and albedo effects related to them--must therefore be parameterized in NWP models used as meteorological input in ice prediction systems, resulting in an uncertainty that is poorly understood and to present date not quantified. The sensitivity of ice accretion forecasts to the subgrid representation of forests is examined in this study. A single column version of the HARMONIE-AROME 3D NWP model is used to determine the sensitivity of the forecast of ice accretion on wind turbines to the subgrid forest fraction. Single column simulations of a variety of icing cases at a location in northern Sweden were examined in order to investigate the impact of vegetation cover on ice accretion in varying levels of solar insulation and wind magnitudes. In mid-winter cases, the wind speed response to surface roughness was the primary driver of the vegetation effect on ice accretion. In early season cases, the cloud water response to surface albedo effects plays a secondary role in the impact of in-cloud ice accretion, with the wind response to surface roughness remaining the primary driver for the surface vegetation impact on icing. Two different surface boundary layer (SBL) forest canopy subgrid parameterizations were tested in this study that feature different methods for calculating near-surface profiles of wind, temperature, and moisture, with the ice mass accretion again following the wind response to surface vegetation between both of these schemes.

In Nigeria, desertification has become one of the most pronounced ecological disasters, with the impacts mostly affecting eleven frontline States. This has been attributed to a range of both nat-ural and man-made factors. This study applied a remote sensing-based change detection and indicator analysis to explore land use/land cover changes and detect major conversions from ecologically active land covers to sand dunes. Results indicate that areas covered by sand dunes (a major indicator of desertification) have doubled over the 25 years under consideration (1990 to 2015). Although about 0.71 km2 of dunes have been converted to vegetation, indicative of the success of various international, national, local, and individual afforestation efforts, conversely about 10.1 km2 of vegetation were converted to sand dunes, implying around 14 times more de-forestation compared to afforestation. Juxtaposing the progression of sand dune with climate records of the study area and examining the relationship between indicators of climate change and desertification suggested a mismatch between both processes as increasing rainfall and lower temperatures observed in 1994, 2005, 2012, and 2014 did not translated into positive feedbacks for desertification in the study area. On average, our results reveal that sand dune is progressing at a mean annual rate of about 15.2 km2 in the study area. Based on this study’s land cover change, trend and conversion assessment, visual reconciliation of climate records with land cover data, statistical analysis, observations from ground-truthing, as well as previous literature, it can be inferred that desertification in Nigeria is less a function of climate change, but more a product of human activities driven by poverty, population growth and failed government policies. Further projections by this study also reveal a high probability of more farmlands being converted to sand dunes by the year 2030 and 2045 if current practices prevail.

Accurate, detailed and recent Information about land cover/use is important and much more needed for different aspects of sustainable development and environmental management. As remote sensing datasets are becomes one of the most important and effective tools to generate such information, this study aimed to generating land cover map for sub area in Al-Ahasaa Oasis, Saudi Arabia, by using and classifying a subset of Landsat-ETM+ image of the selected study area, as bases and required input for future studies and researches. Different image preprocessing techniques in addition to a will-known and widely used classification method (i.e., Maximum Likelihood classifier) were applied. To be reliable with the final product, accuracy assessment was carried out with 89% agreement and accepted according to the applied method. Different land cover classes were found in the study area, which includes (Sand dunes, Water bodies, Sabakha, Bare soil, Urban, and Agricultural lands). The study also revealed that the dominant land cover class is sand dunes with approximately ± 70% in area. The study strongly indicated that the area has long been affected by sand movement. Finally, the study suggested that, further researches with more advanced methods rather than traditional methods are needed in the future to support the findings of this study, with high degree of accuracy.

In Taiwan, mountainous areas account for approximately two-thirds of the total area. The steep terrain and concentrated rainfall during typhoons cause landslides, which pose a considerable threat to mountain settlements. Therefore, models for analyzing rainfall-induced landslide hazards are urgently required to ensure adequate land use in mountainous areas. In this study, focusing on Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, we developed a landslide hazard index (IRL) to land use. Using FORMOSA-2 and SPOT-5 satellite images, data were collected before and after four typhoons (one in 2009 and three in 2013). The ArcGIS random tree classifier was used for interpreting satellite images to explore surface changes and disasters, which were used to analyze slope disturbances. The product of the maximum 3-h rolling rainfall intensity and effective accumulated rainfall was used as a rainfall trigger index (IRT). Considering environmental and slope disturbance factors, an index of slope environmental strength potential (ISESP) was developed through logistic regression (LR). Landslide hazard to land use was estimated using IRT and ISESP. The average coefficient of agreement (Kappa) was approximately 0.71 (medium to high accuracy); the overall accuracy of slope environmental strength potential analysis was approximately 80.4%. At a constant ISESP, IRT increased with the increasing hazard potential of rainfall-induced landslides. Furthermore, IRT and ISESP were positively correlated with landslide occurrence. When large ISESP values occur (e.g., fragile environment and high land development intensity), small IRT values may induce landslides.

Damage to crops from wildlife interference is a common threat to food security among rural communities in or near Game Management Areas (GMAs) in Zambia. This study uses a two-stage econometric model and cross-sectional data from a survey of 2,769 households to determine the impact of land use planning on the probability and extent of wildlife-inflicted crop damage. The results show that crop damage is higher in GMAs as compared to non-GMAs, and that land use planning could be an effective tool to significantly reduce the likelihood of such damage. These findings suggest that there is merit in the current drive to develop and implement land use plans as means to minimize human-wildlife conflict such as crop damage. This is especially critical as Zambian conservation policies do not have an explicit provision for compensation in the event of damage from wildlife.

The major global pressures of rapid urbanization and urban growth are compounded by climate impacts resulting in increased vulnerability for urban dwellers, with these vulnerabilities exacerbated during COVID-19. Much of this is concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas where urban development spreads into hazard-prone areas. Often this development is dominated by poor quality homes in informal settlements or slums with poor tenure security. Lessons from a current resilience-building project shows that the fit-for-purpose (FFP) approach to land administration can provide a solution to increase the number of households with security of tenure and improve resilience outcomes as informal settlements grow. This paper discusses the influence of FFP land administration on vulnerabilities to multiple shocks related to climate change and COVID-19. This paper proposes ways the growth of human settlements can be better managed through responsible governance of land tenure rights, and effective land-use planning to improve resilience to different shocks and stresses and provide adequate access to safe land and shelter. Land administration systems can support improved resilience to the multiple stressors of climate and pandemics through improving tenure security and enhancing land use planning controls. Climate change adaptation and risk management need to be better mainstreamed into two major elements of land governance: (i) securing and safeguarding of land rights, and (ii) planning and control of land-use.

The major industrial cities of Bangladesh are heavily experiencing air pollution-related problems due to the increased trend of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and other pollutants. This paper aimed to investigate and understand the relationship between PM2.5 and land use and climatic variables and to identify the riskiest area and population groups using a Geographic information system and regression analysis. The results show that about 41% of PM2.5 concentration increased within 19 years (2002-2021) in the study area, while the highest concentration of PM2.5 was found from 2012 to 2021. The concentrations of PM2.5 were higher over barren lands, forests, croplands, and urban areas. About 64%, 62.7%, 57%, and 55% concentrations were increased annually over barren lands, forests, cropland, and urban regions, respectively, from 2002-2021. The highest concentration level of PM2.5 (84 mg m-3) among other land use classes was found in urban areas in 2021. The regression analysis shows that air pressure (r2= - 0.26), evaporation (r2= - 0.01), humidity (r2= - 0.22), rainfall (r2= - 0.20), and water vapor (r2= - 0.03) were negatively correlated with PM2.5. On the other hand, air temperature (r2= 0.24), ground heat (r2= 0.60), and wind speed (r2= 0.34) were positively correlated with PM2.5. More than 60 Upazilas were the most polluted areas, with 1,948,029 populations (ages 0-5), 485,407 (ages 50-69), and a total population of 11,260,162 were in the high-risk/hotspot zone. The government line department may use the main results paper's key results, policymakers, stainable development practitioners, academicians, and others for integrated air pollution mitigation and management in Bangladesh and other geographical settings worldwide.

Rapid peri-urbanization has resulted in increasing demand for and pressure on peri-urban lands at the expense of agricultural lands. Households’ decision to convert from agricultural land uses to residential and commercial land uses is driven by a myriad of factors, ranging from social to economic, in the Asante-Akim South district of the Asante region, Ghana. The paper examined the effects of agricultural land use trade-off on food production in the district. Using a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods, 115 household respondents were proportionately sampled from three selected communities in the district, for the collection of data through the administration of questionnaires. The data were subjected to the Pearson’s chi-square, embedded in the SPSS V.16, to test for association among the variables. We report that the increasing rate of agricultural land uses conversions was as a result of increasing demand for residential and commercial land usage at the expense of agricultural land uses. Converting prime agricultural lands into other land uses was seen as profitable to agricultural expansion. A re-examination of the district land use plans by the Ghanaian Physical (Town and Country) Planning Department in tandem with the Lands Commission is therefore recommended.

This paper explores Ghana's two-decade journey in developing a digital land information system (LIS), exemplified by Ghana Enterprise Land Information System (GELIS) and Enterprise Land Information System (ELIS). Despite advancements by Ghana’s Lands Commission, manual processes persist and coexist with digital ones. Our study uses a qualitative approach to assess the effectiveness of the LIS implemented in Accra. The study found that Accra’s LIS is highly aligned with clear institutional mandates, roles, and responsibilities as well as the availability of laws and policies to support analogue to digital conversion. Furthermore, a robust approach for protecting data, operating system and software underpins the system. Subsequently, the integration of a digital LIS has enhanced service delivery and accountability. Nonetheless, Accra’s LIS is still at the beginning of a comprehensive learning and development curve. To sustain the LIS requires furtherance in the implementation plan, funding, law implementation, ICT strategy, divisional integration, work processes, data quality, and communication strategy. These findings will inform the next steps of improvement for Accra's LIS and guide its nationwide scaling, contributing to discussions on technology acceptance dynamics in predominantly analogue environments.

The relocation of Indonesia's capital to the IKN (Ibukota Negara) Nusantara in East Kalimantan is leading to significant changes in land use, shifting from natural vegetation and agriculture to urban infrastructure. This transition brings about economic diversification and urban expansion, but it also raises concerns about its impact on society, the economy, and the environment. The rapid development affects biodiversity conservation, food security, and the livelihoods of rural and indigenous communities, leading to conflicts across social and economic dimensions. This research uses qualitative and quantitative data to examine the socio-economic and environmental changes in the IKN Nusantara area from 2003 to 2023. The findings show a notable increase in built-up areas, indicating urbanization and a decrease in agricultural land. The study discusses the implications for local populations and ecosystems, emphasizing the need for inclusive governance, community participation, and conflict resolution. It also proposes a comprehensive policy framework that promotes sustainable land management, recognizes indigenous and local rights, and fosters inclusive economic growth to respect Indonesia's rich environmental and cultural heritage.

The article describes the results of comparison of occurence of buildings (and address points) in Poland with delimitations of land use belonging to particular classes in the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) 2018 dataset. Large discrepancies have been identified, which reach on average approx. 34% of addresses and 35% of buildings located outside class 1 (artificial surfaces), mainly on terrains of class 2 (agricultural areas). Among single-family buildings it was 37% and among new addresses (forecasted or ‘under construction’ buildings) – as much as 50%. This puts a question mark over the possibility of using CLC data with resolution of 25 ha for monitoring of spatial planning and development in Poland for purposes of the diagnosis and assessment of the scale of dispersion of built-up areas. It is worth carrying out similar analyses in other countries, known for the deconcentration processes and a relatively large share of dispersed settlement e.g. other CEE countries, Spain, Portugal, Italy.

Several extinctions have already been attributed, at least in part, to global warming, as climate change constitutes a serious threat for species living in isolated ecosystems and thus unable to track habitat changes. However, in all these cases extinction was due to human impacts, often directly but generally also through exotic invasive species. For two arboreal land snails in Indian Ocean islands a link has been proposed with decreasing rainfall. The decline (but probably not extinction) of Pachnodus velutinus, a specialist of moist forests on the summits of northwestern Mahé, was most likely caused instead by invasive plants altering its habitat and alien predators decimating the population in the small remaining moist forests. An alternative explanation assuming genetic swamping through hybridization with a species from lower elevations has no basis, as the presumed hybrid constitutes a distinct species able to survive in the altered, dryer habitat. On Aldabra Atoll, the endemic Rhachistia aldabrae was claimed to have been the first extinction due to climate change, but is still extant. No relationship can be detected between number of sightings and annual rainfall, although a weighted measure that takes into account rainfall in previous years suggests a limited impact of weather. Analysis of the sighting record in various ways yields a probability of survival over time that never dropped below 0.3. The decline was caused instead by intense impacts of exotic invasive species. Alternative shortcuts to evaluate extinction rates among poorly known species are shown to be unreliable. Although no contemporary extinction can still be attributed to climate change, indirect and synergistic impacts on biodiversity are expected, especially through promoting biological invasions.

Current species’ range displacements are mostly triggered by climate change but European landscapes are largely dominated by human activities. In this study we identify the most promising spatial adaptive trajectories (SATs) for the thirty most threatened non volant mammal species in Europe up to 2080 (under three climate and land change scenarios) and where/when SATs of each species synchronically converge. We found large contrasts on the persistence of species in SATs, with some species largely reliant on the functionality of areas where many SATs converge. Overall, SATs and convergence centers are not adequately covered by existing conservation areas and coincide with crop and arable lands, compromising species persistence. It is important to invest in the protection of SATs and convergence centers through a mix of conventional instruments and new collaborative forms with the socio-economy. Anticipative plans at long-term coupled with risk analysis offer decision–makers templates to prevent negative surprises.

Can investing in women’s agriculture increase productivity? This paper argues that it can. We assess climate impacts and gender bias on women’s production in the global South and North and challenge the male model of agricultural development to argue further that women’s farming approaches can be more sustainable. Level-based analysis (global, regional, local) draws on literature review, including authors’ published longitudinal field research in Ghana and the United States. Women farmers are shown to be undervalued and to work harder, with fewer resources, for less compensation; gender bias challenges are shared globally while economic disparities differentiate; breaches of distributive, gender, and intergenerational justices as well as compromise of food sovereignty affect women everywhere. We conclude that investing in women’s agriculture needs more than standard approaches of capital and technology investment. Effective ‘investment’ would include systemic interventions into agricultural policy, governance, education, and industry; be directed at men as well as women; and use gender metrics, e.g. quotas, budgets, vulnerability and impacts assessments, to generate assessment reports and track gender parity in agriculture. Increasing women’s access, capacity, and productivity cannot succeed without men’s awareness and proactivity. Systemic change can increase productivity and sustainability.

Land-cover classification that uses very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing images is a topic of considerable interest. Although many classification methods have been developed, there is still room for improvements in the accuracy and usability of classification systems. In this paper, a novel post-processing approach based on a dual-adaptive majority voting strategy (D-AMVS) is proposed for improving the performance of initial classification maps. D-AMVS defines a strategy for refining each label of a classified map that is obtained by different classification methods from the same original image and fusing the different refined classification maps to generate a final classification result. The proposed D-AMVS contains three main blocks. 1) An adaptive region is generated by extending gradually the region around a central pixel based on two predefined parameters (T1 and T2) in order to utilize the spatial feature of ground targets in a VHR image. 2) For each classified map, the label of the central pixel is refined according to the majority voting rule within the adaptive region. This is defined as adaptive majority voting (AMV). Each initial classified map is refined in this manner pixel by pixel. 3) Finally, the refined classified maps are used to generate a final classification map, and the label of the central pixel in the final classification map is determined by applying AMV again. Each entire classified map is scanned and refined pixel by pixel based on the proposed D-AMVS. The accuracies of the proposed D-AMVS approach are investigated through two remote sensing images with high spatial resolutions of 1.0 and 1.3 m, respectively. Compared with the classical majority voting method and a relatively new post-processing method called general post-classification framework, the proposed D-AMVS can achieve a land-cover classification map with less noise and higher classification accuracies.

The meaning of a good social outcome in land use transport policy/planning has been relatively underdeveloped, compared to economic and environmental sustainability goals, but this is now changing. Cities are increasingly prioritizing reducing social exclusion, with the allied intent of providing all residents with equitable access to the benefits of their city. However, in jurisdictions that use cost-benefit analysis to guide government decision-making, this poses a challenge: monetization of the benefits of reducing social exclusion is poorly developed. An evaluation gap thus confronts benefit-cost based assessment of initiatives intended to reduce social exclusion, compared to initiatives directed towards societal economic and environmental goals. This is a particular problem for public transport services that primarily enable people at risk of mobility-related social exclusion to access more opportunities in their society (social transit). The benefits of reducing social exclusion associated with these services have not been monetized, so social transit initiatives are poorly placed to argue their merits against competing initiatives where benefit monetization is more advanced (e.g., mass public transport and roads). The paper summarizes Australian research that has developed monetized measures for the value of increased trip making, bridging/bonding social capital, sense of community and several conceptions of wellbeing, and of reducing neighbourhood disadvantage, as these contribute to reducing social exclusion. New Singaporean research on the value of trip making to support reduced exclusion is also presented, affirming the Australian trip values. Trip values are then used in case study examples to show they can make a material difference to the societal worth of initiatives intended to reduce exclusion. Using these trip values, and other pathway values linked to reducing social exclusion, closes or at least substantially reduces the evaluation gap confronting social goal achievement in land use transport policy and planning, strengthening the case for reducing exclusion. These values will assist jurisdictions that are seeking to provide their residents with more equitable access to the benefits of their city.

The aim of this paper is to study changes in land use and the evolution of vegetation in Cacheu River Mangroves Natural Park in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. To do this, we will study variations in the NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. In order to perform the calculations and subsequent analysis, images from three years— 2010, and 2017—were used, all corresponding to the same time of year so that the phenological stage is the same. To perform a more reliable analysis, the park was divided into five classes based on the main use of the land: mangals, palm forest, paddy fields, savannahs and others. Using a statistical sample, same areas were selected for each class and the corresponding NDVIs were calculated for the years in which ASTER images were available. The study made it possible to conclude that at present, management of the park is not the most suitable, given that the changes in land use observed represent a decrease in mangrove swamps, despite the fact that these forests constitute the most important ecological area of all those that make up the park. Mangals are being replaced by other land uses.

A land cover map of two arctic catchments, nearby the Abisko Scientific Research Station, was obtained from a classification of a Sentinel-2 satellite image and a ground survey performed in July 2022. The two contiguous catchments, Miellajokka and Stordalen, are covered by various ecotypes, from boreal forest to alpine tundra and peatland. The random forests algorithm correctly identified 88% of polygon pixels reserved for testing. The developed workflow relied solely on open source software and acquired ground observations. Space organization was directed by the altitude as demonstrated by the intersection of the land cover with the topography. Comparison between this new land cover map and previous ones based on data acquired between 2008 and 2011 shows some trends of vegetation cover evolution in response to climate change in the considered area.

A land cover map of two arctic catchments, nearby the Abisko Scientific Research Station, was obtained from a classification of a Sentinel-2 satellite image and a ground survey performed in July 2022. The two contiguous catchments, Miellajokka and Stordalen, are covered by various ecotypes, from boreal forest to alpine tundra and peatland. Two classification algorithms, support vector machine and random forest, were tested and gave very similar results. The percentage of correctly classified pixels was over 88% in both cases. The developed workflow relies solely on open source software and acquired ground observations. Space organization was directed by the altitude as demonstrated by the intersection of the land cover with the topography. Comparison between this new land cover map and previous ones based on data acquired between 2008 and 2011 shows some trends of vegetation cover evolution in response to climate change in the considered area. This land cover map is key input data for permafrost modeling, and hence for the quantification of climate change impacts in the studied area.

With the accelerating urbanization process, the population increasingly concentrates in urban areas. In view of the special situation in China and a series of problems in the process of rapid urbanization, there were no reasonable measures for optimizing the population pattern. This study explored the distribution pattern of the Chinese population and proposed an optimization plan for the population distribution using GIS analysis. The main findings were as follows. (1) From 2010 to 2015, the distribution of population density in China presented a pattern of high in the southeast and low in the northwest based on the county-level administrative regions. The population still showed a tendency to migrate to the southeast of the country based on the “Hu Huanyong Line”. (2) There was a great difference in the land use efficiency in terms of population and economic production in China. The economic concentration in China was higher than the population concentration. In the areas where population and economic production were aggregated, GDP per capita and land use efficiency were higher. (3) Based on the land use efficiency in terms of population and economic production, the optimized urbanization plan of “1+4+11” for China’s urbanization was put forward, namely, one national-level aggregated area of population and economic production, 4 regional-level aggregated areas of population and economic production, and 11 local regionally aggregated areas of population and economic production. This optimization plan for urbanization represents an attempt to explore the direction of China’s urbanization, and it can be used to optimize the spatial development pattern and provide scientific guidance for the new urbanization plan.

The coordination planning between land use and transportation system is an important premise of solving urban transportation problems and realizing land use integration. This study investigates the interactive and feedback relationship between land use and transportation system from the perspective of access management. By integrating the land use and traffic data from Las Vegas Metropolitan area with the system dynamics model, the causal relationship and causal loop diagrams (CLDs) are introduced to analyze the cause-and-effect relationship and quantitative relationship between the factors of the combined system of land use and transportation, and then sub-models partition and system simulation are performed. The systems dynamics model is established by analyzing the relationship between a series of access management techniques, traffic characteristics, and land use features. The results show that system dynamics model can be used as an effective alternative to model the symbiosis relationship of land use and transportation system for urban planning and construction.

In the future, the pursuit of high-quality economic development and a focus on ecological environmental protection in China will inevitably result in significant conflicts between land use and ecological land use. The challenge lies in achieving sustainable high-quality development while simultaneously protecting the ecological environment, optimizing the land use structure, and promoting a harmonious relationship between humans and the land. These challenges are faced by all regions. Land use conflicts primarily occur in peri-urban areas characterized by prominent economic development and urban agglomeration. Previous studies have mainly focused on analyzing the effects of land use on habitat quality during intense urbanization. However, it is important to recognize that land pressure encompasses economic, ecological, and social aspects. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the spatial conflict of land use and the impact on habitat quality in Ankang, a city that has been advocating ecological protection for the past two decades, this study aims to objectively analyze the spatial trends in land use changes in such cities. Additionally, it aims to provide insights for the harmonious development of land use in eco-region-oriented cities. Using the SSP-RCP scenarios provided by CMIP6, this paper employs a system analysis method, PLUS model, InVEST model, and land use conflict measurement model to dynamically simulate the future habitat quality and spatial conflict patterns of land use in Ankang City. The study explores the spatial coupling effect of both factors under different scenarios. The results indicate the following:(1) Under different future shared socio-economic path scenarios, land use intensity and land conflict levels follow the order of SSP585 (high forcing scenario), SSP370 (medium to high forcing scenario), SSP245 (medium forcing scenario), and SSP126 (low forcing scenario), with intensity and conflict decreasing accordingly. (2) The overall development trend in Ankang City reveals an intensification of land use conflicts and a decrease in habitat quality. The expansion rate of construction land is increasing and exhibiting aggregation, while agricultural land area is expanding and forest land area is continuously decreasing. (3) Land use intensity exhibits a significant positive correlation with land conflict levels, while land conflict levels demonstrate a significant negative correlation with habitat quality. These findings suggest that land use has had some impact on the ecological environment, with indications of habitat degradation. Even in Ankang, where ecological development is highly valued, the city will gradually face conflicts between ecological protection and economic development in future scenarios. The study highlights that Ankang's future development space will be constrained within the context of environmental protection, leading to greater land use conflicts in urban and surrounding areas. Consequently, the quality of habitats will inevitably decline. Therefore, it is crucial to allocate sufficient space for economic development while simultaneously prioritizing ecological protection. This approach will ensure a healthy economic development trajectory and foster a harmonious relationship between humans and the land.

This paper explores the role of agroforestry in mitigating climate change by sequestering atmospheric carbon in the tropics and subtropics, specifically in the Madhupur Sal forest of Bangladesh. Agroforestry, combining trees with crops on agricultural lands, is recognized for its potential to act as carbon sinks and enhance productivity. The study assesses various agroforestry practices, including Acacia-Pineapple-Turmeric-Papaya, Acacia-Pineapple-Zinger-Banana, and Sal-Pineapple-Aroid combinations. The research reveals improved farm productivity in these agroforestry systems, with different tree species sequestering varying amounts of carbon. Acacia species, ranging from 12 to 25ft in height, sequestered an average of 23.35 lbs/year, while Sal species (Shorea robusta), with trees 45 to 61ft tall, sequestered 49.80 lbs/year on average. Factors such as tree height, diameter at breast height (DBH), number of leaves, and branches influence carbon sequestration. The paper suggests integrating the carbon trading system of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with Carbon Sequestration (CS) potential to leverage agroforestry for greenhouse gas emission reduction in Bangladesh. By emphasizing the profitability of these practices alongside carbon sequestration, the study encourages the adoption of agroforestry as a sustainable and economically viable strategy for climate change mitigation.

Recreational and leisure areas play a special role. These areas mitigate or eliminate the disadvantages of living in large cities, and they enhance the quality of life in small towns. The aim of this study was to analyze the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties in 2022. In Poland, recreational and leisure areas constitute a separate land-use category in cadastral registers. Annual cadastral data from the Land and Building Register at county level (in tabular form) were the main source of data for the study. The analysis revealed that the share of recreational and leisure areas was higher in counties situated in western and south-western Poland, as well as in cities. The spatially varied influence of socioeconomic factors on the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties in 2002 was determined with the use of local Moran's I statistic and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The study confirmed that population density was significantly related to the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties. The impact of the remaining socioeconomic factors associated with spatial and economic development varied across regions. The study also revealed that in addition to the current socioeconomic determinants, the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties was also influenced by historical factors and the counties' development since their establishment.

The relationship between city size, coastal land use and air temperature rise with distance from coast during summer day is analyzed using the meso-scale Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model in five coastal cities in Japan with different sizes and coastal land use (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Sendai) and inland cities in Germany (Berlin, Essen and Karlsruhe). Air temperature increased as distance from the coast increased, reached its maximum, and then decreased slightly. In Nagoya and Sendai, the number of urban land use in coastal areas is less than the other three cities, where air temperature is a little lower. As a result, air temperature difference between coastal and inland urban area is small and the curve of air temperature rise is smaller than those in Tokyo and Osaka. In Sendai, air temperature in the inland urban area is the same as in the other cities, but air temperature in the coastal urban area is a little lower than the other cities, due to about one degree lower sea surface temperature influenced by the latitude. In three German cities, the urban boundary layer may not develop sufficiently because the fetch distance is not enough.

Multiple social and environmental justice concerns are linked to urban form such as the distribution of socioeconomic class populations, healthcare spending, air pollution exposure, and human mobility. This study used 1m resolved LIDAR data to characterize land use in Salt Lake County, Utah and associate it with sociodemographic and air quality data at the census block group and zip code levels. We found that increasing tree cover was associated with higher per capita income and lower minority populations while increasing built cover was linked to lower per capita income and higher minority populations. Air quality showed less strong correlations, however, decreased non irrigated cover, increased built cover, and higher amounts of households living under poverty was related to higher long-term PM2.5 exposure. Several policy efforts have been undertaken to improve air quality and reduce negative health outcomes in Utah which are being informed by regulatory and research grade air quality sensors.

Automated vehicles (AVs), which are expected to enter the market within the near future, represent the current frontiers in mobility and urban planning. AVs are assumed to bring substantial benefits to cities in many aspects. The present study attempts to investigate this broad assumption by conducting a literature review on the possible implications of AVs in cities as well as synthesizing the current state of practice of AV pilots to detect trends in their deployment. In this paper, literature findings on AVs’ implication on vehicle ownership, mobility, land use as well thirteen uses cases were synthesized to capture the big picture of them in cities. The findings showed that, in the AV pilots, the operation of AVs is limited to routes stretching less than 3.5km and an operation speed of less than 18km/h; low speed has been one of the main concerns of the participating passengers to use them for daily trips. The results also revealed that although shared AVs are expected in urban mobility, private ownership will stay competitive since vehicle ownership has been a socio-cultural identity in the history of automobiles. The findings also underlined that the potential influence of AVs on active mobility is still unclear as the AVs have not been introduced on a larger scale. Regarding AVs’ impact on land use, their introduction results in the effective use of space, but they will cause suburbanization in the long term.

The integration of transportation systems with land use through the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model can effectively promote sustainable development in cities. By increasing the intensive use of land within the supply capacity of urban public transportation, this model can comprehensively improve the efficiency of urban transportation and land use, while also addressing problems such as traffic congestion and environmental pollution. To implement this model, a "Node-Place-Function" (NPF) framework is proposed based on the coordination degree between rail transit and land use in Qingdao. A comprehensive evaluation system is constructed to quantitatively assess the TOD level and comprehensive development level of land use around rail transit stations from three dimensions. By applying the NSGA-II genetic algorithm, a land use allocation optimization model is developed to maximize rail transit station accessibility, land economic benefits, and environmental comfort. The research results guide other cities in China to implement TOD in land use planning and promote coordinated development between urban rail transit and land use.

Based on the land use data of Qingmei Harbor Mangrove Nature Reserve in Sanya, China, in 2009, 2015 and 2022, this paper utilizes the PLUS model to predict the land use changes in the region in 2035 under three development scenarios, namely natural development, urban construction and ecological protection. The results of the study show that the area of building land in this region increased rapidly from 2009-2015, and the corresponding cropland, parkland and arbor forest land as a whole showed a different degree of decline, while the expansion of the area of manmade land, such as building land, basically came to a standstill after 2015. However, the mangrove area in this region has maintained a stable growth trend from 2009-2022. The results of multi-scenario modeling of land in this region showed that the area of building land, unutilized land, and artificial land such as parkland and grassland increased the most under the urban development scenario. In the ecological protection scenario, the area of ecological land, such as arbor forest land and river and lagoon, increases significantly. However, there is no significant increase in the area of mangrove forests under any of the three development scenarios. At present, the task of “returning ponds to wetlands” has been basically completed in this area, and the space for large-scale expansion of mangrove forests in Qingmei Harbor is limited in the future, and the focus of subsequent work should be shifted to the enhancement of the quality and function of mangrove ecosystems.

This study analyses the changes in land use in the Sado estuary (West-Central Portugal) based on a multitemporal analysis of cartographic data from the 19th century and remote sensing land use maps from the 21st century, updated by field work. A GIS plotting of land-use evolution is summarized in a quantitative table. The comparison shows the changes in land use, with increasing occupation by human economic activities, including extensive agriculture and forestry, as well as localized urbanization and industrialization. The main elements of the landscape impacted by anthropogenic uses were: i) hydrography - river dams affected the flow dynamics and sedimentary processes in the estuary; ii) vegetation – increasing agriculture and forestry reduced the areas of native vegetation, nowadays mostly occupied by vineyards, pine forests and cork oaks. iii) wetlands - tidal and alluvial plains are being occupied by rice cultivation, aquaculture, industries, and ports; iv) coastal dunes – new developments are occupying large areas of Holocene coastal dunes; v) natural environment – mining and dredging affected some habitats and biodiversity. This analysis is intended to help the territorial organization of present and future economic activities, as well as to reduce environmental and social problems, promoting long-term sustainability of this rapidly evolving region.

Human disturbances can have severe environmental impacts on freshwater ecosystems. The main aim of this study was to detect the influences of physiochemical variables, land-cover characteristics, and river connectivity on fish assemblages in Lake Chaohu Basin, China. A cluster analysis of the river connectivity variables identified four groups of sites that characterized by significantly different connectivity gradients in local scale. These four groups of sites showed increasing connectivity from the upper reaches to the lower reaches. At the same time, among the four groups, the values of the environmental variables generally increased from the upper reaches with less human activity towards the lower reaches with more human activities. For instance, some main physiochemical variables (e.g., river width, water depth, nitrate, phosphate) significantly increased among the four groups. In contrast, fish taxa richness and diversity indices were not significantly different among the four connectivity groups. However, fish assemblages showed significant variation among the connectivity groups (p=0.026). In addition, the study determined that upper riparian land uses (e.g., woodland and grassland), flow velocity, and elevation were environmental variables regulating the variance in the fish communities, and for the connectivity variables, only river order and number of branches along a path to the left of the main stem affected the variance in the fish communities. Therefore, new practices aimed at maintaining and even increasing the riparian canopy coverage and the flow velocity of rivers should be integrated into local conservation planning for freshwater ecosystems, especially in the upper reaches of the basin.

In recent years, many libraries and archives have started digitizing their collections thus making maps by Indigenous peoples more easily available for scholars to study. While a number of these maps were discussed by G. Malcolm Lewis in the History of Cartography series (volume 2, book 3, Chapter 4: 1984), more have since been found and disseminated. These maps are critical in understanding the historic and current land tenure of Indigenous groups. Further, Indigenous claims to land can be seen in their connections via toponymy. European concepts of territory and political boundaries did not coincide with First Nation/American Indian views resulting in the mistaken view that Natives did not have formal concepts of their territories. Further, Tribes/First Nations with cross-border territory have special jurisdictional problems. This paper will illustrate how many Native residents were very spatially cognizant of their own lands, as well as neighboring nations’ lands, overlaps between groups, hunting territories, populations, and trade networks. Currently, the Sinixt First Nation provides a perfect example of how an Aboriginal people are inputting and using a GIS representation of their territory with proper toponymy and use areas.

As the EU is moving towards a low carbon economy and seeks to further develop its renewable energy policy, this paper quantitatively investigates the impact of plausible energy market reforms from the perspective of bio-renewables. Employing a state-of-the-art biobased variant of a computable general equilibrium model, this study assesses the perceived medium-term benefits, risks and trade-offs which arise from an advanced biofuels plan, two exploratory scenarios of a more 'sustainable' conventional biofuels plan and a 'no-mandate' scenario. Consistent with more recent studies, none of the scenarios considered present significant challenges to EU food-security or agricultural land usage. An illustrative advanced biofuels plan simulation requires non-trivial public support to implement whilst a degree of competition for biomass with (high-value) advanced biomass material industries is observed. On the other hand, it significantly alleviates land use pressures, whilst lignocellulose biomass prices are not expected to increase to unsustainable levels. Clearly, these observations are subject to assumptions on technological change, sustainable biomass limits, expected trends in fossil fuel prices and EU access to third-country trade. With these same caveats in mind, the switch to increased bioethanol production does not result in significant market tensions in biomass markets.

Successful translation of biofortified orange maize (BOM) to a household staple food is dependent on farmers’ ability to cultivate the maize and it subsequent utilization. In this study, we assessed farmers ‘allocation of their land to cultivation of BOM and con-ventional white maize (CWM) varieties in districts where AFI-KEPO Nutrition Program is implemented in Malawi. Results show farmers were skeptical of allocating more land to cultivation of BOM. CWM was allocated significantly more land (1.75 ± 0.51 acres) than BOM (1.12 ± 0.32 acres) (p

With a predominantly humid tropical climate and a large area for expanding agricultural activities, Angola has in principle favorable conditions for bioenergy production. The focus of this study was to evaluate the availability of suitable land for producing sugarcane. This crop is highly efficient in converting solar energy into biomass for energy purposes in Angola. To this end, the Global Agro-Ecological Zones database, GAEZ v4, developed by IIASA and FAO, with the aid of the QGIS version 3.22.5, has been used to identify areas suitable for sugarcane cultivation, considering four levels of suitability. Aiming at the sustainability of bioenergy production, areas dedicated to food production, protected areas, and areas with slopes above 16% were excluded. Under these criteria, this study identified the existence of 6.3 Mha in lands of good agricultural suitability, with water resources, corresponding to 5% of the Angolan territory, distributed in seven provinces of the country, especially in the provinces of Cuando Cubango and Cunene, where 85% of the very suitable land under irrigation is located. Adopting a model of agricultural productivity, assuming irrigation and adequate agricultural practices, such area could produce approximately 956 million ton of sugarcane annually, which is significantly higher than the current production in this country, This amount of feedstock, processed using current technology could potentially produce 81.3 GL of ethanol and 176,9 TWh of electricity with low GHG emission per year, able to mitigate, as a whole, circa 60.3 MtCO2-eq/year by displacing gasoline in light vehicles and diesel and natural gas consumed in power generation.

The modification of land use is a crucial factor in the dysfunction of ecosystems. It considerably influences the hydrological cycle of basins. This study focuses on the Oueme basin, which represents almost half of the total area of Benin, and describes the current and future evolution of its land cover using the maps of the Land Use Land Cover Dynamics project (1975, 2000 and 2013). A temporal analysis of the surface states was performed with QGIS and the potential land cover in 2025, 2050 and 2085 was estimated using the Markov chain algorithm in the IDRISI software. The results show that the Oueme basin is predominantly savanna (77.70% in 1975, 66.29% in 2000 and 57.10% in 2013). Forest areas, which represented the second class in 1975 with a total proportion of 13.34%, have gradually decreased to 8.66% and 6.89% respectively in 2000 and 2013. Conversely, cultivated areas more than tripled in 2000 and quadrupled in 2013. Residential areas are increasing very strongly in the southern part of the basin with an amplification in the recent period (6% between 2000-2013 against 2% between 1975-2000). The recent period is more exposed to changes in surface condition and these changes are likely to be amplified in the future (probable total disappearance of forested areas in 2085). We recommend clarifying the impacts that each land use category generates/will generate on the hydrological cycle of this basin.

European strategic policy directions towards a sustainable blue economy have strengthened interest in maritime investments, thus increasing sectoral competition for marine space. Emerging repercussions out of such a rising interest need to be handled by Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) as a means for: properly allocating marine space to diverse uses; managing conflicts and promoting synergies among them; and pursuing a multi-use perspective of this space. A critical stage of each MSP exercise is the exploration of land-based spatial/developmental directions and their current or potential repercussions in the marine environment in order for constraints but also perspectives in policy choices/maritime uses in the MSP context to be featured; and attainment of a successful coherence or coordination between land and marine spatial/developmental policies to be ensured, by analyzing Land-Sea-Interaction (LSI) and embedding it in the MSP. The latter is the focus of this paper aiming to illuminate critical issues emerging from land-based (terrestrial) policy frameworks for feeding MSP endeavors; and is accomplished in the Northern Aegean Sea, Greece. Towards this end, a multilevel approach is adopted, delving into diverse policy contexts at the local, regional and national/European level and aiming to attain more informed MSP decisions in the specific study region.

The suppression of natural spaces due to the urban sprawl and increase of the built and agricultural environments has impacted the water resources quality, especially in areas with high population density, as the metropolitan regions. Considering the advance in Brazilian environmental legal framework, the present study aims to verify whether land use has still significantly affected water quality, through a case study in the Stones River watershed, a peri-urban river basin at a metropolitan region, Brazil. Analysis of physical-chemical indicators, collected at several sample points with different land-use (urban areas, commercial forestry, riparian forestry, mixed vegetation, pasture, and sugar cane plantation) at different seasons of the year (dry and rainy) were carried out. As a result, it was verified some statistically significant spatiotemporal effects on the of water quality caused associated to the land-use. In conclusion, in spite of the advances in the Brazilian law, land-use has still significantly affected the water quality, demanding public policies and decisions, so that effective compliance with legal guidelines is ensured.

The eutrophication caused by excessive total nitrogen(TN) and total phosphorus(TP) emissions has been widely concerned by the whole society. Studies have revealed the relationship between land use and TN and TP, but the relationship between land use compound topographic position and TP and TN was seldom studied. Therefore, Spearman correlation and redundancy analyses were used to reveal the relationship between land use compound topographic position and TN and TP based on the monthly data of 28 water quality sampling sites and the land use data of 2013 and 2016 in the lakes of Guizhou Plateau. The results show that the nutritional state of the HBA watershed is medium. The trophic level index (TLI) value and TN concentration were high during flood, while TP concentration was high in dry period. The TN concentration in the tributaries was higher than that in the reservoir area. Construction and valley were the sources of the pollution, whereas forest land and gentle slope were the sink. According to the”source-sink”effect, the optimal zoning of land use was completed, and the urban land pollution govern area should be strengthened firstly. This paper can provide decision support for water environment management and sustainable development decision-making.

Decision tables have been used for many years in data processing and business applications to simulate complex rule sets. Several computer languages have been developed based on rule systems and they are easily programmed in several current languages. Land management and river-reservoir models simulate complex land management operations and reservoir management in highly regulated river systems. Decision tables are a precise yet compact way to model the rule sets and corresponding actions found in these models. In this study, we discuss the suitability of decision tables to simulate management in the river basin scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model. Decision tables are developed to simulate automated irrigation and reservoir releases. A simple auto irrigation application of decision tables was developed using plant water stress as a condition for irrigating corn in Texas. Sensitivity of the water stress trigger and irrigation application amounts were shown on soil moisture and corn yields. In addition, the Grapevine Reservoir near Dallas, Texas was used to illustrate the use of decision tables to simulate reservoir releases. The releases were conditioned on reservoir volumes and flood season. The release rules as implemented by the decision table realistically simulated flood releases as evidenced by a daily NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency) of 0.52 and a percent bias of -1.1%. Using decision tables to simulate management in land, river and reservoir models was shown to have several advantages over current approaches including: 1) mature technology with considerable literature and applications, 2) ability to accurately represent complex, real world decision making, 3) code that is efficient, modular and easy to maintain, and 4) tables that are easy to maintain, support, and modify.

Bamboo agroforestry is currently being promoted as a viable land use option to reduce dependence on natural forest for wood fuels in Ghana. To align the design and introduction of bamboo agroforestry in conformity with farmers’ needs, perceptions, skills and local cultural practices, information on its acceptability and adoption potential among farmers is necessary. It is therefore the objective of this study to (1) describe bamboo ethnobotany and (2) assess socioeconomic factors that affect the acceptability and adoption of bamboo and its integration into farming practices. Accordingly, information has been collected from 200 farmers in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. The study identified the socioeconomic risks and uncertainties as well as biophysical factors that are likely to influence the potential adoption of bamboo agroforestry in the study region. Gender, age, farmers’ known uses of bamboo, the practice of leaving trees on farmlands, farmers’ networking and access to extension services, land availability and ownership by farmers were identified as suitable predictor variables for the adoption of bamboo agroforestry. It is envisaged that bamboo agroforestry is a good bet in the DSFZ though there is the need to explore domestic energy (fuelwood) provision and substitution potential in order to have a broader picture of the technology.

Impact of land use and land cover (LULC) change on soil erosion is still imperfectly understood, especially in northeastern China (NEC). Based on the Revised Universal Loss Equation (RUSLE), the variability of soil erosion at different spatial scales following land use changes in1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017 was analyzed. The regionally spatial patterns of soil loss coincided with the topography, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and use patterns, and around 45% soil loss came from arable land. Regionally, soil erosion rates increased from 1980 to 2010 and decreased from 2010 to 2017, ranging from 3.91 to 4.45 t ha-1 yr-1 with an average of 4.22 t ha-1 yr-1 in 1980-2017. The rates of soil erosion less than 1.41 t ha-1 yr-1 decreased from 1980 to 2010, and increased from 2010 to 2017, and opposite changing patterns occurred in higher erosion classes (i.e., above 5 t ha-1 yr-1). At a provincial scale, Liaoning Province experienced the highest soil erosion rate of 9.43 t ha-1 yr-1, followed by Jilin Province, the east Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjing Province. Arable land continuously increased at the expense of forest in the high-elevation and steep-slope areas from 1980 to 2010, and decreased from 2010 to 2017, resulting in increased areas with erosion rates higher than 7.05 t ha-1 yr-1. At a county scale, around 75% of the countries had soil erosion rate higher than its tolerance level. The county numbers with higher erosion rate increased in 1980-2010 and decreased in 2010- 2017, resulting from the sprawl and withdrawal of arable land. The results indicate that appropriate policies can control soil loss through limiting arable land sprawl in areas of unfavorable regions in the NEC.

Human activities and natural events alter the earth’s surface and pose a constant threat to the environment. Thus, accurately monitoring and predicting these changes in a timely manner is crucial to provide solutions and mitigate the environmental consequences beforehand. This research introduces a novel framework, called HCD-Net, for change detection using bi-temporal hyperspectral images. The framework is based on double-stream deep feature extraction and an attention mechanism. The first stream focuses on deep feature extraction through 3D convolution layers and 3D Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) blocks. The second stream focuses on deep feature extraction through 2D convolution and 2D SE blocks. The extracted deep features are then concatenated and fed to dense layers for decision-making. The efficiency of HCD-Net is compared to the state-of-the-art change detection methods. Additionally, the bi-temporal Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) hyperspectral dataset was used for further evaluation of the change detection results. The results show that HCD-Net has a higher accuracy and the lowest false alarm rate, where the overall classification accuracy is above 96%, and the kappa coefficient is over 0.9.

Nicaragua is preparing the construction of an interoceanic canal that will be the longest and largest canal on earth. An environmental and social impact assessment has been published in 2014 supporting a general viability of the canal. Nonetheless, several scientist and societal actors raised serious concerns regarding the social, economic and ecological sustainability. Despite an open dispute within the Nicaraguan society, no independent, transparent and scientifically sound assessment has been carried out. Only the environmental and social impact assessment, charged by the canal constructor, has so far been realized. The aim of this study is to contribute to an open scientific debate through an objective and independent quantification of land use and hydrological impacts. This article presents a transparently documented and comprehensible impact assessment investigation of the West Canal Segment of the Nicaragua Canal. Based on publically available data and scientifically sound and recognized methods land use, hydrological (water availability) and socio-economic impacts (streets, population) are described, quantified and compared with official declarations in the impact assessment. While some results support official declarations other do not. The number of affected population and the water use of the Brito Lock resulted much higher in this study, for instance. Hence, society and water availability could be affected much higher than estimated in the impact assessment.

Climate and land use changes are major factors affecting runoff in regional basins. Understanding variation by considering interactions among hydrological components is an important process for water resource management. This study aimed to assess the variation of future runoff in the Upper Chi Basin, Northeastern Thailand. QSWAT hydrological model was integrated to 3 CMIP6 GCMs including ACCESS-CM2, MIROC6, and MPI-ESM1-2-LR under SSP245 and SSP585 scenarios during 2023 – 2100. Land Change Modeler (LCM) was also used for future land use simulation. The results revealed that future average of long-term precipitation and temperature tended to increase while forest land tended to decrease and be replaced by sugarcane plantations. The accuracy assessment of baseline year runoff calculation by QSWAT during 1997 – 2022 showed acceptable result as can be seen from R2, NSE, RSR, and PBIAS indices. This result could lead to temporal and spatial simulation of future runoff. Likewise, runoff of 2 SSPs scenarios tended to increase consecutively, especially in SSP585 scenario. In addition, in case of long-term spatial changes in the subbasins scale, over 90% of the area, from upstream to outlet point, tended to get higher due to 2 major factors including future increased precipitation and changes in cultivation, which would be influential to groundwater and interflow components respectively. Methodology and result of this study can be useful to stakeholders in understanding changes in hydrological system so that they can apply it to develop a strategy for water resource management and handling factors affecting different dimensions properly and sustainably.

Wildfires have always been a part of the history of Mediterranean forests. However, forest regeneration after a wildfire is not certain. It depends on many factors, some of which may be influenced by land management activities. Failure of regeneration will cause a regime shift in the ecosystem, reducing the provision of ecosystem services and ultimately leading to desertification. How can we increase Mediterranean forests’ resilience to fire? To answer this question, we did a literature review, investigating chains of processes that allow forests to regenerate (which we label “regeneration mechanisms”), and assessed the impact of selected management practices documented in the WOCAT database on the regeneration mechanisms. We identified three distinct regeneration mechanisms that enable Mediterranean forests to recover, as well as the time frame before and after a fire in which they are at work, and factors that can hinder or support resilience. The three regeneration mechanisms enabling a forest to regenerate after a fire consist of regeneration (1) from a seed bank; (2) from resprouting individuals; and (3) from unburned plants that escaped the fire. Management practices were grouped into four categories: (1) fuel breaks, (2) fuel management, (3) afforestation, and (4) mulching. We assessed how and under what conditions land management modifies the ecosystem’s resilience. The results show that land management influences resilience by interacting with resilience mechanisms before and after the fire, and not just by modifying the fire regime. Our analysis demonstrates a need for adaptive – i.e. context- and time-specific – management strategies.

This study examined carbon footprint as an indicator of soil health at spatiotemporal scales with different land use types and varying soil depths in Morogoro, representing the eastern agroecological zone of Tanzania. Soils are highly weathered and acidic. The specific objectives were twofold: (1) To quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) at varying soil depths (0–15 cm, 15–30 cm) in contrasting land use types, including tractor cultivated, hand-hoe cultivated, ranch land, and reserved/bare land type; (2) To predict carbon management indices (CMI) of the studied land use types through regresses SOC, carbon pool index (CPI), and lability index (LI) at varying soil depths. Composite soil samples were based on transects of three main plots each (replicates) of 20 m by 50 m. Results showed that land use types and soil depths significantly (P <0.001) affected SOC (3.4%) and CMI (126.3). Hand hoe cultivated land at 0–15 cm recorded CMI of 259.8. Regression analysis showed an increase in CMI ranging from 97% to 99%, with standard error ranging from 2.177 to 46.096. Similar trends, but with disparity magnitudes in regressed parameters provide useful insight into transformations of organic carbon in contrasting land use types.

The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) produces new global spatial information, evidence-based analytics and knowledge describing the human presence on the planet based mainly on two quantitative factors: i) the spatial distribution (density) of built-up structures and ii) the spatial distribution (density) of resident people. Both factors are observed in the long-term temporal domain and per uniform surface units in order to support trends and indicators for monitoring the implementation of international framework agreements. The GHSL uses various input data including global, multi-temporal archives of fine-scale satellite imagery, census data, and volunteered geographic information. In this paper, we present the characteristics of GHSL information to demonstrate how original frameworks of data and tools rooted on Earth Observation could support Sustainable Development Goals monitoring. In particular, we demonstrate the reach of gridded, open and free, local yet globally consistent, multi-temporal data in filling the data gap for the Sustainable Development Goal 11. Our experiments produce a global estimate for the Land Use Efficiency indicator (SDG 11.3.1) for 10,000 urban centers, calculating the ratio of land consumption to population growth rate that took place between 1990 and 2015. The results of our research demonstrate that there is a potential to lift SDG 11.3.1 from a tier 2 as GHSL provides a global baseline for the essential variables called by the SDG 11.3.1 metadata.

In the context of the energy transition, the integration of land use considerations into energy planning is increasingly vital, especially in scenarios where land availability is a constraint. This study addresses the challenge of incorporating land-use aspects into Energy System Optimization Models (ESOMs), with a focus on the unique context of Pantelleria Island. It aims to bridge the gap in methodologies for renewable energy potential assessment and model integration, considering the critical role of land pricing and availability. It combines geospatial data aggregation with model adaptation to include detailed land use aspects. Findings highlight the substantial impact of land costs on renewable energy planning, with land pricing significantly altering model outcomes. This research offers key insights for sustainable energy planning and underscores the importance of considering land use in energy transition strategies.

The use of wind energy has been developing fast over the last years. The global cumulative wind power capacity increased by 10.5% in 2019, most of which comes from onshore wind farms. One of the consequences of this continuous increase is the use of land for onshore wind farms. There are already cases worldwide where lack of well-established plans and strategies have caused delays in projects. The need for efficiently using land for wind farms will be mandatory in the short term. In this work, we present a numerical analysis to evaluate wind farm land-use. By defining the ratio between mechanical output power over an area as a parameter called land-use ratio, this work focused on comparing several cases of aligned and staggered layouts. Mechanical output power was estimated using a validated code based on Blade Element Momentum code, and the wake velocities and wake interaction effects were estimated using a validated wind turbine CFD model. In terms of output power, staggered designs are more efficient than aligned designs. However, the results showed that even though staggered designs produced higher output power, aligned farms with tight lateral spacing could be as efficient as staggered ones in terms of land-use but using fewer turbines. In summary, tightly aligned designs should be a tendency in the future towards efficient use of land in wind farms.

Evapotranspiration is a critical component of the hydrological cycle, and it has a decisive impact on the ecosystem balance in arid and semi-arid regions. The Yinchuan Plain, located in the Gobi of Northwest China, has a strong surface ET. In order to assess the ET pattern in this region, we obtained the ETa of Yinchuan Plain between 1987 and 2020 using the GEE platform. We employed the Surface Energy Balance Model (SEBAL), specifically geeSEBAL, to analyze the change pattern of ET over different seasons, years, and land types. The results show that: ① In spring, the daily ETa of the Yinchuan Plain is highest in the central lake wetland area, with a maximum value of 4.32 mm day-1. In summer, it is concentrated around the croplands and water bodies, with a maximum value of 6.90 mm day-1; In Autumn and winter, it is mainly concentrated around the water bodies and impervious areas, with maximum values of 3.93 and 1.56 mm day-1, respectively. ② From 1987 to 2020, the ET of the Yinchuan Plain showed an obvious upward and downward trend in some areas with significant land use changes, but the overall ET of the region remained relatively stable without dramatic fluctuations. ③ The evapotranspiration of different underlying land use types in the Yinchuan Plain region is as follows: water body&gt;cultivated land&gt;impervious&gt;grassland&gt;bare land. Our results showed that geeSEBAL is highly applicable in the Yinchuan Plain area. It allows for the accurate and detailed inversion of ET in the study area, which facilitates the study of regional hydrological cycle and water governance.

Relationships of the three bryophyte lineages (liverworts, mosses, and hornworts) to vascular plants is a pivotal question in the study of origin and evolution of land plants. In recent decades, this question has been subject to intense phylogenetic analyses using morphological characters, multigene DNA sequences, and genome structural characters. A tentative consensus reached ten years ago suggested that bryophytes are a paraphyletic group, with liverworts being sister to all other land plants and hornworts being sister to vascular plants. However, several more recent nuclear phylogenomic studies have concluded that bryophytes represent a monophyletic group that is sister to vascular plants. A discussion is presented here on strengths and weaknesses of different types of characters (morphological traits, nucleotide sequences, and genome structural arrangements), and their suitability for resolving deep phylogenetic relationships. Moreover, several criteria for credible phylogenetic reconstruction are proposed. Strong statistical support for reconstructed relationships should be derived from high quality, independent characters selected for suitability to the particular question being addressed. The relationships inferred in a study should be congruent with those from as many other lines of phylogenetic evidence as possible. Any incongruities should be explicable by well-understood biological mechanisms. It is concluded that the relationships of the three bryophyte lineages to vascular plants should currently be viewed as unresolved. This is a difficult phylogenetic problem; the land plants underwent a rapid radiation a long time ago. Yet, further exploration of analytical methods and careful choice of characters should lead to eventual elucidation of diversification patterns among early land plants.

Questions：SAP in mountainous cities of China serve as crucial carriers for species and wild food, constituting potential green infrastructure. These patches should be recognized as locally specific resources. This study investigates the transformation characteristics of the landscape patterns of SAP, along with their elements, across urban-rural gradients, providing foundational support for the planning of conservation and utilization strategies. Location: Yongchuan area of Chongqing in southwest China. Methods: The study investigated urban-rural gradient-based transformation of SAP. A four-direction transect space was selected and divided into uniform sample squares. Fragstats 4.3 calculated the landscape index of SAP, and Spearman correlation coefficients in SPSS were used to evaluate the influence of landform and artificial factors on agroforestry patch transformation. Results: 1) Patch area (PA), Plaque density (PD), and CLUMPY of SAP systematically transform, showing increased SAP areas and higher connectivity with greater distance from the city, resulting in reduced patch fragmentation. However, Edge density (ED) and Largest plaque index (LPI) exhibit irregular transformation patterns. 2) With increased distance from the city, woodland patch area and connectivity increase, leading to decreased fragmentation, dispersal, and lower fractal dimensions. Conversely, Cultivated land follows the opposite trend. garden land patch area, fractal dimension, fragmentation, and dispersal all increase, while connectivity decreases. 3) Landscape pattern transformations of SPA are significantly influenced by artificial factors. Woodland patches are influenced similarly by landform and artificial factors. In contrast, cultivated land and garden land patches are more significantly impacted by artificial factors. Conclusions: SAP exhibit differentiated conservation and utilization measures across urban-rural gradients. Small patches located far from urban centers may benefit from systematic conservation measures to prevent further fragmentation and erosion in peri-urban areas.

Agricultural land conversion (ALC) is an incentive–driven process. In this paper we further investigate the inter–relationship between land economic value (LEV) and ALC. To achieve this goal, we calculated LEV for agricultural and non-agricultural (housing) uses in two areas in East Java, Indonesia. The first area represents suburban agriculture, facing rapid urbanization and experiencing high rate of ALC. The second area represents rural agriculture with zero ALC. Furthermore, we identified factors affecting LEV in both areas for both uses. The resut of this study show that agricultural land yielded higher economic benefit in rural area. Conversely, comparing to agricultural land, housing creates 7 times higher value in urban area. Moreover, agricultural land shown to create higher profit after converted. Ironically, the similar comparison doesn’t exists in rural area. Agricultural land only yielded 19% more value, indicate that agricultural land can be easily converted. It is also proven by the growing number of new urban core in the periphery area. There are several factors affecting land economic value, for agricultural use, soil fertility, accessibility, and cropping pattern are important variables. While accessibility and location in urban area increases land value for housing.

Accurately estimating shrub biomass in arid and semi-arid regions is critical for understanding ecosystem productivity and carbon stocks at both local and global scales. However, capturing the shrub biomass accurately by satellite observations is challenging due to the short and sparse features of shrubs. In this study, we presented a framework to estimate shrub biomass at a 10m spatial resolution by integrating ground in-situ data, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1 observations. The pilot study was conducted in the Helan mountains of Ningxia province, China. First, the spatial distribution map of shrubland and other land cover types was generated in 2023. Then, a prediction model of shrub biomass was developed in a Random Forest Regression (RFR) approach driven by different predicted variable datasets based on in-situ measurements, UAV, and satellite images. Finally, the developed model was used to produce the biomass map of shrubland in 2023. The uncertainty was characterized by creating a standard deviation (SD) map using the Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) method in the shrub biomass estimates. The resultant shrubland distribution map in 2023 has an F1 score of 0.92. The shrub biomass model driven by spectral bands and vegetation indices (R2= 0.62) demonstrated superior performance than that only driven by spectral bands (R2=0.33) or vegetation indices (R2=0.55). The uncertainty of the estimated biomass was lower than 4%, with the lowest values (<2%) happening in the high shrub coverage (>30%) and biomass production (>30kg/m2) regions. Furthermore, the findings show that the magnitude of shrub biomass was affected by the aridity and precipitation significantly in the study region. This study provides a workflow to accurately monitor the biomass of shrublands in a complicated environment based on remote sensing images from multi-platform observations.

Fire regimes in mountain landscapes of southern Europe have been shifting from their baselines due to rural abandonment and fire exclusion policies. Understanding the effects of fire on biodiversity is paramount to implement adequate management. Herein, we evaluated the relative role of burn severity and heterogeneity on bird abundance in an abandoned mountain range located in the biogeographic transition between the Eurosiberian and Mediterranean region (the Natural Park ‘Baixa Limia–Serra do Xurés’). We surveyed the bird community in 206 census plots distributed across the Natural Park, both inside and outside areas affected by wildfires over the last 11 years (from 2010 to 2020). We used satellite images of Sentinel 2 and Landsat missions to quantify the burn severity and heterogeneity of each fire within each surveyed plot. We also accounted for the past land use (forestry or agropastoral use) by using a land cover information for year 2010 derived from satellite image classification. We recorded 1,735 contacts from 28 bird species. Our models, fitted by using GLMs with Poisson error distribution (pseudo-R²_-average of 0.22 ± 0.13), showed that up to 71% of the modelled species were linearly correlated with at least one attribute of the fire regime. The spatiotemporal variation in burnt area and severity were relevant factors for explaining the local abundance of our target species (39% of the species; Akaike weights > 0.75). We also found a quadratic effect of at least one fire regime attribute on bird abundance for 60% of the modeled species. The past land use, and its legacy after 10 years, was critical to understand the role of fire (Akaike weights > 0.75). Our findings confirm the importance of incorporating remotely sensed indicators of burn severity into the toolkit of decision makers to accurately anticipate the response of birds to fire management.

Land use/land cover (LULC) and climate changes are two main factors directly affecting hydrologic conditions. However, very few studies in Vietnam have investigated changes in hydrological process under the impact of climate and land use changes on a basin scale. The objective of this study is to assess the individual and combined impacts of land use and climate changes on hydrological processes for the Nam Rom river basin, Northwestern Viet Nam using Remote Sensing (RS) and Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) model. SWAT model was used for hydrological process simulation. Results indicated that SWAT proved to be a powerful tool in simulating the impacts of land use and climate change on catchment hydrology. The change in historical land use between 1992 and 2015 strongly contributed to increasing hydrological processes (ET, percolation, ground water, and water yield), whereas, climate change led to significant decrease of all hydrological components. The combination of land use and climate changes significantly reduced surface runoff (-16.9%), ground water (-5.7%), water yield (-9.2%), and sediment load (-4.9%). Overall climatic changes had more significant effect on hydrological components than land use changes in the Nam Rom river basin during the 1992–2015. Under impacts of projected land use and climate change scenarios in 2030 on hydrological process of the upper Nam Rom river basin indicate that ET and surface flow are more sensitive to the changes in land use and climate in the future. In conclusion, the findings of this study will basic knowledge of the effects of climate and land-use changes on the hydrology for future development of integrated land use and water management practices in Nam Rom river basin.

The key to simulating soil erosion is to calculate the vegetation cover (C) factor. Methods that apply remote sensing to calculate C factor at regional scale cannot directly use the C factor formula. That is because the C factor formula is obtained by experiment, and needs the coverage ratio data of croplands, woodlands and grasslands at standard plot scale. In this paper, we present a C factor conversion method from a standard plot to a km-sized grid based on large sample theory and multi-scale remote sensing. Results show that: 1) Compared with the existing C factor formula, our method is based on the coverage ratio of croplands, woodlands and grasslands on a km-sized grid, takes the C factor formula obtained from the standard plot experiment and applies it to regional scale. This method improves the applicability of the C factor formula, and can satisfy the need to simulate soil erosion in large areas. 2) The vegetation coverage obtained by remote sensing interpretation is significantly consistent (paired samples t-test, t = −0.03, df = 0.12, 2-tail significance p < 0.05) and significantly correlated with the measured vegetation coverage. 3) The C factor of the study area is smaller in the middle, southern and northern regions, and larger in the eastern and western regions. The main reason for that is the distribution of woodlands, the Hunshandake and Horqin sandy lands and the valleys affected by human activities. 4) The method presented in this paper is more meticulous than the C factor method based on the vegetation index, improves the applicability of the C factor formula, and can be used to simulate soil erosion on large scale and provide strong support for regional soil and water conservation planning.

Climate change is a crucial issue of the 21st century, leading to more frequent and severe extreme precipitation events globally. These events result in significant social and economic disruptions, including flooding, loss of life, and damage to infrastructure. Projections suggest that extreme rainfall will intensify in the latter half of the century, underscoring the need for accurate and timely forecasting. Despite advancements in meteorological and climate models that offer high accuracy for various weather parameters, these models still struggle to detect extreme values, particularly for precipitation. This research examines the sensitivity of extreme precipitation events to temperature, based on the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship, focusing on Thessaloniki, Greece. It also evaluates the effectiveness of reanalysis data in identifying extreme precipitation and explores how rainfall-temperature relationships can enhance prediction accuracy. The findings are vital for improving the estimation of extreme rainfall events and informing the design of flood-resilient infrastructure.

The Tonle Sap Lake (TSL) landscape is a region of vast natural resources and biological diversity in the heart of Southeast Asia. In addition to serving as the foundation for a highly productive fisheries system, this landscape is home to numerous globally threatened species. Despite recognition by several governmental and international agencies for decades, nine protected areas have been established within this region, natural landcover such as grasslands have experienced considerable declines since the turn of the century. This project used local expert knowledge to train and validate a random forest supervised classification of Landsat satellite imagery in Google Earth Engine. The time series of thematic maps was then used to quantify the conversion of grasslands to croplands between 2004 and 2023. The classification encompassed a 10-kilometer buffer surrounding the landscape, an area of nearly 3 million hectares. The average overall accuracy for these thematic maps was 82.5% (78.5% - 87.9%), with grasslands averaging a 76.1% user’s accuracy. The change detection indicated that over 207,281 ha of grasslands were lost over this period (&gt; 59.5% of the 2004 area), with approx. 89.3% of this loss could be attributed to cropland expansion. The results of this project will inform conservation efforts focused on local scale planning and management of commercial agriculture.

Land includes vegetation and water bodies and provides the basis for human livelihoods through primary production, the supply of food, freshwater, and multiple other ecosystem goods and services. The last three decades have recorded frequent drought events as well as rapid population growth, which has resulted in often negative land use and land cover change (LULCC) in the Sahel of Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to propose sustainable land management strategies, it is important to investigate the rate of LULCC and its driving factors in specific locations. This study investigated the case of Wocoro municipality in Mali using a combined approach of remote sensing, Geographical Information System, and focus group discussions. Satellite images and local people's perceptions on LULCC and drivers were collected and analyzed for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. We found that the study area faced a severe decrease in wooded savannah with an increase in farmland and settlement directly or indirectly related to the rapid population growth, high cotton price (which encouraged cropland expansion), drought, firewood extraction, and charcoal production, which was exacerbated by poverty. There is a need to promote integrated land management strategies that consider current and future livelihoods needs and preserve the health of the environment for the benefits of future generations.

Background: There are major air pollution monitoring gaps in sub-Saharan Africa. Developing capacity in the region to conduct air monitoring in the region can help estimate exposure to air pollution for epidemiology research. The purpose of our study is to develop a land use regression (LUR) model using low-cost air quality sensors developed by a research group in Uganda (AirQo). Methods: Using these low-cost sensors, we collected continuous measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) between May 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020 at 22 monitoring sites across urban municipalities of Uganda. We compared average monthly PM2.5 concentrations from the AirQo sensors with measurements from a BAM-1020 reference monitor operated at the US Embassy in Kampala. Monthly PM2.5 concentrations were used for LUR modeling. We used eight Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and ensemble modeling; using 10-fold cross validation and root mean squared error (RMSE) to evaluate model performance. Results: Monthly PM2.5 concentration was 60.2 µg/m³ (IQR: 45.4-73.0 µg/m³; median= 57.5 µg/m³). For the ML LUR models, RMSE values ranged between 5.43 µg/m³ - 15.43 µg/m³ and explained between 28% and 92% of monthly PM2.5 variability. Generalized additive models explained the largest amount of PM2.5 variability (R²=0.92) and produced the lowest RMSE (5.43 µg/m³) in the held-out test set. The most important predictors of monthly PM2.5 concentrations included monthly precipitation, major roadway density, population density, latitude, greenness, and percentage of households using solid fuels. Conclusion: To our knowledge, ours is the first study to model the spatial distribution of urban air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa using air monitors developed from the region itself. Non-parametric ML for LUR modeling performed with high accuracy for prediction of monthly PM2.5 levels. Our analysis suggests that locally produced low-cost air quality sensors can help build capacity to conduct air pollution epidemiology research in the region.

This article presents the analysis of the allocation of important plant areas (IPA), which urgently identifies the most valuable sites for protecting plant objects. The study is based on a comprehensive inventory of the species composition of plants in the flora of the Western Karatau Ridge and the Mangyshlak Peninsula (arid regions)- key sites Akmysh, Samal, and Kogez, considered standard and the best preserved with natural vegetation cover. The flora of these critical sites was analysed using a combination of field surveys, herbarium studies, and a literature review. The results revealed a rich biodiversity, with 104 species from 82 genera and 33 families. Most species belong to 9 families, making up 60.6% of the total taxa. By the nature of life forms, perennial herbaceous plants dominate in all key sites (30 species, 50.0%). The eco-phylogenetic spectrum showed that a significant share of the flora of the studied IPAs is made up of xerophytes (21 species, 35%) and xeromesophytes (9 species, 15%); desert and mountain-steppe species prevail (53.0%). Rare, endangered and Red Book species account for 10-21.3% of those growing in the region. Regarding economic value, fodder, ornamental, honey, medicinal and food species dominate. The Shannon, Simpson, and Jaccard indices assessed alpha-beta and gamma diversity. The index showed that biodiversity in the Samal and Kogez sites is higher and more evenly distributed compared to the Akmysh site. The Whittaker, Harrison and Cody indices confirm significant differences in the species composition between the sites. In light of these compelling results, a clear and urgent call to action is proposed to allocate these areas to the IPA category, a crucial step towards ensuring the long-term existence of natural biocenoses.

Biodiversity conservation planning is highly important in the current context of global change. Biodiversity conservation can be achieved by understanding changes in land use at the landscape scale. Such understanding is needed to reverse the unprecedented pressure on natural resources that has been reported by many studies conducted on biodiversity conservation within the Oti-Keran-Mandouri protected areas. Land cover maps reflecting different dates (1987, 2000, and 2013) and depicting different management systems, with overall accuracy ranging from 73% to 79%, were analyzed to understand the processes that lead to habitat degradation within these protected areas. The nature of change, within a given land cover class, was determined by comparing land cover maps on different dates using a decision tree algorithm that compares the number of patches, their areas, and their perimeters at different time periods (T₁ and T₂). Specifically, two time-periods were considered for this analysis: 1987–2000 and 2000–2013. Croplands and settlements increased at an average of 108.13% and 5.45%, respectively, from 1987 to 2000. From 2000 to 2013, croplands gained from all other land categories and continued to increase at a rate of 11.77% per year, whereas forests and savannas decreased at an annual average rate by 5.79% and 2.32%, respectively. The dominant processes of habitat change from 1987 to 2000 were the creation of forests, dissection of savannas, attrition of wetlands, and creation of croplands. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2013, there was attrition of forests, as well as attrition of savannas, dissection of wetlands, and aggregation of croplands. In general, from 1987 to 2013, natural habitats regressed and were replaced by croplands; forests, savannas, and wetlands decreased at an average annual percentage 5.74%, 3.94%, and 2.02%, respectively, whereas croplands increased at an average annual rate of 285.39% of their own area. Aggregation, attrition, dissection, and creation were the main habitat change processes identified for the overall period from 1987 to 2013. There was habitat loss in forests and savannas and habitat fragmentation in wetland due to attrition and dissection, respectively. Identifying and understanding habitat change processes would enable the taking of appropriate biodiversity conservation actions.

In light of the critical and emerging global challenge posed by the increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves in recent decades, this study demonstrates a practical and robust workflow that bridges the gap in understanding how the effective integration of remote sensing data with ground-based observations can facilitate a comprehensive assessment of spatiotemporal heatwave patterns and trends in the central region of Thailand. This research transcends traditional methods, utilizing air temperature (Tair) and satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST) data from 1981 to 2019. Results exhibit that an analysis of Tair indicates increasing daytime heatwaves in peri-urban areas, with significant trends in heatwave number (HWN), heatwave frequency (HWF), and heatwave duration (HWD), heatwave amplitude (HWA) rises in urban settings while nighttime heatwaves significantly intensify in rural locales. Notably, LST trends reveal varied patterns, with peri-urban areas showing marked daytime increases in heatwave magnitude (HWM), HWA, and HWF. Correlation analysis (p=0.05) highlights strong daytime associations between Tair and LST in rural (HWN, HWF, HWD, r&gt;0.90) and peri-urban (HWM, HWA, r&gt;0.65) regions. Overall, this study advances approaches to the adaptable measurement and spatial-temporal pattern of heatwave-related risk areas, providing insights for decision-makers to develop sustainable practices and strategies for climate change adaptation.

In eastern part of Ethiopia groundnut is very commonly intercropped with sorghum. Even though intercropping of sorghum with groundnut is practiced in the eastern part of Ethiopia the population density at what ratio should not be known. Therefore determining the population ratio is found to be crucial to draw management options. The study was conducted at two locations at Fadis (on station) and Babile (sub- station). Sorghum variety (Teshale) and groundnut (Fetene) were used as planting materials. All agronomic data were collected and analyzed by using GenStat software. Significant different were obtained among the treatments. The research result showed that, there were significance difference for both sorghum and ground nut yield per hectare in the years (2014 and 2015) among treatments. The result over time(in 2014 and 2015) at Fadis and Erer showed that the highest sorghum and groundnut yield per hectare were obtained/harvested from the intra row spacing of 25cmx20cm and 30cmx20cm intercropping sorghum with ground nut system with (1.27 and 1.31) respectively. The highest LER (1.31) and highest GMV (10218.00 ETBr/ha) were obtained from the intercropping of 30cmx20cm (Sorghum & groundnut). Clearly showed that, with intercropping of sorghum and Groundnut, it is possible to produce additional yield of sorghum without significant reduction in groundnut yield. As a result of this, the intra spacing of the main crop (sorghum) 25cm and 30cm and for the subsidiary crop (groundnut) 20cm was recommended for further production in the study areas of eastern Harerghe zone and similar agro-ecologies.

Land and property development process include a series of multifaceted activities ranging from purchasing to converting it for development purposes and everything in between. The process itself encompasses multiple stakeholders, drivers, and contributions from diversified public and private actors and transaction cost arises out of their complex interaction. Transaction costs incurred during any kind of human interactions (i.e. transactions). Every actor involved in the process wishes to maximize his achievement under various constraints and hence institutional arrangement (i.e. set of humanly devised rules to administer the constraints) is necessary for efficient management of the development process. Therefore, to devise an optimum outcome out of economic and social transactions in the property development process, cooperative and competitive relationships between individuals should be understood from a broader socio-political and governance structure. In this research, it is critically argued that land and property development process should implicate a multifaceted set of formal and informal rules or institutional arrangement to govern the intrinsic interaction, action and thereby reducing the related transaction cost. The argument is further reproachfully evaluated and implicated in the urban development process through the myopic lens of Transit-oriented development (TOD) pathway. A vigilant combination of descriptive and explanatory research approach is adopted to analyze the connection between theory and practice.

Our study reviews the significance of archaeological parks in the tourism sector, with a specific focus on how digital presence and visitor feedback impact their cultural and touristic appeal. Utilizing statistical analyses such as regression and cluster analysis on data sourced from both Hungarian and Western European parks, the research scrutinizes TripAdvisor and Google ratings, alongside the volume of photographs and reviews. The findings highlight a modest correlation between digital visibility and overall visitor ratings, underscoring the complex relationship between online engagement and the quality of visitor experience. Notably, the cluster analysis identified two distinct groups, signifying diverse levels of visitor engagement and digital visibility across the parks. The conclusions drawn advocate for a comprehensive strategy to enhance visitor experiences, emphasizing the integration of digital engagement with the promotion of the parks cultural and historical values. By exploring the influence of digital presence on the appeal of archaeological parks, our study sheds light on the evolving interface between urban studies and digital heritage, highlighting how digital tools and online platforms are becoming increasingly integral in shaping the perceptions and experiences of urban cultural sites.

Detecting and monitoring changes in soil salinity through remote sensing provides an opportunity for field assessment in regions where on-site measurements are limited. This investigation, carried out in Siwa Oasis, Egypt, aimed to assess the efficacy of several soil salinity indices derived from Landsat 5 and 7 satellite images. To achieve this, 56 on-site ground measurements were utilized for evaluation purposes. The study aimed to improve the correlation between EC and index values and explore the relationship between salinity and changes in land cover. Eleven spectral indices were calculated for nine scenes captured in different months from August to December. The first approach involved stacking the data to identify the index with the strongest correlation with ground EC values, without the need for complex analysis or EC value ranging. In the second approach, the ground EC measurements were classified into seven different salinity categories, and the correlation coefficient was calculated between each index and each salinity category. The third approach analyzed the data temporally, considering different salinity levels. Lastly, a spatial correlation analysis was conducted between EC and index values in the fourth scenario. The initial approach revealed a weak correlation due to substantial variation in EC values. However, the SI index demonstrated the highest correlation coefficient of 0.38. In the second scenario, the S2 index exhibited the highest correlation of 0.96 for moderate salinity samples. The third scenario showed that the S1 index achieved the highest correlation value of 0.99 for moderately saline areas. In the fourth scenario, the SI index exhibited the strongest correlation among all four ponds with correlation coefficients of 0.23, 0.23, 0.18, and 0.61. Notably, the correlations observed in the second and third scenarios demonstrated higher correlation coefficients compared to both the first and fourth scenarios. The study highlighted significant variations in EC levels related to land cover types and pond elevation. Additionally, remote sensing methods detected a 48% increase in total vegetated area over 17 years, showing the potential of remote sensing techniques in salinity monitoring for expanding agriculture and improving land management.

Although urbanization has contributed to improving living conditions, it has had negative impacts on the natural environment in the urbanized areas. Urbanization has changed the urban landscape and resulted in increasing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, studies related to LST in various urban environments have become a popular research topic. However, few LST studies focusing on the mountain landscapes (i.e. hill stations) have been carried out. The primary objective of this study is to investigate changes in the landscape and their impacts on LST intensity (LSTI) in the tropical mountain city of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. The study utilized annual median temperatures extracted from Landsat data collected from 1996 to 2017 based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) interface. The fractions of built-up (BL), forest (FL), and agricultural (AL) land were calculated using land use and cover maps based on the urban-rural zone (URZ) analysis. The urban-rural margin was demarcated based on the fraction of BL (<10%) and LSTI was measured using the mean LST difference in the urban-rural zone. In addition, the mixture of land use types was calculated using the AL/FL and BL/FL fraction ratios, and grid-based density analysis. The result shows that the BL in all URZ rapidly developed, while AL decreased during the period 1996 to 2017. There was minimal change in the forest area of the Nuwara Eliya owing to the government forest preservation policies. The fraction of the BL increased from 32.4% in 1996 to 58.7% in 2017 in the city center zone (URZ₁) resulting in increased mean LST by 4.7 °C. Furthermore, the increase of the BL/FL fraction ratio and the decrease of the AL/FL fraction ratio were positively correlated with the mean LST. Grid-based analysis showed an increasing positive relationship between mean LST and density of BL. This indicated that BL density has been a crucial element in increasing LST in the study area. The results of this study will be a useful indicator to introduce improved landscape and urban planning in the future to minimize the negative impact of LST on urban sustainability.

The integration of nature-based solutions into land use optimization has emerged as a focal point of current research, primarily due to its efficacy in mitigating flooding impacts and fostering sus-tainable development in both urban and rural areas. Utilizing Shanghai Pujiang Country Park as a case study, this paper conducts a simulation analysis to assess the flood mitigation effectiveness of three distinct land use patterns (Natural scenario, Scenario N; Complete urbanization scenario, Scenario U; Country Park Planning scenario, Scenario P) under five stormwater scenarios with re-turn periods of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 years. The findings reveal that Scenario P exhibits superior flood mitigation performance, particularly under stormwater scenarios with a return period of less than 50 years. Building upon these results, the paper proposes recommendations for optimizing land use with a focus on mitigating the impact of flooding. This study is crucial for comprehending the mechanisms involved in urban stormwater logging mitigation through land use methods and holds significance for decision-making in land use and planning at the micro level.

This study to assess the Physical Land Suitability Analysis for Cultivation of Selected Cool Weather Cereal Crops, Misha District, Hadiya Zone, South Central Ethiopia of major cereal crops of barley and teff in Misha district. Each of the criteria was separately reclassified and analyzed for their suitability for supporting barley and teff crops based on the FAO crop requirements specified for them. The major data sources were climatic data, soil, LGP and topographic data as well as key informant interview, questioner observation of crop requirements which have been considered to undertake suitability assessments of the study area. The factor maps like land use /land cover, temperature, rain fall, soil type and altitude were classified based on suitability evaluation methods of FAO and experts’ opinion. At final stage these were reclassified and standardized in GIS software extension tools, which led to the preparation of suitability analysis map of the major crops plant suitability classes. As part of spatial MCDM, AHP pair wise comparison module was used to derive internal and external weights for each individual factors and parameters respectively. Consequently, suitability analysis was done and weighted overlay suitability map was visualized with integration of GIS. The findings show that among total area of land suitability maps for both barley and teff cops were using weighted overlay techniques. The suitability map of teff crop shows that 12,038.22 hectare of the investigated area are highly suitable (S1), 19,646.07 hectare moderately suitable (S2) and 4,501.71 hectare marginally suitable (S3) and 112 hectare not suitable. On the other hand, the suitability map of barley crop shows that 7,898.52 hectare of the investigated area are highly suitable (S1), 22,830.08 hectare moderately suitable (S2), and 5,466.4 hectare marginally suitable (S3) and 103 hectare not suitable for economic reasons (N1). This was done for barley and Teff crops separately. Results of the study revealed that most of the lands in the study area are suitable for the cultivation of the selected crops and other crops. Based on finding, it could be recommended that this work would be used as policy guide for planners; investment could be successful in the District, further suitability research works should be carried out in order to optimize the major crop cultivation and production.

In an era of rapid technological improvements, state-of-the-art methodologies and tools dedicated to protecting and promoting our cultural heritage should be developed and extensively employed in the contemporary built environment and lifestyle. At the same time, sustainability principles underline the importance of the continuous use of historic or vernacular buildings as part of the building stock of our society. Adopting a holistic, integrated, multi-disciplinary strategy can bridge technological innovation with conserving and restoring heritage buildings. The paper presents ongoing research and results of the application of Machine Learning methods for the remote monitoring of the built environment of the historic cluster in Cypriot cities. This study is part of an integrated, multi-scale, and multi-discipline study of heritage buildings towards the creation of an online HBIM platform for urban monitoring.

Historically, urban development has always been centered on coastal areas – with access to waterbodies – seas, rivers and canals being a significant advantage for movement and trade. With most of the world’s megapolises located on coasts, land reclamation offers a solution for the expansion of city centers which are otherwise restricted by the coastline. The current understanding of urban regeneration and development on reclaimed lands is defined in this study, answering the basic questions of what, why and how. This study aims to assess the urban regeneration on reclaimed coastal land based on the principles of sustainable development defined by existing studies. The literature review establishes a theoretical framework and defines performance-based benchmarks identifying the spatial indicators of urban development. Composite indicators namely open space coverage, land use mix, percentage of coast for people, accessibility to public transportation and amenities, availability of pedestrian paths and cycling tracks and adequate road networks are considered for this framework. The conclusions are drawn based on the results of the analysis of spatial layout using GIS as a tool to map and empirically measure each indicator. The framework is validated using a major land reclamation project, West Bay, in the coastal urban area of ​​the city of Doha. The results determine that West Bay has achieved a good level of sustainability, although there are areas that could be enhanced to further improve the overall sustainability of urban development. These findings can serve as a guide for policymakers and various stakeholders for sustainable urban planning on reclaimed coastal lands.

Land registry is one of the instruments most mentioned by public actors in land management in Benin to solve land problems faced by the country. Its implementation and functioning depend not only on technical actions but also on political will. Through a methodology based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group, as well as on the theory of "change in public action" by P. Muller (2005), legal and institutional changes have been observed in the implementation of the cadastral project. It is a project whose political component is readable through government action and the legal reforms carried out. At the technical level, the land data collected are processed by computer systems that can facilitate the mass production of land titles.

The eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (ECLU) is an important indicator for the construction of ecological civilization in China. Exploring the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution of the ECLU is helpful for sustainable use of arable land, ensuring food security and ecological security. However, previous studies have mostly focused on the use of a slacks-based measure (SBM) model for ECLU measurement, ignoring the more accurate epsilon-based measure (EBM) model. Therefore, in this study, firstly, we explored the conceptual framework of ECLU, and then, based on the panel data of the counties in the region around Beijing and Tianjin from 2005 to 2020, we investigated the spatial and temporal evolution of ECLU by using the Super-EBM model, kernel density estimation method, and spatial Markov chain model. Results displayed: (1) From 2005 to 2020, the ECLU in the region around Beijing and Tianjin displayed an increasing state, but the average value was only 0.55. (2) The time evolution of the ECLU has gradually polarized, the internal gap has widened, but it tends to stabilize. (3) The ECLU in the region around Beijing-Tianjin was more inclined to keep it the same and there was a "club convergence" phenomenon, which was meaningfully affected by the background of neighboring areas. In the light of local conditions, the government should reasonably formulate the path to optimize the ECLU, strengthen the linkage with the surrounding cities, and bring into play the positive spillover effect.

Land tenure security is important for achieving a number Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The purpose of this paper was to investigate variation in land tenure security across three districts located in different geographical regions of Uganda. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey data collected in early 2019. The findings show that Kanungu district found in South-Western Uganda had significantly higher levels of land tenure security as compared to Nakasongola (Central) and Nwoya (Northern). Research findings have implications on further study and benchmarking land governance systems in Kanungu. Furthermore, they have implications on implementation of government and donor land titling or registration programs in terms of priority areas. They further sheds light on the importance of accounting for geographical context in land tenure studies.

(1) Background: in the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs), this work explores the repair direction of future cultivated land protection policies based on the Smith policy implementation model from the historical evolution to ensure that the cultivated land protection policy does not deviate during the implementation process. (2) Methods: this paper uses literature research and inductive deduction methods to sort out the evolution process of Chinese cultivated land protection policy, summarize the successful experience of transferring the focus of cultivated land protection in chronological order, and conclude the repair direction of Chinese cultivated land protection. (3) Results: although the Chinese cultivated land protection policy in the historical evolution has through three significant phases, there are still certain issues in the development trend of Chinese cultivated land protection policy based on regional division of labor for grain transportation and sales. (4) Conclusion: directly utilizing feedback from farmers as stakeholders will contribute to the maturity and improvement of cultivated land protection policies in the specific implementation of cultivated land protection policies.

Land management and community involvement are two main elements in ensuring the absence of conflict between landowners and agencies. Disputes between owners and agencies will be the biggest obstacle in the land development effort. Therefore, this article aims to address the cause of landowners’ objections against land alienation using the institutional approach. To enable the researchers to understand the root causes of landowners' objections against the alienation of land using the Communal Grant method, the institutional approach has been adopted to identify the issue of the objection. Therefore, questionnaires for 100 landowners were distributed in two villages in Semporna district in Sabah. The purpose is to obtain their views on the cause leading to the dispute of land alienation using the Communal Grant method. The Likert scale was used to enable community rankings on issues that can be understood according to the level of seriousness of the population's views on the issue of using Communal Grants in native customary land alienation. The study results explain that there are four factors that drive objection of the Communal Grant land alienation which involves the formal factors. The findings explained that there are 4 formal provisions which lead to the community's objection against Communal Grants, namely the native customary lands (NCR) act, provision of Communal Grants, provisions in the land ownership and land allocation in Sabah Land Ordinance.Due to numerous objections among native customary peoples concerning the native customary land alienation using Communal Grants, the government has acted in substitution with a fair method of individual ownership for the native customary peoples. This situation explains that disputes in land ownership can be a threat to the country if it cannot be resolved in ways and methods acceptable to the native customary community. This study will benefit the government and NGO’s to alert and focusing on barriers in the context of local community land laws. Communal grants are intended to address land issues in Sabah.

The social, environmental and scientific significance of the urban climate has shaped a research stream at Universitat Jaume I’s Climate Lab. Previous research has found higher temperature trends at urban observatories. This study examines in depth the features of the urban environment and the thermal behaviour of land use and land cover and the changes which have taken place. The CORINE Land Cover database was used to delimit the primary Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and its changes between 1990 and 2018. Once this had been established, land surface temperatures (LSTs) between 1985 and 2023 were retrieved from the Landsat database available on the Climate Engine website. Analysis of the primary land cover showed the greatest thermal increase in artificial surfaces, especially in industrial, commercial and transport units which are common on their outskirts. These areas also have the highest temperatures on a monthly basis with the biggest differences occurring in the summer. The results are less clear for urban fabrics and agricultural areas due to their diversity and complexity. The study concludes that urban growth and its commercial and industrial environment has an undeniable effect on the temperatures recorded by urban observatories and enables better decision-making when setting up weather stations for a more detailed time study of the urban heat island (UHI).

This study presents empirical evidence on the nature of the political struggles for inclusion on an oil palm land deal in Ghana. It examines the employment dynamics and the everyday politics of workers on an oil palm plantation in a predominantly migrant and settler society of the north-eastern part of Ghana, where large-scale production has only been introduced within the past decade. It shows that by the nature of labour organization, as well as other structural issues, workers do not benefit equally from the land deals and therefore express everyday forms of resistance against exploitation, and for better terms of incorporation. Particularly, they express agency through absenteeism and non-compliance, which especially, enables them to maintain their basic food sovereignty/security. Nonetheless, these everyday politics is not necessarily liberating in confronting the everyday peasant problems and unfavourable agrarian transitions associated with capitalist agriculture. Overall, this paper contributes to the land grab literature by providing context-specific dynamics of impacts and politics and how are they are shaped by a multiplicity of factors- beyond class.

Ever since the Cadastre and Land Registry have existed in Spain, they have been completely separate organisations with very different objectives, which influence the real-estate reality. Their coordination is essential to better identify buildings and to more suitably render services to citizens and Administrations. To this end, Law 13/2015 was passed in 2015 for this desirable and pressing Cadastre-Land Registry coordination to come about. This law came into force on 1 November 2015, and coincided with the development of the technical aspects of the graphical information exchange among the Cadastre, Land Registries and Notaries. Several ministries and different organisations, like the Cadastre personnel, jurists, technicians, and even citizens, are implied in this law. Among the technical aspects, georeferenced graphical representations and GML exchange files adapted to the European INSPIRE directives stand out. Such technical aspects are a genuine revolution as they were transferred to the legal world. After more than 2 years after its application, it is still in its initial and adaptation stages because it is a long-standing law that allows land registry units-cadastral parcels to be coordinated while they are incorporated into real-estate trade.

The urbanization effects on land surface phenology (LSP) have been investigated by many studies, but few studies focused on the temporal variations of urbanization effects on LSP. In this study, we used the MODIS EVI, MODIS LST data and China’s Land Use/Cover Datasets (CLUDs) to investigate the temporal variations of urban heat island intensity and urbanization effects on LSP in Northeast China during 2001–2015. Land surface temperature (LST) and phenology differences between urban and rural areas represented the urban heat island intensity and urbanization effects on LSP, respectively. Mann-kendall nonparametric test and Sen's slope were used to evaluating the trends of urbanization effects on LSP and urban heat island intensity. The results indicated that the average land surface phenology (LSP) during 2001–2015 was characterized by high spatial heterogeneity. The start of the growing season (SOS) in old urban area had become earlier and earlier than rural area and the differences of SOS between urbanized area and the rural area changed greatly during 2001–2015 (−0.79 days/year, p < 0.01). Meanwhile, the length of the growing season (LOS) in urban and adjacent areas had become increasingly longer than rural area especially in urbanized area (0.92 days/year, p < 0.01), but the differences of the end of the growing season (EOS) between urban and adjacent areas did not change significantly. Next, the UHII increased in spring and autumn during the whole study period. Moreover, the correlation analysis indicated that the increasing urban heat island intensity in spring contributed greatly to the increases of urbanization effects on SOS, but the increasing urban heat island intensity in autumn did not lead to the increases of urbanization effects on EOS in Northeast China.

This study explored the intricate nexus between public service provision and land use planning, with a specific focus on the conservation of local plant species in Tambon Khao Phanom, Amphoe Khao Phanom, Krabi Province. Rooted in commitment. The research framework encompasses three fundamental activities: resource survey and collection, resource conservation and utilization, and resource development planning for public services, emphasizing land use planning for local plant species conservation. This multidisciplinary approach integrates the one-map method and draws data from the Department of Land Development to formulate a comprehensive land utilization plan that optimizes land use for biodiversity conservation. This study underscores the critical synergy between public service delivery and land use planning, highlighting their collective potential to advance community well-being and sustainable development.

Land cover mapping, essential for understanding global land use patterns, relies on satellite imagery for monitoring changes, assessing ecosystem health, and supporting conservation ef- forts. However, significant challenges remain in managing large, complex satellite imagery datasets, acquiring specialized datasets due to high costs and labor intensity, and a lack of comparative studies for optimal deep learning model selection. Additionally, a scarcity of aerial datasets specifically tailored for agricultural areas exists. This study addresses these gaps by presenting a method for semantic segmentations of land covers in agricultural areas using satellite images and deep learning models with pre-trained backbones. We introduce an efficient methodology for preparing semantic segmentation datasets and contribute the "Land Cover Aerial Imagery" (LICAID) dataset for semantic segmentation. The study focuses on the Franciacorta area, Lombardy Region, leveraging the rich diversity of the dataset to effectively train and evaluate the models. We conduct a comparative study, employing cutting-edge deep learning-based segmentation models (U-Net, SegNet, DeepLabV3) with various pre-trained backbones (ResNet, Inception, DenseNet, EfficientNet) on our dataset acquired from Google Earth Pro. Through meticulous data acquisition, preprocessing, model selection, and evaluation, we demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques in accurately delineating land cover classes. Integrating pre-trained feature extraction networks significantly improves performance across various metrics. Additionally, addressing challenges such as data availability, computational resources, and model interpret-ability is essential for advancing the field of remote sensing and supporting sustainable environmental stewardship worldwide.

Ecological city is currently a hot topic in urban planning research. How to balance urban development and ecological environment protection has become a focus and difficulty of research. Traditional urban planning is mainly based on experience, but its disadvantage is that it is easy to overlook key geographical factors such as terrain and vegetation, and cannot fully reflect the actual spatial characteristics of the city. Therefore, this article applied the combination of urban and rural planning and environmental remote sensing technology to urban planning and design, obtaining a massive amount of data. Through the actual analysis of Langfang, this paper monitored the vegetation, water, land and landscape data of Langfang through environmental remote sensing technology. By using these data to identify existing problems, this article proposed reasonable planning for the problems, in order to achieve the effective goal of ecological city planning and design. It provided a more accurate analysis of urban structure, including urban planning and urban ecological landscape planning. Among them, ecological landscape planning includes renovating ecological embankments, protecting ecological green belts around the city, and creating characteristic landscape areas, thereby providing more scientific basis for urban planning and design, making urban planning and design more reasonable and scientific. This paper investigated the planned Langfang City, and the average errors of vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data obtained from traditional field surveys were 0.35, 0.33, 0.34, and 0.31, respectively. The average errors of remote sensing technology in obtaining vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data were 0.16, 0.15, 0.17, and 0.15, respectively. The total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 before planning was 5.51mg/L and 7.41mg/L, respectively. After planning, the total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 was 3.60mg/L and 4.47mg/L, respectively. From this, it can be seen that the error in obtaining data after planning has decreased, and the total suspended solids content has also decreased.

The foundation for accurately understanding regional land-use structures and pursuing the coordination of human–land relations is the scientific identification and simulation of temporal and spatial evolution patterns of land-use spatial conflict (LUSC). Taking the Yimengshan Geopark (YG) as an example, based on the productional–living–ecological space (PLES) perspective, which constructs a land-use spatial conflict identification and intensity diagnosis model (LUCSII) using the landscape ecology index. We apply geographic information system (GIS) and other methods to achieve the spatial pattern of LUSC over the last 20 years, and we use the GMOP–Markov–PLUS model to simulate the evolution of LUSC in the future under various scenarios. From 2000 to 2020, the LUSC values in the YG were mainly stable and controllable, with mild conflict, while the areas of severe conflict were mainly concentrated in the central urban area of Mengyin County and in low and flat terrain areas such as southern Bailin Town. The LUSC in the YG showed a significant positive spatial correlation, and spatial agglomeration is gradually strengthening. The high–high clusters are found in contiguous areas at the junction of Changlu Town, Gaodu Town, and Mengyin Street, as well as in the southern hilly areas. The low–low clusters were concentrated in Yedian Town, Daigu Town inarea north of the study, and areas surrounding Yunmeng Lake Wetland Park. In the next ten years, the ecological priority scenario (EPD) and sustainable development scenario (ESD) will both be reasonable options for easing and controlling LUSC in YG. Local governments and park management bureaus should determine the three lines and three zones based on the needs of social and economic development, particularly the boundary red line for construction land growth, and plan production and living spaces to alleviate land-use conflicts and stabilize the land-use system. Regional ecological security can be maintained, and future deterioration of the park’s ecological environment avoided, by performing well in terms of ecological isolation.

This article seeks to provide an improved and more comprehensive understanding of the concept and theories on wasteland. It achieves this by focusing on the Indian context allowing us to unpack the importance of including multiple perspectives of wasteland narratives; this means including more positive narratives of the potential of wasteland to inform and improve prospects for land policies in the global south. Wasteland is commonly recognized as an underutilized category of land that may transform into a valuable resource base with proper management measures. The term waste has multiple angles that carry different notions ranging from fallow to agroforestry land in the global south and Brownfield to green space in the global north. We conduct a narra-tive review approach to qualitatively analyze the concept wastelands studied in pre-existing lit-erature from 1970 to present. The unsystematic literature review approach incorporates multiple elements of wasteland discourse, like understanding the meaning of the term on a global scale, setting out the meaning of the term waste into multiple perspectives explicitly in the Indian con-text, along with different classes and management approaches of wasteland from a national per-spective. The multiple perspectives of wasteland not only generate misconception on land resource but spawn difficulties in land use policy particularly for Indian scenario. For sustainable land use policy, reclaiming wasteland would be the best possible way for India and other countries in Global South, which requires a comprehensive methodological overview on wasteland narrative.

This study investigates the influence of expectations and trust on farmers' decisions regarding contractual choices in land transfer. The dataset used for analysis consists of 1101 households in Guizhou Province. The research focuses on two aspects: the selection between written and oral contracts, and the decision to continue the contractual relationship. The findings reveal that farmers' choices are significantly affected by their expectations and levels of trust.Specifically, when farmers' expectations regarding the land transfer process are not met, they tend to prefer written contracts over oral ones. This preference can be attributed to the greater clarity and risk reduction offered by written contracts. On the other hand, higher levels of trust increase the likelihood of farmers continuing the land transfer contract, as trust fosters a sense of confidence and security in the ongoing relationship.Interestingly, trust also plays a moderating role. Farmers who have aligned expectations and high levels of trust are more inclined to opt for oral contracts. This preference for oral contracts can be attributed to their flexibility and emphasis on interpersonal relationships, allowing for better adaptation to the changing dynamics of land transfer.These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors influencing farmers' decision-making processes regarding contractual choices in land transfer. They provide valuable insights for policymakers involved in land transfer, enabling them to optimize policies and facilitate farmers' decision-making processes.

In developing nations, such as Ekiti State, Nigeria, the use of remote sensing data, especially satellite and UAV imagery, remains significantly underutilized in land administration. This limits the potential of multi-resolution imagery in land governance and socio-economic development. This study examines factors influencing UAV adoption for land administration in Nigeria, mapping six distinct rural, peri-urban, and urban sites, and creating orthomosaics with resolutions ranging from 2.2cm to 3.39cm. Boundaries were manually delineated from multi-resolution orthomosaics to acquire coordinates, and parcel areas were calculated. Using 0.05m UAV imagery as the reference, the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was computed to evaluate 0.1, 0.5, and 1m orthomosaics' accuracy for boundary delineation across the six geographical contexts. The Normalized Parcel Area Error (NPAE) was also calculated to determine how the multi-resolution imageries affected the property areas. Results showed a consistent increase in error with increasing resolution (0.1m to 1m) in formal areas (Igedora, Maryland, Okebola) with physical demarcations, from 0.117m to 1.747m RMSE. In contrast, informal settlements exhibited inconsistent error values, indicating a differing impact of resolution on error between formal and informal areas. The research demonstrates the role of physical demarcations in facilitating cadastral mapping, with formal settlements demonstrating the highest suitability. This study recommends the use of imagery resolution specific to each context, offering guidance for improved land governance. Implications and recommendations include promoting awareness of settlement typologies in aerial imagery use for cadastral mapping, leveraging UAVs for high-resolution aerial imagery, and addressing regulatory challenges to promote UAV adoption. Finally, the RMSE and NPAE values can serve as metrics for assessing different resolution images’ fitness for cadastral mapping.

Public funding of land consolidation projects is an instrument of the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (CAP). The execution of systematic land consolidation programmes focused on optimising the spatial structure of agricultural areas presents a possibility to improve agricultural production conditions and maximise the efficiency of agriculture on a local, regional, national and international level. However, due to limited access to financial resources, it is necessary to delimit the priority areas for land consolidation. A contemporary practice based on the assessment of the social support percentage of potential land consolidation projects in individual villages does not represent a real necessity for action. This problem leads to ineffective utilisation of financial resources and reduces the efficiency of the implemented programmes. We proposed a new algorithm for assessing real needs for land consolidation based on a detailed multi-faceted analysis of the spatial structure of agricultural areas. The research method involved factors describing the spatial structure defectiveness of farms as well as those determining land quality in correspondence to investment’s profitability. Another factor verifying the potential economic rationale of land consolidation was transaction prices mostly reflecting the agricultural value of the land. The analysis showed that land consolidation in areas with defective spatial structure and a relatively high market value should be a priority. This approach will contribute to maximising profits by increasing the productivity of areas featuring the highest agricultural suitability.

In Ethiopia, farmers have changed cropland to Eucalyptus globulus plantations for construction, fuelwood and economic benefits. However, it has adverse effects on soil properties. The investigation was, therefore, to evaluate the impact of Eucalyptus globulus plantations on soil properties in northwestern Ethiopia. About 30 soil samples were collected from two soil depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm) and three land uses (Eucalyptus globulus plantations, cropland and grazing land) with five replications. Soil properties were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Based on the result, soil properties such as silt particles, moisture content (MC), organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were significantly higher under the soil of Eucalyptus globulus plantations than in cropland and grazing land. Whereas the lower contents of bulk density (BD), soil pH, available phosphorus (AP), electrical conductivity (EC) and exchangeable bases (Ca, Mg, K, and Na) were recorded in Eucalyptus globulus plantations. Besides, clay, BD, MC, pH, EC, CEC, percent base saturation (PBS) and basic cations increased with soil depth while decreasing sand, silt, TP, OM and AP. The basic cations ( Ca, Mg, K), PBS and AP decreased in the soil of the 25-year old Eucalyptus globulus plantation compared to cropland by 38%, 36%, 43 %, 45% and 47% and grazing land by 56%, 60%, 76 %, 60% and 56%, respectively. Therefore, appropriate and effective land use management principles should be implemented in the study area.

Monitoring the status and dynamics of desertification is one of the most important parts of combating desertification. In this study, 30m high-resolution information on land desertification and restoration in the HRB was extracted from the land cover database. The results indicate that land desertification coexists with land restoration in the HRB. At different periods, the area of land restoration is much larger than the area of land desertification in the HRB, and the HRB has been in a process of land restoration. Upstream of the HRB, there is a continuing trend of increasing land desertification associated with overgrazing in a context where climate change favors desertification reversal. In the middle and lower reaches, although both climate variability and human activities favor land desertification, the process of land desertification in the middle and lower reaches is still being reversed and land restoration dominates. The implementation of the Eco-Environmental Protection Project and desertification control measures, especially the EWDP, is contributing to the reversal of desertification in the middle and lower reaches of the HRB. However, the EWDP has indirectly led to the lowering of the water table in the middle reaches, resulting in local vegetation degradation. Therefore, there is therefore an urgent need to transform the economic structure of the middle reaches to cope with water scarcity and land desertification.

The hyper-arid environment is characterized by high inter-annual climatic fluctuations. The yearly average rainfall can change substantially for several years, forming wet or dry sub-periods. Observing rainfall trends over a sub-period can lead to a false perception of a change in the trend but may in fact represent a periodic cycle when examined on a larger time scale. We aimed to better characterize the rainfall regime prevailing in the hyper-arid Arava Valley (Israel/Jordan), and to examine the response of vegetation to annual rainfall. We hypothesized that annual and perennial vegetation would respond differently to wet and dry sub-periods, and that grazing activities will impact vegetation growth. We used a time series of monthly rainfall, from which we calculated Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), and calculated proxies of perennial and annual vegetation over the last four decades using Landsat-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We found no clear trend in rainfall amounts during this period, however we did identify wet and dry sub-periods which were statistically distinct in rain and in vegetation patterns from each other. The highest levels of correlation between rainfall and the NDVI derived proxies were found when examining average rainfall over a period of two- three years for the annual vegetation and over four years for perennial vegetation. Using the Mann-Kendall test, we identified a time lag of two to four years, with the proxies of annual vegetation responding faster than the proxies of perennial vegetation, to shifts between wet and dry sub-period. In addition, we found a consistent difference between natural vegetation cover in Jordan (grazed) and Israel (non-grazed), favoring the development of natural vegetation on the Israeli side. We conclude that integrating between long-term remote sensing satellite imagery and climatic records revealed the greater resilience of perennial vegetation in the hyper-arid region to climatic fluctuation, and enabled us to identify the vegetation’s sensitivity to anthropogenic impact.

In order to achieve global climate goals, it is necessary to estimate greenhouse gases (GHG) fluxes from ecosystems. To obtain a comprehensive assessment of CO2, СН4, N2O natural fluxes for the Russian Federation we used the "bottom-up" method according to [1]. We updated estimates for forest ecosystems based on State Forest Inventory data and satellite monitoring of forest disturbances. For grassland ecosystems, it was based on the correct distribution of areas between steppe and non-steppe zones. The estimated net uptake of natural ecosystems of Russia was 1.1 ± 1.8 billion tons of CO2-eq./year. The study shows that if only CO2 is taken into account, the net absorption of terrestrial ecosystems in Russia corresponds to more than -2.5 billion tons of CO2 (35% of forests’ contribution). However, given the emissions of non-CO2 GHGs, total net absorption in Russia’s natural ecosystems is reduced to about -1 billion tons of CO2-eq (with the forests’ contribution increasing to 80%). With regard to anthropogenic fluxes, the overall balance of GHGs in Russia corresponds to net-emissions of 1 billion tons of CO2-eq/year into the atmosphere. To improve reporting under the Paris Agreement, countries should aim to include only anthropogenic ("manageable") GHG fluxes on managed land.

Cars are a highly inefficient mode of urban transport with significant negative impacts. Electric vehicles make it possible to eliminate direct CO2 emissions (though the total over a vehicle’s entire life cycle greatly offsets the advantages) but leave unchanged – or even aggravate – all the other negative effects on the quality of urban environments. Three visions for urban transport were presented: automobility, multimodality and accessibility. The first dominates North American cities, the second European one. The anomalies of these two visions have been examined. The automobility cities cannot manage the congestion and the attempts are self- defeating. The anomalies of multimodality city are related to the public space consumption for mobility and the impossibility to plan spatial proximity. The sustainable vision, that resolve the anomalies, is represented by the accessibility city in the Triple Access System (TAS) version which, however, still has a long way to go to be accepted and implemented.

Despite the ongoing land administration reforms being implemented across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Ghana as viable pathway to achieve tenure security and greater efficiency in land administration, the subject of land dispute resolution has received relatively less attention. Whereas customary tenure institutions play a central role in land administration (controlling ~80% of all land in Ghana), they remain at the fringes of the formal land dispute adjudicatory process. Recognizing the pivotal role traditional institutions as development agents and potential vehicles for promoting good land governance, recent discourse on land tenure have geared towards mainstreaming traditional land disputes institutions into the architecture of formal judicial process via alternative dispute resolution pathways. Yet little is known at least empirically as to the operations of traditional dispute resolution institutions in the contemporary context. This study therefore explores the importance of traditional dispute resolution institutions in the management of land-related disputes in southcentral and western Ghana. Drawing on data collated from 380 farming households operating 746 plots. The results show that contrary to the conventional thinking that traditional institutions are anachronistic and not fit for purpose, they remain strong and preferred forum for land dispute resolution (proving resilient and adaptable) given the changing socio-economic and tenurial conditions. Yet these forums have differing implications for different actors within the customary spheres accessing them. The results highlight practical ways for incorporating traditional dispute resolution in the overall land governance setup in Ghana and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. This has implications for redesigning context-specific and appropriate land-use policy interventions that address local land dispute resolution.